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When he made his professional
debut in March of 1985, it
didn’t appear to be in the cards
that Australian Guy Waters
would eventually become a world
champion. In fact, judging by
his debut-fight it looked as if
he didn’t have anyone looking
out for his best interests.
Fighting at the Hordern Pavilion
in his hometown Sydney, he was
matched against reigning New
South Wales State Cruiserweight
Champion Geoff Peate (8-2-1),
who was the heavier man by ten
kilos. On top of that, the fight
was scheduled for ten rounds,
and Waters was stopped already
in the second.
But giving up was never and
option. Waters, born on January
25 in 1964, had boxing in his
blood and both his brothers were
also professional fighters. The
three of them were trained by
their father Cecil, who, while
described as abusive and
tyrannical, brought up three
champions.
Older brother Dean (8-5) was
Australian Heavyweight ruler
between 1986 and 1988, and
younger brother Troy (28-5),
Australian and Commonwealth
champion at Super Welterweight,
fought for three world titles
against Gianfranco Rossi (IBF),
Terry Norris (WBC) and Simon
Brown (WBC)
between 1989 and 1994.
So Guy came back strong and
proved to be a world-class
fighter. Twelve years after the
fiasco that was his debut, he
won the WBF World Light
Heavyweight title. But before
that, he accomplished quite a
few other noteworthy results in
the ring.
Following the loss to Peate,
Waters returned a month later
with a decision over ten rounds
against John Bogolin (3-2-1).
They rematched seven months on,
with Waters winning on points
again, and picking up the vacant
New South Wales State Light
Heavyweight title.
After one interim bout, where he
out-scored Uganda-born Emmanuel
Otti (20-6-2), Waters captured
the Australian national title,
as well as the OPBF title, in
only his fifth outing, with a
land-slide unanimous decision
over the experienced Gary Hubble
(9-14-3).
Over the next two years he beat
good opponents such as Tommy
Taylor (16-3-1), Wilbert Johnson
(29-5-2), and Randy Smith
(18-12), and scored a draw with
American contender Frank Minton
(20-5). He also won the
Australasian title with a first
round knockout of Piilua Taito
(6-7).
In April of 1989, with less than
a dozen fights on his
professional ledger, Waters
became the Commonwealth Light
Heavyweight Champion by
dethroning quality Canadian
Willie Featherstone (19-4-1). In
his previous fight, Featherstone
had challenged Virgil Hill for
the WBA World title, but Waters
out-boxed him from start to
finish.
After two successful defenses of
the Commonwealth belt, against
Englishman Roy Skeldon (18-15-2)
and dangerous Italy-based
Ugandan Yawe Davies (24-5-2),
Waters received a January 1991
shot at the WBC World Light
Heavyweight title, held by
Dennis Andries (38-8-2).
Andries, born in Georgetown,
Guyana but fighting out of
London, England, traveled to
Australia to defend his title
against Waters, having fond
memories of the land “down
under” as he became world
champion by knocking out Jeff
Harding in Australia six months
earlier.
It turned out to be a close and
competitive fight, but in the
end Andries just had a bit too
much in the bag. After twelve
rounds of boxing he retained his
title with a unanimous decision,
as the judges scored the bout
for him by 115-114, 116-112 and
117-113.
Still the Commonwealth champion,
Waters returned eight months
later and defended (W12) against
former WBA World Champion Leslie
Stewart (29-7) from Trinidad &
Tobago. It was a good win for
him, and, while he only added
one more victory that year, it
put him in line for a second
crack at the big time.
But unfortunately he would be
inactive for over a year before
a fight against WBA World
Champion Virgil Hill (37-1) took
place in North Dakota, USA on
December 17 1993. Probably the
long lay-off hurt Waters too
much, as he was widely
out-scored by Hill, making his
fifth title-defense.
Another long lay-off followed,
and it was September of 1995
before Waters fought again,
stopping Venezuelan Armando
Rodriguez (25-6-1) in round
eight. Two months later disaster
struck, as Waters was knocked
out in the first round by
American Troy Weaver (10-4-2),
and all of a sudden the future
looked bleak.
But Guy Waters was not the right
person to write off, and he was
not one to take an easy route
back. Most would have returned
against an easy foe, but Waters
took on undefeated PABA and
Australian Cruiserweight
Champion Peter Kinsella (8-0-2)
in August of 1996, and won the
fight on points after ten
rounds.
Just like that he had
resurrected his career, and his
persistence paid off the
following June when he was
matched with fellow countryman,
and reigning PABA titlist, Gavin
Ryan (13-4) in a fight for local
pride and the vacant World
Boxing Federation (WBF) World
Light Heavyweight crown.
Headlining a show at the Abcos
Stadium in Adelaide, Waters and
Ryan put on a great show, with
back and forth action all the
way. None of them big punchers,
it looked like a distance fight
from the start, and that’s how
it turned out with Waters coming
out on top by split decision
(115-113, 117-110 and 112-114).
Waters stayed busy in the
remainder of 1997, winning two
non-title fights over
nondescript opposition. Always
ready for new challenges, he
accepted a June 1998 fight in
Germany against undefeated Juan
Carlos Gomez (23-0), with the
Cubans WBC World Cruiserweight
title on the line.
But once again a Cruiserweight
proved to be too much for
Waters, as Gomez retained his
title by sixth round stoppage.
While skilled and game, the
Australian was just too small
for the weight, something his
next career-move would be a
testament to.
On April 30, 1999 Waters
ventured down to Super
Middleweight to start a new
campaign towards a world title
opportunity in a third
weight-class. It was believed
that his height (188 Cm.) and
reach (190 Cm.) would give him
significant advantages there.
After two low-profile wins, he
won the vacant IBF Pan Pacific
title against Fijian champion
Atama Raqili (15-10-4), and in
March of 2000 he added the OPBF
championship with an impressive
triumph in Japan over tough
defending titlist Yoshinori
Nishizawa (17-11-4), who would
later challenge for the WBA
World title.
Unfortunately Waters would never
get to fight for a Super
Middleweight world title.
Challenging for the Commonwealth
crown in England in November of
2000, he was hurt in the sixth
round and overwhelmed by the
champion, David Starie (22-2),
forcing the referee to wave it
off.
Waters fought only once after
that, trying to regain his
former IBF regional strap
against Anthony Mundine (9-0),
but lost by second round
knockout. That was the end of a
fantastic career for Guy Waters,
who hung up his gloves at 37
years of age.
Having won eight titles,
including the WBF World Light
Heavyweight title, his final
record stands at 25-7-1 (11),
and Waters is probably set in
history as one of the best
Australian boxers. Amazingly,
thirty-one of his thirty-three
professional bouts were
scheduled for ten or twelve
rounds. That has to be some kind
of record...
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