By 1980 I was well out of it as far as wrestling was concerned. As we discover more there are still things that surprise me - like the other day when I came across Wayne Bridges v Mick McManus. What? Now I come across another one I can't get my head round (Max did a good job at damaging our brains). In 1980 Marty Jones versus Mike Marino. Potentially a good matching. The young Jones against the wily veteran. A lighter more agile man against a skilled technician.
Yes I'd pay my money. (Though I never paid £1.40,let alone £1.65).
But this is for the British light heavyweight title. For years that go back to Medusa we had been brainwashed that Marino was Mid heavyweight champion of Britain, Europe, the World and beyond. Two weeks earlier Marino had defended his mid heavyweight title against Jones in the same hall. Never ever a light heavyweight. He must have been on a good diet in those two weeks. And why would a man of his stature be interested in Marty's light heavyweight belt? He wouldn't. And neither would I.
I saw Marino in the early 1950's. He was on the lower limit of Heavyweight then. I can't imagine that he got lighter as he got older.
Midheavyweight yes, Lightheavyweight -no.
Can't find Marino as a light heavy. Unique !!!
There's nothing that wierd about people - even in the industry - getting weight divisions wrong. Usually when you pull them up about it, they get sarky with you in response. A very famous star of the 1960s only ever held one title in his career in 1969 for about one month. In his notorious biography that upset a lot of people, he declares that he didn't care about titles - and then proves it by getting the weight division hilariously wrong for the title he had.
Some years later a book written by a fan on British Wrestling was published which picked up on this detail as proof that said star's book is entirely worthless as a historical resource, even though said star had stated two lines higher up the text that he didn't give a tinker's toot about titles and thus was clearly just showing off how he was sooo not a "belt-mark", not that he didn't know his stuff about his own career!
I can't ever remember Marino defending this title.
need a belt pic...belts do matter!!!
"For years that go back to Medusa we had been brainwashed that Marino was Mid heavyweight champion of Britain, Europe, the World and beyond. "
Your beyond says it all. Love it.