'He tried to train himself out of it': Friends and fighters recall devastating cancer death of Moss Side boxing hero Phil Martin in new documentary
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA new documentary will tell the story of the remarkable life and untimely death of Moss Side boxing hero Phil Martin Using rare archive footage and featuring interviews with several Manchester boxing legends, M14: A Moss Side Story looks at how how Phil, a former British title contender in the 1970s, built Champs Camp in the aftermath of the 1981 Moss Side riots.
Driven by a fearsome sense of drive and discipline, within a few years he'd established a stable of champions and restored pride to the streets of Moss Side.
But his success was cut short in devastating fashion. In 1993 Phil revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer. Read more: How boxing hero Phil Martin restored pride to the streets of riot-torn Moss Side Former British light-heavyweight champion Maurice Core tells the doumentary how the news sent shockwaves through the close-knit gym. "Because we know Phil and we know him well, we always thought that Phil would beat this," Maurice, who now runs Champs Camp, says. "And he would always say 'I'll beat this cancer', and we would believe him, because we always had that belief in him and nothing at all could knock Phil down.
Then one day he said he had six weeks to live." Former Olympian Eric Noi, who now runs Oldham Boxing & Personal Development Centre, said: "I remember him being on the treadmill, running.
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