Gary Stretch

Gary Stretch (born 4 November 1965) is an English actor, former boxer and former model.

Early life

Gary Stretch was brought up in the Haresfinch area of St. Helens, Merseyside, where he was born. His father was a plumber. He attended the town's Cowley High School.

Boxing

A left-handed fighter, Stretch boxed most of his career as a light-middleweight, rising to become British champion in that division.

Stretch won the WBC International Light Middleweight title, beating Ramon Angel Alegre at the London Arena on 14 February 1990, the fight billed as Valentines Day Massacre. Stretch stopped the tough Argentine in the 6th round of a very one sided contest. Stretch relinquished the title due to a management dispute with Frank Warren and subsequently sat out his contract. Stretch's return to the ring came in 1991 when he challenged Chris Eubank for the WBO world middleweight championship in London, in a fight billed as "Beauty V the Best". Stretch suffered a cut behind the ear in the first round and was shaken by an uppercut in the third. Eubank was down twice in the fight, in the second and third rounds, and was cut badly in the fourth round by a straight left hand from Stretch. The doctor was called at the end of round 5 to look at Eubank, (the cut later needed 16 stitches) advising the referee to stop the fight. The referee gave the Eubank corner the famous 'one more round' advance notice speech. In the sixth round Stretch had a point deducted for pushing Eubank onto the canvas; Stretch was then shaken by a right hand from Eubank and subsequently took a standing eight count. The fight was stopped in Eubank's favor, a stoppage that was very controversial. All three judges had Stretch ahead on the scorecard at the time of the stoppage.