Bomber command: how Herol Graham ruled boxing 40 years ago

He stopped well-fancied American Lindell Holmes in five rounds in the open air at Sheffield United's football stadium.

Referee Mickey Vann stopped the contest after Graham inflicted a serious cut on the face of the Michigan man.

It was a moment of sporting history for Sheffield boxing and an atmosphere that few people who attended will ever forget.

Ironically, the win for Graham did not turn out to be a step on a pathway towards a world title.

Conversely, that honour went to Holmes, who went on to become IBF world super middleweight kingpin.

But the spectacle can still be cherished as part of the rich and colourful story of Bomber Graham, now aged 64, one of the most extraordinarily-gifted boxers to come out of the Ingle camp in Wincobank.

And it can be seen as a precursor for the use of football grounds as boxing venues - with the next one being Callum Simpson at Barnsley FC on August 3.

Glyn Rhodes, now owner of Sheffield Boxing Centre, Hillsborough was supposed to have been competing on the under card, that night of July 22, 1984.

"I can't remember why, but my fight was pulled from the show, so I got a ticket and went to see it" he recalls.

"I can remember Herol standing Holmes on his head, the American never gave him a problem at all.

"Holmes was a good fighter but he just wasn't in Bomber's class, that day.

"The atmosphere was really good.

"There were some people allowed on the pitch, but it wasn't like when Kell Brook fought Errol Spence Jr there at Bramall Lane, (2007,) most of the spectators were in one stand.

"There hadn't been many shows at football grounds around that time, but I do remember one at Loftus Road (Barry McGuigan v Eusebio Pedroza) before (1985.)

"It was a forerunner for many others to come."

Rhodes remembers it was a horrible night for Rotherham super middleweight Mick Mills, who was up against Londoner John Ridgman.

"Mick had his jaw broken; it was a bad one" he recalled.

The third-round stoppage put Mick out of the sport for 15 months.

Ryan Rhodes, who runs the Southpaw gym in Shalesmoor, was also at the event.

"I was only about seven years old but my mum took me to the show," he said.

"I remember it was a nice sunny day.

"The other thing that sticks in my mind is Brendan (Ingle) saying, for months, how much money he had he'd lost promoting that event at Bramall Lane because people had been jumping the walls to get in!

"The ground wasn't like it is today, people easily got over a low wall."

Here are 10 things you might not know about the Graham v Holmes classic.

* It wasn't the first football ground boxing bill in the city. Some 13,500 turned up to watch Henry Hall in 1948 - although there are varying accounts of whether this took place at Bramall Lane or Hillsborough. The welterweight also performed on bills at Crystal Palace FC and Tottenham Hotspurs' grounds.

* Lindell, working out of the famed Kronk gym in Detroit, was a replacement after another American fighter, Curtis Parker who had withdrawn.

* Four days prior to the fight, Ingle persuaded Graham to join him on Fargate, in the city centre, drumming up support with a loadhailer and a sandwich board.

* The fight eventually attracted around 7,000 people and took place directly underneath the "new" Cherry Street stand.

* Lindell's corner said referee Vann was wrong to stop the fight for what was a "little nick."

* It was Graham's 27th straight victory.

* Brendan's wife Alma wrote a letter to The Star thanking the public for their "heart warming support."

* Herol won his next 11 scraps but lost a European match up against Sumbu Kalambay on points at Wembley Arena in 1987.

* Despite being born in Nottingham, he is revered as one of the best boxing craftsman to have come through the Sheffield fight scene.

* While he has suffered bouts of ill health over the years, Bomber, told The Star in November that he had found happiness.