become a world champion. Michael Katz of The New York Times wrote after his victory over John Feeney that "the guy (Owen) can't punch. If he could he would be illegal because he's got so much else." Owen was also praised for his sportsmanship towards other fighters. Idris Sutton, who trained Owen from an early age, described him as "a real gentleman. I never saw him throw a foul punch or do anything dirty... If he saw his opponent slipping, he would stand back and give him a chance to get up. He... would never look to take advantage of an accident. And if you beat him fair and square he'd be the first to shake your hand." Lupe Pintor later described his admiration of Owen, remarking that he "was very honorable because he had determination, not only the determination of winning but representing a society, his people, that's the greatest thing I admired about him, his will, his hunger, that's something that made him very special." Legacy A year after his death, a pub in Merthyr named The Matchstick Man opened. The following year, a plaque was unveiled at Prince Charles Hospital after some of the money donated to charity by Owen's family had been given to the establishment. The Johnny Owen Courage Award and the Johnny Owen Carer's Award are presented annually at the hospital. A community centre, named the Johnny Owen Centre, was built on the Gurnos Estate in Merthyr shortly following his death in 1980. The building was demolished in 2018 after the owner, Merthyr Valley Homes, deemed it to be too costly to modernise. In 2002, a statue of Owen was erected in his hometown Merthyr at a cost of £40,000. His family attended the ceremony during which the statue was unveiled by Pintor, who travelled from his home country to attend. The same year, Dick Owens travelled to Mexico to meet with Pintor as part of the BBC Four documentary Johnny Owen: The Long Journey in which the two men met for the first time since 1980. The documentary won two BAFTA awards for best documentary drama and best direction in the Welsh production category. Historian Martin Johnes has argued that Owen was an "emblematic figure who represented both the ideals of Welsh working-class communities and their suffering and courage in the face of adversity and tragedy". Johnes' research demonstrates how Owen's story was