Boxing has lost a true gentleman in the shape of Alexis Arguello this week.

Of course he was the man who took my world title off me back in 1981 but the first thing I will always remember about him was what a classy operator he was - in and out of the ring.

Back then trash-talking seemed to be the order of the day and in my previous two fights I'd had both Charlie Nash and Howard Davis Jr telling me and the world what they were going to do to me. All that was, and is stupid, rubbish, and I hated it.

Watt and Arguello: old foes and old friends (copyright Ed Robinson)

Then over came Alexis from Nicaragua and the first thing he did was shake my hand, say how pleased he was to meet me and then pose for photos. The way he conducted himself then will always be my abiding memory of him.

We bumped into each other plenty of times over in Las Vegas, where we were both doing commentary work, and we always exchanged pleasantries. We didn't really get to know each other very well, but it was always a pleasure to see him. I saw him not long ago in Los Angeles for the Oscar de la Hoya-Stevie Forbes fight and he was just the same. We had a good chat and it was nice to catch up.

But it was not really that nice fighting him! He had just moved up from super-featherweight and was my mandatory challenger - back then you just fought the best around, simple as that - but he was still incredibly tall for a lightweight. How he had made featherweight, I'll never know!

Precise

That meant he was exceptionally good at long range. And even at distance he could put plenty of power into his shots. He was also a very precise puncher and rarely wasted them. He would wait until he was right in front of you to let them go and of course, was out of my range most of the night.

It made it an uphill struggle for me and from the halfway point I realised that my world title was going to be taken away from me - and there was little I could do about it.

Taking my WBC belt meant that Alexis became a world champion at three different weights which, unlike now, was almost unheard of. I think he was only the sixth man to do it and you have to bare in mind that back then there were only two titles to go for.

There were none of the back-door routes and various organisations open to today's boxers and I can't begin to think how many titles Arguello would've ended up with today!

He was a huge name in the sport and always will be, but he never really had the same crossover appeal as the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns or Marvin Hagler.

Even on Wednesday when I heard the news, I was listening to the radio reporting the sad death of Mollie Sugden and then wondered whether Alexis would get a mention. He didn't, but everyone in boxing knows what he meant to the sport.

Vacated

I do remember he was set up for a fight with Roberto Duran, but blew it by losing to Vilomar Fernandez. I don't think he would have beaten Duran, but even fighting him would've made Alexis a much bigger name.

But the fact is he never lost a world title in the ring. He always moved up and vacated or lost when his title wasn't on the line, yet he will probably be best remembered for those two light-welterweight title fights with Aaron Pryor.

I wouldn't like to comment on the bottle incident in the first, but it was a helluva fight. Alexis lost the rematch of course, but there was no shame in that because Pryor was a very good fighter with an incredible engine.

Alexis tried to make a comeback eight years later and that was really the start of his problems. They were no secret and I think I am right in saying he was taken to hospital after attempting to commit suicide a few years back.

But I will always remember him as a gentleman. As we all did then, he took on the best around and was one of the first to win world titles at three different weights - and did so with class.

It is another sad loss to the world of boxing...

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