Reading the Feb 5th issue remanded me of what a servant to wrestling was Mike Marino. I never saw the bout for the World Junior Heavyweight belt in 1951 against then-holder Mike DeMitre, but neither had I ever heard of an American-style bout back then - 100 minutes without a fall? Wow! I'd have loved to have seen that. More to the point, in the same article it tells of Marino defending his then World mid-heavyweight belt in February 1981 - 30 years later - against Le Grand Vladimir at the age of 60! I saw him fight many times, although mainly after he signed with Paul Lincoln, and was lucky enough to speak with him for an article. I agreed to use his ring name because writing about wrestling back then, you almost had to think like a wrestler! Most on here will know what I mean. So how sad was it that whilst he was still active as a wrestler and still holder of three belts including the World, European and British mid-heavyweight titles, that in that same year of 1981, he should suddenly die just before a scheduled bout against Big Jim Harris. Did he go on too long? Probably. But he certainly died as a wrestling legend and the Mike Marino Shield was the very least that his legacy deserved. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me using his real name now, so a million thanks to Mike Harrison for the years of pleasure he gave wrestling fans....

I was just looking through the A-Z section to look up the history of Docker Don Steadman but - and it's possible I just missed his name - I couldn't see anything there. Did I just miss his name or did he not warrant a mention? I did find a brief sentence under The Bermondsey Boys, but nothing else. He was often on Paul Lincoln promotions during the 1960s - often up against Judo Al Hayes, Bob Kirkwood and other 'faces' of the day. Did I just miss his entry, which wouldn't surprise me as my years advance at a rate of knots...!

How sad to read that Mark 'Rollerball' Rocco had died. Whenever he was on the bill then you knew you'd get at least one blockbuster fight! And if that happened to be against Marty Jones then you were in for a real treat! I remember one particular bout at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon in around 1978 where you just couldn't believe the violence they were showing towards each other. The whole bout was just years ahead of its time and whenever I saw them both on a bill against each other, I would try to go. Sincerest sympathies to his family. We;ll miss you Mark...

I enjoyed reading about the Paul Lincoln creation of the Wild Man of Borneo. It must have been around 1960 when I first saw him at the Hackney Empire against - from memory - Judo Al Hayes with the result being a double DQ after Hayes had been busted open quite badly. On the same bill, Ray Hunter was up against Mike Marino and towards the end, in ambles the Wild Man of Borneo to knock out Marino. The whole theatre was up in arms against this new "freak" but couldn't wait to see him again. Just one of the reasons why I always preferred Paul Lincoln to Joint Proms back then...