Yes, I'm getting on a bit, but have I lost it when I think of all we've said about Mick McMichael and now found him as British middleweight champion?
I came across a listing of 22nd June 1974 at Belle Vue with Mick McMichael knocking out Brian Maxine to win the British Middleweight title. My first (second and third thought) was that none of our records are official and this must be one of those mistakes handed down by fans over the years. My fourth thought was I needed another drink.
But Ron Historyo (who else?) found popular Mick defending his belt the following month.
Here's the KINGS HALL Programme for One of the BRITISH MIDDLEWEIGHT Title
Encounters between MICK MCMICHAEL and BRIAN GOLDBELT MAXINE in JULY
1974 at BELLE VUE!
Interestingly though the word CHAMPION/HOLDER and CHALLENGER are Omitted
from beneath the Wrestler's Names BUT MCMICHAEL is Billed ABOVE MAXINE-
The Usual Format of the Champion Promoted!
Programme-Courtesy of IAN PRINGLE!!
MAIN MASK
I would compare this to Tom Thumb's run as European Lightweight Champion in 29th October 1985 when he beat Jim Breaks in Chelmsford. Most people didn't know about that until Neil Evans himself talked about it and produced newspaper cuttings hyping up the 21st January 1986 return match with Breaks a couple of years ago on Facebook.
Well HACK!-Just to Further Compound Matters!!##??-Here's Popular MICK Sporting
his Half of the EUROPEAN MIDDLEWEIGHT TAG Champions Title Belt!!
Looks Vaguely Similar to The Official MOUNTEVANS Straps too!!
MM
In the very early years of satellite TV one the commentators for Screensport Wrestling claimed that Brian Maxine was about to appear in the Guinness Book of Records for holding his Middleweight Belt for so long!
I woke up in a sweat last night.
After discovering this about Mick McMichael I dreamt that Leon Fortuna was World Welterweight champion.
I saw Maxine in his latter years at Worthing. Still posing with the belt......that he never defended........We were there 2003 - 2005 so well into his sixties, and boy it showed........
There is a 2007 LDN match on You Tube with Maxine versus Johnny Kidd.By then aged 69 years he appears with his Middleweight belt which we are told he held undefeated for 25 years .With no mention of the fact that he never seemed to defend if or even have matches with some of the far better middleweights you were around in those years
Very much a local angle. We dont have many matches for McMichael in his championship reign, mostly against different weights. Think he lost to Joynson one night.
It could be a local only angle, a disputed title change that was "cleared up" in a rematch the following month.
Interesting though!
From Ray's files, Belle Vue, June & July 1974. If these are incorrect please let me know:
JUNE
1st;BELLE VUE;Borgs bt Breakaways;Elijah bt Curry-tech disq;McMichael bt Maxine;Tibor bt Matu
8th;BELLE VUE;Kellett kod Sharron;Saint bt Naylor;Lees bt Rudge-DISQ;Penzekoff bt Best
15th;BELLE VUE;Dangermen bt St Clairs;Bartelli bt Davies-DISQ;J.Robinson bt Heath;Masambula kod Martin
22nd; BELLE VUE;McMichael kod Maxine(BRIT MIDDLES TITLE);Kellett bt Rudge-DISQ Dennison NC Torontos;Wilson kod McGrath
29th no bill for this date
JULY
6th;BELLE VUE;Breston 2-0 Steel;St Clairs bt Dangermen;Rocco bt Naylor;Penzekoff DKO Wilson
13th;BELLE VUE;Kowalski DKO Cox;Kilmeister bt Davies-DISQ;Dennison stpd Rudge;Harris bt Al Martin
20th;BELLE VUE;Saint bt Breaks;Breston stpd Rudge;P.Mitchell bt Wilson-DISQ Maxine bt McMichael (BRIT MIDDLES TITLE)
27th;BELLE VUE;Faulkner DKO Rocco;Royal bt Abbotts;Ginsberg bt Kirkwood;Marino 1-1 Roberts
Probably the best Mick McMichael fight on You Tube is the June 1976 match versus Peter Kaye.Very unusually McMichael won but in the commentary we are informed "he has always wanted to win a title but never has whatever weight he has tried"!
No
McMichael won the belt, June 22. That 15/7 bill cant be right as its a Saturday bill, and 15/7 was a monday. That one needs checking Ron
Blow me down.
How has this slipped under our radar?
The problem on here is that we have so few reliable fans who attended Belle Vue ☺☺☺ I hope you are hanging your heads in shame. As my headmaster used to roar when there was a theft - you know who you are!!!
It strikes me that this was a forerunner to Royal dropping his belt briefly to Logan for a few weeks. We had assumed this was some kind of reward for Logan. Maybe we have been over-thinking it. Maybe Logan and Popular Mick were just 100% trustworthy and wouldn't debunk with the belt. The promoter was hard pressed to put on weekly ten or twelve-man spectacular bills whilst maintaining a level of variety and interest, particularly in July with the weekly or twice-weekly South coast shows demanding the big names appear. Title matches are always of importance and worthy of top of the bill. Job done.
We can imagine that Maxine v McMichael was a series of four bouts: normal; return challenge; title; return title and back to normality.
BTW, Eddie and others talk about doubling and tripling up on a single night at Manchester independent venues. I'm wondering whether this very early start allowed wrestlers to double up for Joint Promotions on a Saturday night in the vicinity?
Back to the feud in question. That Spring evening in 1974, each and every knowing fan attending Belle Vue would have said to themselves: this is a formality, no way will Goldbelt drop his title to this Terrier. And they were wrong.
Wrestling could be quite predictable so these mega-surprises are jewels in the crown. Well done, Hack.