Roger Menetrey

Roger Menetrey
Roger Menetrey (2014)
Data
Birth Name	Roger Menetrey
Weight class	Welterweight
nationality	French
birthday	June 16, 1945
place of birth	Annemasse , Haute-Savoie
style	Left-hand boom
Combat Statistics
Struggles	59
Victories	52
Knockout victories	42
Defeats	6th
draw	1

Roger Menetrey (born June 16, 1945 in Annemasse , Haute-Savoie , France) is a former French boxer . He was European champion in the professional welterweight boxers (up to 69 kg).

Career

Roger Menetrey initially played football as a teenager, but was also interested in boxing and started boxing at the age of 16, relatively late, at the Boxing Club Annecien in Annecy . He showed a lot of talent and was a very successful amateur boxer.

In 1967 he decided to become a professional boxer. He stayed in Annecy and was managed by Armand Coullebeaut. He completed his first fight on November 4, 1967 in Annecy and defeated his French compatriot Rene Carpentier by knockout in the 2nd round. It soon became apparent that Roger Menetrey's strength was the enormous punch he had in his right fist. So it is not surprising that he won almost 70% of his 59 fights, which he played up to the end of his career in 1974, prematurely by knockout. But if he couldn't get through with his punching power, he got into trouble with technically adept opponents. So z. B. happened on April 19, 1969 in Geneva, when he lost on points against the outsider Lakdar El Harizi from Tunisia. In the revenge he won on June 7, 1968 in Geneva against this opponent by technical knockout in the 4th round.

After 31 fights, of which he had won 29 and lost one in a draw, he boxed on November 17, 1969 in Paris for the French welterweight championship and beat Jean Josselin by technical knockout in the 6th round. That was his first title win as a professional. He defended this title three times. On January 26, 1970 in Paris by a knockout victory in the 5th round over Robert Gallois , on June 13th 1970 in Grenoble by a technical knockout victory in the 5th round over Yvon Mariolle and on October 2, 1970 in Paris by a technical knockout victory in the 5th round over Guy Vercoutter.

On March 22, 1971, Roger Menetrey was defeated in Paris in a non-title fight after 10 rounds against the experienced ex-world champion (WBC and WBA) in super light weight Sandro Lopopolo from Italy on points. Nevertheless, he was able to box as a challenger on June 4, 1971 in Geneva for the European championship (EBU) in welterweight against the Briton Ralph Charles and defeated him by technical knockout in the 7th round. This made him European Champion (EBU). On November 26, 1971, he defended this title in Geneva with a technical knockout victory in the 13th round over the Italian Silvano Bertini . Then he took 4th place in the world rankings of the WBC boxing association in the February 1972 issue of the English trade journal "Boxing News".

In 1972, he defended his European title three times. On March 13, 1972 in Paris by a knockout victory in the 5th round over Robert Gallois, on June 22, 1972 in Copenhagen by a knockout victory in the 10th round over the Dane Jörgen Hansen (boxer) and on the 9th December 1972 in Grenoble in a successful revenge through a technical knockout victory in the 13th round over Sandor Lopopolo. In the world rankings of the US American trade journal "The Ring" he was in July 1972 in the welterweight division in 3rd place and in November 1972 in 4th place.

On June 23, 1973 he boxed as a challenger in Grenoble of 12,000 spectators against the Cuban exile José Nápoles for the WBC and WBA world welterweight titles. In the run-up to this fight, Roger Menetrey had suffered a protracted injury to his batting hand, which he was therefore unable to use fully in this fight. He lost this fight unanimously on points and Napoles remained world champion. On November 5, 1973, Roger Menetrey was able to defend his European title in Paris by winning points over the Spaniard Jose Gonzalez Dopico again. On May 27, 1974 he lost this title to the Englishman John H. Stracey , a young aspiring boxer against whom he surprisingly had no chance due to technical knockout in the 8th round.

After this defeat, he decided to end his boxer career at the age of 29. He then became a successful businessman (breweries and hotelier).

Title fights from Roger Menetrey

year	place	Championship title	Weight class	Result
1969	Paris	from France	Welter	Techn. Knockout victory in the 6th round over Jean Josselin
1970	Paris	from France	Welter	KO victory in the 5th round over Robert Gallois
1970	Grenoble	from France	Welter	Techn. Knockout victory in the 5th round over Yvon Mariolle
1970	Paris	from France	Welter	Techn. Knockout victory in the 5th round over Gay Vercoutter
1971	Geneva	of Europe (EBU)	Welter	Techn. Knockout win in the 7th round over Ralph Charles, United Kingdom
1971	Geneva	of Europe (EBU)	Welter	Technical knockout victory in the 13th round over Silvano Bertini, Italy
1972	Paris	of Europe (EBU)	Welter	KO victory in the 5th round over Robert Gallois, France
1972	Copenhagen	of Europe (EBU)	Welter	KO victory in the 10th round over Jörgen Hansen, Denmark
1972	Grenoble	of Europe (EBU)	Welter	Technical knockout victory in the 13th round over Sandro Lopopolo, Italy
1973	Grenoble	the world (WBC and WBA)	Welter	Point defeat after 15 rounds against Jose Napoles, Cuba (Mexico)
1973	Paris	of Europe (EBU)	Welter	Points victory after 15 laps over Jose Gonzalez Dopico, Spain
1974	Paris	of Europe (EBU)	Welter	Techn. Knockout loss in the 8th round against John H. Stracey, United Kingdom

Explanations

• EBU = European Boxing Union
• WBC = World Boxing Council
• WBA = World Boxing Association

literature

• Box Sport magazine

Web links

• Roger Menetrey in the BoxRec database
• "Roger le Punch" film report on Roger Menetrey