Former British boxer Gary Mason dies in an accident
Former British Boxing champion Gary Mason died in a cycling accident. The 48-year-old died on the spot after he was hit by a van while he was cycling in South London.
The driver of the van had stopped after the incident but was later arrested by police on suspicion of reckless driving. The 43-year-old driver was driving a Vauxhall van and was taken to the South London police station.
A spokesman for the South London police told, “Officers were alerted at about 6.15am yesterday to a van in collision with a bicycle on Sandy Lane South, near the junction with Woodcote Road, Wallington. The cyclist, aged 48 years, was pronounced dead at
the scene.”
The police were collecting witnesses from the spot and stated that further inquiries would be made after the post-mortem at the St Helier Hospital. Police also urged any potential eyewitnesses to contact them.
Mason was a Jamaica-born boxer and was known for his toughness throughout his ten-year career. He fought 38 professional matches from 1984-94. He only lost once during his entire career.
The match he lost was in 1991 against Lennox Lewis. It was a title defence match for Lewis which was fought in the Wembley Arena. Although Mason lost the match but it was considered the best match of his career.
He was also carrying an eye injury before the match which was considered to be one of the reasons for his defeat. Mason was the favourite before the start of the match but Lewis defeated him in the seventh round.
The eye injury was caused to Mason during a match with Everett Martin in 1990. He retired after the injury but then made a comeback to the sport after he recovered. Apart from boxing, Mason also featured in three rugby league matches for London Crusaders.
Soon after the death of Mason, boxing promoter Frank Maloney said on radio, “Everyone had the greatest of respect for Gary. When times were bad Gary always had a smile on his face; he's going to be sadly missed by a lot of people.”
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