There are people who keep fighting even when the odds are against them, and then there are those who give up. Frankston resident and former world featherweight boxing title-holder Johnny Famechon is part of the former group.

This King of Moomba and inductee into the Australia Sport Hall of Fame, World Boxing Hall of Fame, Frankston Hall of Fame and Legend Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame just keeps going.

“The first fight is the biggest,” he explains. “There are no more nerves after that. You’ve got to knock them out before they get you.

“I knew boxing was for me when I punched the bag for the first time at 16.  Ambrose Palmer (trainer) got me ready.”

Jean-Pierre Famechon was born in Paris in 1945 and grew up in Melbourne.  He won 56 of his 67 featherweight bouts and drew six.  “I don’t like draws. You want to win,” he insists.

Then he got hit by a car while jogging in Sydney in 1991. It took him seven years to recover with the help of wife Glenys and clinical counsellor Ragnar Purjie. He’s also written two autobiographies (Fammo and The Method).

Gary Luscombe, a supporter of the Johnny Famechon Statue Project, which is assisting the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame to raise $128,000 to complete and erect a 2.1m bronze statue of Johnny in Ballam Park Frankston, says: “Johnny is a Frankston and Australian sporting legend.”

Log on to johnnyfamechonstatue.com to donate directly or find out more by calling Gary on 0433 712 323.  They need $42,700 to seal the deal.