Ringside Report Looks Back at Boxer Tom Stalker
By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart
It is often said that boxing is a young man’s game. Boxers are analyzed through their upbringings, oftentimes given credit for learning at a young age how to get themselves out of scrapes and challenges that ordinary mortals never experience. The redemption story is based upon the likes of Ali and Mike Tyson – kids likely to get into trouble in their teens rescued by people at a time before things got even more difficult.
But for Tom Stalker, 12-3-3, 2 KOs, a real-life teenage rogue, finding that gym took until he was an 18-year-old tearaway. Finding the sport late, like Anthony Joshua did, Stalker made up for lost time. Eight years after getting to the sport and only seven after his first competitive fight, Stalker was voted the amateur boxer of the year by the Boxing Writer’s Club of Great Britain, and on the cusp of an impressive amateur winning international winning streak.
It was in an interview with trade paper, The Boxing News’ journalist, John Dennen, after announcing his professional retirement that I found Stalker in excellent form and greatly illuminating. Given how he began life, the one disappointment he feels most? “The only loss that hurt me more than anything was the Olympics, getting beat by a point for a medal. That kills me to this day.” That story is to follow but I know that his work ethic was second to none and he trained as hard as he could, as he did for every other fight but his luck was not with him that day.
But “El Capitán” – Stalker was the captain for the British Olympic team in London 2012 – his move into professional boxing was not the success he might have hoped for and not the stunning step up to riches most expected. It was also a career cut short prematurely. His transition to the pros was something he was incredibly honest about to Dennen, “Maybe I was just a three-round fighter. Basically, I think I was. I was fit, I could do the rounds. Something just wasn’t right… I just couldn’t put my finger on it why I couldn’t do it in the pros. I was fit, I had a decent enough chin, I had my amateur background. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if it was my concentration over the rounds. Three rounds, you’re throwing punches, that was great for me because I’m a hyper person anyway. You’ve got think a lot more in the pros.”
His amateur pedigree was impressive, nonetheless. In 2008 he got to the final of the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) championships but lost in the final. Compensation came in the form of a gold medal at the European Union Championships at Cetniewo, Poland. Then, in 2009, he won the ABA championships as a lightweight in his hometown of Liverpool. Then getting a silver at the EU Championships held in Odense.
2010 saw even more success as he won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, beating Josh Taylor in the final, and a silver at the European Championships in Moscow whilst beating Taylor again in the final of the very first GB Championships – once more fighting in a domestic final held in his hometown of Liverpool. Stalker’s success at the European championships was a critical moment for the new GB squad being prepared for London 2012. He told Dennen, “when I beat [Domenico] Valentino, I got out the ring I was crying with emotion, because I knew I beat the World champion. I’d done it.” He was not just beating the likes of amateur world champions like Valentino or future unified world champions like Taylor (twice), but guys like Jeff Horn too.
Now deep in an Olympic cycle, the time was right for Stalker to lay his claim, excitedly, to represent Great Britain, having represented England so well this far, and become one of the prospects for the home Olympic Games in London.
Stalker was now competing at light welterweight and was off to Ankara in 2011 for the European Championships. Despite a win over the previous European gold medallist, the Armenian Hrachik Javakhyan, and getting to the final, he was to be disappointed by losing to the Irishman, Ray Moylette. In Baku, Stalker arrived at the World Championship in the same year, managing to get to the semifinal. A fight earlier in the competition – against Russia’s Alexander Solyanikov had seen him guarantee qualification for the 2012 Olympics but he was unable to get into the final and settled for a bronze – the compensation being that he as going to be an Olympian! Stalker, four years earlier had been hoping to get to Beijing and their Olympiad, but lost out – four years on, it felt very sweet indeed.
What was sweeter was that Stalker was going to become the captain of the team and of the most successful British boxing team ever up to that point. It would also be the first Olympics to allow women to box so for every reason possible, this was the Games to shine at. Seeded, as he was the number 1 ranked in the world, Stalker got a bye into the round of 16. He faced a challenging fight against the Indian Manoj Kumar and beat him in a very tough contest. He then went in against Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg of Mongolia who was ranked number 2. In front of a crowd of 10,000 people Stalker, in the quarter finals, within a sniff of a medal, lost. It was contentious to say the least and in the interest of balance GB boxing had already benefitted from some questionable decisions, so perhaps this one not going in their favour was some form of karma.
