On this day in 1986: Herol Graham stops Mark Kaylor at Wembley

Mark Kaylor retired in the eighth of a scheduled 12 rounds as Graham retained the European middleweight title at Wembley Arena.

Herol Graham kept his European middleweight title 40 years ago today, when Mark Kaylor retired in the eighth round of a scheduled 12 at Wembley Arena in London. The victory on 4 November 1986 left a continental title in the hands of a boxer who stands among the best Britain produced in the post-war era.

Graham, born on 13 September 1959, was 27 on the night and eight years into a professional career that began in 1978. The retirement settled the contest inside the distance, so the judges played no part in the result, and he left Wembley still European champion.

That career ran until 1998, a span of 20 years, and included three challenges for a world title. None brought him the championship, and the gap shapes how he is remembered: he is generally acknowledged as one of the best British boxers of the post-war era never to win a world title.

His record backs up that regard. Graham beat three champions in Lindell Holmes, Ayub Kalule and Vinny Pazienza, and the defence against Kaylor sits on the same ledger, a European title retained in London.

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