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“The
Master Blaster”, Lester Ellis,
won no less than five World
Championships in five different
weight-classes, including the
World Boxing Federation (WBF)
World Welterweight title, during
his incredible forty-nine fight
professional career between 1983
and 2002.
Ellis was born in March of 1965
in Blackpool, England. The
youngest of three sons to Sheila
and Keith Ellis Sr., Lester
migrated to Australia with his
family when he was only three
years old, making him a
significant name in Australian
boxing history rather than
British.
Only two years after relocating
to the Melbourne area of
Victoria state, mother Sheila
left the family home and her
three sons to be looked after by
Keith Sr. on his own. To make
matters worse, she left for her
husbands best friend and
five-year-old Lester took this
very hard, and developed into a
somewhat troubled young man.
But at the age of twelve,
inspired by the first Rocky
movie, he joined the Glengala
Boxing Club in West Sunshine, a
suburb to Melbourne, where
trainer Matthew Quin saw great
potential in the young man and
helped him deal with his demons
through boxing.
As has been the case with so
many, boxing likely saved Ellis
from going down the wrong path:
“I
came from a commission area and
a broken-up family. We had no
money, we were doing it hard”,
Ellis said in an interview a few
years ago.
“I
was no good at school, I was
pretty much illiterate. But
through boxing I wanted to read
about the world champions and
how they were guided and got
motivated, and what they did to
get better, so I became a better
reader.”
“(...)
I had a bit of hate there, I had
desire. I wanted to get
somewhere...”
In six years as an amateur
boxer, Ellis fought fifty times
and won forty-five bouts. He won
four Australian national
championships and six Victoria
state championships, before he
was deemed ready to turn
professional in April of 1983,
only a month after his
eighteenth birthday.
And there was not holding back
at the start of his paid career.
After two quick wins over Ben
Lappori (5-6-3) and Roy Hughes
(26-34-7), who Ellis knocked out
in three and two rounds, he beat
former two-weight Australian
Champion Brian Roberts (35-15-6)
by technical decision in his
third outing.
Next was another ex Australian
titlist in Gary Williams (25-5),
who Ellis demolished in two.
Kirk Blair (31-20-3) was stopped
in five, Jeff Smith (20-6) in
eight, American import Richard
Fowler (11-6) in ten, while
Welshman Steve Sims (12-9-1) and
Japans Kiyoshi Sasaki (12-2-1)
managed to take Ellis the full
distance before losing on
points.
On November 16, 1984 Ellis won
the Commonwealth Super
Featherweight title when he
dethroned reigning champion John
Sichula (17-0-1) from Zambia by
split decision at Festival Hall
in Melbourne. In less than
nineteen months he had compiled
an outstanding 14-0 (10) record,
won his first title, and broke
into the world rankings.
It is safe to say that his
handlers had great confidence in
Ellis, still only nineteen years
old, because when the
opportunity came to bring IBF
World Super Featherweight
Champion Hwan-Kil Yuh (25-1-3)
from South Korea to Melbourne
for a defense, they jumped at
it.
On February 15, 1985, back at
Festival Hall, Ellis fought way
beyond his years and came out on
top after fifteen hard rounds to
become one of the sports
youngest world champions in
history by split decision. It
was truly an amazing
achievement, and not one
expected by someone still a
teenager.
Two months later Ellis retained
his world title when he stopped
Filipino Rod Sequenan (43-9-3)
in the thirteenth stanza. It had
been a competitive and grueling
encounter fought at close
quarters, until Ellis staggered
Sequenan with a left hand and
pummeled him until he finally
went down for the full count
just as the bell rang.
Taking into account the
intensity of that fight, perhaps
it was too early to return for
his second defense only
two-and-a-half months on,
because Ellis lost his first
world title the following July
when fellow British-born
Australian, ex training partner
turned Melbourne rival, Barry
Michael (44-8-3) was awarded a
unanimous decision.
It was a massive fight, another
war at Festival Hall, with over
six thousand screaming fans and
plenty of local pride and
bragging rights at stake besides
the IBF world title, so it was a
bitter pill to swallow for
Ellis. He had looked up to
Michael, ten years his senior,
before their relationship turned
sour in the build-up to their
fight.
"I still say I went in with too
much respect for Barry”, said
Ellis in another interview. “I
really believe that if I never
knew Barry, if he was from
another country and I had never
seen him before, I would have
fought a lot better. How can you
fight your idol?"
But at 22 years of age he had
plenty of time to get his career
back on track. He rebounded with
victories in two low-level
fights, but there would be more
agony before 1985 was over as
former foe John Sichula (19-1-1)
returned to Australia and got
his revenge by stopping Ellis in
four rounds of a scheduled ten
on December 16.
It looked to be an uphill battle
back to the top, but Ellis was
prepared to pay his dues and
take the long road. During the
next six years he won fifteen of
eighteen bouts, winning
Australian national titles at
Lightweight and Light
Welterweight, as well as the
Commonwealth Light Welterweight
title.
In early 1993 he finally got his
chance to become a world
champion again when he was
pitted against American veteran
Rocky Berg (60-35-2) for the WBF
World Welterweight title, left
vacant by Roger Turner. Ellis
was a heavy favorite going in,
but Berg was expected to present
more of a challenge than he did.
Headlining at the Memorial Drive
Tennis Centre in Adelaide, Ellis
wasted little time and quickly
took control of the fight in the
first round, before getting rid
of the out-gunned Berg already
in round two. Almost eight years
after losing his IBF belt to
Barry Michael, Lester Ellis was
once again champion of the
world.
Looking for new challenges,
Ellis decided to “fill in the
blanks” and went after world
titles in the weigh-classes
between Super Featherweight and
Welterweight. He lost a non
title bout at Lightweight to
former IBF World Featherweight
ruler Calvin Grove (44-5) by
split decision, so the first
step of his mission was
accomplished at Light Welter.
In December of 1994 he captured
the IBO World Light Welterweight
crown with a blistering first
round knockout of Al Coquilla
(22-8-3) from the Philippines,
and added the IBO World
Lightweight title three months
later by out-scoring another
Filipino, the defending champion
Amando Cabato (44-23-8).
Incredibly he then went up three
weights to win the vacant IBO
World Super Welterweight title
in July of 1994, scoring a
unanimous decision over American
Eric Alexander (10-5-1) to make
him a five time, five division
World Champion from Super
Featherweight to Super
Welterweight.
That would be his last
significant success in the ring.
In April of 1996 he lost a
rematch to Calvin Grove (48-8),
and retired. In July of 2002,
thirty-seven years old, he made
an ill-advised comeback at Super
Middleweight, getting stopped in
the third round to future world
champion Anthony Mundine (13-1).
Two Australian titles, two
Commonwealth titles, five world
championships and a final record
of 41-8 (28) in a career that
lasted almost twenty years. Few
boxers can brag to have
accomplished even half of what
Lester Ellis accomplished.
These days Ellis lives in
Melbourne-suburb Taylor Hills
with wife Sharron, and runs the
Lester Ellis Fitness Academy.
They have four sons, Lester Jr.,
Darcy, Dempsey and Jake. Jake
followed in his fathers
footsteps for a short while, and
became a professional boxer,
winning two fights in 2012-2013.
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