Stalker, like so many took to social media to give his views as he posted on Twitter, “Absolutely heartbroken… them judges have Wrecked my life! From the bottom of my heart i won that fight and there’s nothin I can do about it.”
That heartbreak as he saw the likes of Anthony Joshua – one time roommate – get a gold medal meant that he simply could not countenance another Olympic cycle. as he told Dennen, “I couldn’t have done another four-year cycle and go through the whole competitions and everything. [I thought] I can’t do that again.”
Stalker signed with Matchroom after the Games to become a professional.
The problem he had was initially that this amazing amateur boxer might not be suited to the professional game. Having won his debut on the on 23rd of February 2013 against journeyman Kristian Laight on points in York Hall, got the star treatment when his debut was titled, Stalker and the Prizefighters, with an undercard with the heavyweight Prizefighter tournament that included Audley Harrison – a former Olympic Gold medalist who also did not make it in the pro game. He told Dennen how it impressed him, but also how he kept his feet firmly on the ground, “Eddie Hearn gave me the big dressing room… But that’s just boxing. When you’re the star attraction it’s all for you. But when you’re not doing so well… That’s what I say to fighters, it’s alright when you’re doing well and everything’s going good, but then boxing if you lose, I think when you do lose, take a defeat, you do need a good team behind you to get you back where you’re going. Pro boxing’s a business. So, if you don’t sell tickets, you’ve got to be a superstar.”
Early on in his career, Stalker moved promotionally – so he was not that impressed – to Queensberry and Frank Warren. In Liverpool, on the 25th of October 2013 he faced Jack Catterall for the WBO European super lightweight belt. Stalker hit the deck in rounds one and two and was stopped. And with trademark honesty he never ducked responsibility ads it was a fight he had chosen. “The story with Jack, I’d done a lot of sparring with him before it. I chose to fight him over Chris Jenkins. They said box Chris Jenkins for the British [title] or Catterall for the WBO [European], I thought I’ll get a world ranking and go that way. I thought it would be an easier fight because I done a lot of sparring with him. [In the fight] he was hitting me with the jab in the first round and I thought f****** hell.”
If a boxing career need anything, it needs momentum. Every time that Stalker arrived in the ring, we all hope that he was going to finally get a belt, pursue a ranking and make a world title. One man, Craig Evans, kept popping up to prevent him. In Manchester on the 10th of October 2015 for the vacant WBO European lightweight belt, he drew. On the 19th of December, back in Manchester in the same year, they rematched, with the same result – a split decision draw.
By now social media smelled blood and the abuse he was getting was disgraceful. For someone who was one of Britain’s greatest ever amateur it was tough to bear – really too tough. He did get the WBO European lightweight belt when on the 4th of June 2016, back home, in Liverpool, Stalker beat Antonio Joao Bento widely on points to suggest he might just be getting a grip with the pros.
Then he defended it.
Against Craig Evans.
On the 26th of November, in Cardiff.
And lost the belt by majority decision.
He would fight twice more. A perfunctory win against Chris Adaway led to a Commonwealth championship fight against Sean “Masher” Dodd. Both were local to Liverpool and on the 30th of September 2017, they clashed at Liverpool’s Echo Arena and Dodd won widely on points. Stalker knew his time in the sport, within the square circle was over. “I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought I’m not going to get past British level, European level. I’m not going to be in a fight for a world title. I don’t think I was good enough to fight for a world title. So, I thought why take the punches? When there’s life after boxing.”
Stalker, not for the first time, found that move from the unpaid ranks to golden pathways of the professional fight game one that had too many slippy pathways to navigate. Having retired he never had the temptation to return. Ever. Of his pro career he said, “I had three good fights with Evans and then the ‘Masher’ Dodd thing was probably the icing on the cake.”
Along with what he did in the amateurs, it’s not a bad summing up, not bad at all…
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