Although Harding got to his knee by the count of nine, he could not beat the count, and Andries was world champion for a third time at the age of thirty-six.
Andries became only the second man to win the world light-heavyweight title three times, the other being Marvin Johnson. In this his third reign, Andries remained busy, successfully defending the title against Sergio Daniel Merani, who he stopped in the 4th round, in London, and then going to Australia to defend against Guy Waters, who he beat comfortably on points.
Fighting in the unusual setting of the Hammersmith Odeon, Cinema, London, the two men fought out 12 rounds of the hardest, and most unforgiving of wars, which made the fight scenes of the Rocky films positively boring by comparison.
Again, Andries made the stronger start, with the iron Aussie seemingly getting stronger as the fight wore on, but with many of the rounds hard to split between Andries wilder, more powerful punches, and Harding straighter, more precise shots. Andries punches seemed to do the more damage in the course of the fight, with Harding again bloodied, and battered by the end.
But, Harding made the stronger finish, with the almost thirty-eight year old, Dennis Andries, visibly wilting in the final two rounds. In the end, Harding was adjudged a contentious winner on points, by a majority decistion, with one judge seeing the fight a draw.
Dennis Andries had lost his world title for the third and last time. Perhaps in a final bow to age, Andries now stepped up to the Cruiserweight division, and for the remaining five years of his career would fight in England and Europe. Now, Andries was taking on men both younger and bigger than him, but still able to handle most of them. In early , he lost a debatable decision to the very useful Akim Tafer for the European Cruiserweight championship in France. Andries never had much luck with European titles it seems.
After his final fight with Jeff Harding, Andries went 6 KOs in his final 15 fights, and included in his victories was a 4th round stoppage win over Crawford Ashley, who was the holder of Andries old British light-heavyweight title.
On 21st January Andries became the oldest man ever to win a British championship when he out-pointed Denzil Browne for the British Cruiserweight title in Glasgow Scotland.
Andries held onto the British title for four months, until being out-pointed by Terry Dunstan, who had been just twelve-years-old, when Andries had first fought for the British light-heavyweight championship. The fighting spirit was still strong, but the body was slowing down now, and Andries lost a rematch to Dunstan in February , although still competitive, Andries was no longer able to fight at the high tempo of his peak.
Nelson would later win the WBO world cruierweight title. After a career spanning 18 years, Andries had compiled a record of 30 KOs with 10 of his defeats coming either in the first three years or the last five years of his career. Dennis Andries is a prime example of what determination and dedication can achieve in the face of criticism and defeat. Almost seventeen years since his last contest, Andries is still generally overlooked, often in favour of fighters who had easier, but more high profile careers, yet, did not achieve half as much as he did.
But, those who appreciate the genuine warriors of boxing know that Andries was one of Britains toughest, and that he carved out a permanent mark in boxing history. Fantastic stuff. Dennis Andries was one of my favourite fighters growing up, not the most pleasing style to watch but a tough tough man and determined with it.
His fights with Jeff Harding are some of best ive ever seen. Great read and glad to see Dennis get the credit he deserves. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Peter Silkov. Comments Fantastic stuff. Great article about an often forgotten British fighter. Thanks for this. Our industry faces testing times, which is why we're asking for your support. Every contribution will help us continue to produce local journalism that makes a measurable difference to our community.
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The fight was scored a draw — Andries suffered a rare knockdown in the ninth after dropping Blanchard in the fifth — but to get Andries a world rating, Steene had to fly to Mexico City and lobby the WBC. I told them I could get Dennis a world-title shot, but needed some backing. Frank Warren contacted me and said he could get the fight on ITV. This debate about his age would continue until the end of his career.
Of more concern for Andries was who would train him for his world-title challenge. Williamson clearly thought a lot of himself, asked for payment to attend press conferences and predicted he would go on to emulate Spinks by moving up and winning heavyweight honours. Usually monosyllabic in interviews, Andries opened up to Fred Burcombe in the News of the World before his world-title challenge. Excuses are made for my opponents. I get bad treatment, they get the good. Before that I was always the substitute.
He kept piling in and it soon became clear Williamson was not an outstanding champion — and that Andries had the beating of him.
The rounds were messy and competitive, but the feeling at ringside was Andries was winning more of them than Williamson, who was cut under his left eye in the fourth.
That brought a big effort from Andries in the 10th, but Williamson responded well in the 11th. It was a split points decision — and there was a new WBC light-heavyweight champion.
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