Bruce Woodcock/The British Empire Heavyweight Champion(1946)

[Brutu]

Here is is fighting George James.


http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=23635


and

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=49299

[Brutu]

More Bruce Woodcock(from 1946)
vrs-Renet
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=26475

vrs George Martin
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=26932
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=55187

[granberry]

Woodcock beat a lot of good fighters. He stopped Gus Lesnevitch, Lee Oma, and Freddie Mills.

What would have been a nice international fight for the heavyweight title between Woodcock and Joe Louis was ruined when Woodcock lost to Tami Mauriello.

He was stopped by Tami Mauriello in 5 rounds in a fight in Madison Square Garden.

That stopped Woodcock from getting a title shot against Joe Louis, who was now back from WWII and defending his title again.

Mauriello got the fight against Louis instead as a result of his win over Woodcock.

[TheGreatA]

The British wanted to recognize Woodcock as the heavyweight champion after Louis's retirement but Lee Savold upset the odds and stopped Woodcock in 4 rounds. That fight along with the following loss to Jack Gardner signified the end of his career.

[dempseyfire]

Interesting footage. He seems to have been overly-reliant on his big right hand.

[Brutu]

here are some news items pertaining to the Woodcock-Maurello fight of 1946 .(training footage only)

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=23653

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=26623

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=23642


http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=13495

[Mimmy]

Apart from me has anyone else ever met Bruce when he was alive.

My memories are seeing Bruce most mornings walking his dogs, before 'bottleing' up in his local boozer 'The Tumbler'

I remember when Bruce moved to Balby near Doncaster and soemone tried to rob him i think he was in his 70's and gave the theif a pasteing it made the Free Press.

[BARNEYKX]

I remember Woodcock in the Kings Hall Belfast giving an exhibition ?? Carrol i think he was Woodcocks brother in law maybe was the sparring partner that night,cannot now remember the year or the bill he was on

[BARNEYKX]

WOODCOCK V MILLS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XWwLeXzoTs

[HomicideHenry]

Bruce Woodcock was one of my all-time favorite British heavyweights!!!

Thanks for the YouTube links!

[jaclem2]

..i can't get youtube or those other links showing fights on my computer, so i've never seen woodcock fight. the ring magazine covrring his fight with mauriello and other write ups lead me to think he fought in the "classic" European style - - chin tucked a bit behind the left shoulder, left jab to set up the big right hand punch. the mauriello fight granberry mentions was interesting, woodcock was ahead and doing well until mauriello got his one big punch over and kayoed him. woodcock was so pleased though, with the press he got from the american writers. he said you'd think he won the fight by the way they covered the fight.

granberry also mentions how that eliminated a big fight with joe louis. in a way it helped jersey joe walcott get his title shot. the next most promising fight (after mauriello) was to be against american joe baksi. but baksi, something of a nut case, dropped a decision to ollie tanberg of sweden. this left no promising contender. so jersey joe was selected. he was held in such little regard that the ny boxing commission wanted to call it an exhibition, but nat flescher said anytime a heavyweight champion steps into the ring his title is on the line as neither fighter can come in over the weight. we all know the rest of the story.

[Brutu]

Brief scene of Bruce Woodcock,along with Eric Boon,Henry Cooper and George Best at at the Savoy Hotel for Dailey Express
Sportmen of the Year awards in 1969.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=46283

[granberry]

Brief scene of Bruce Woodcock,along with Eric Boon,Henry Cooper and George Best at at the Savoy Hotel for Dailey Express
Sportmen of the Year awards in 1969.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=46283

Brutu,

Tell us about Pathe.

I had heard years ago from a US film collector that the Corbett-Tunney sparring session was on Pathe (I THINK that's what it was) and that he had no way to convert it to the type of machinery he had access to.

[Brutu]

Pathe News began around 1911 in America.
I dont know if there is a database of news reel clips like the British Pathe web site,but I think theyre working on it.
May perhaps be more info at this site.

http://www.filmpreservation.org/filmpla ... enews.html

[granberry]

Pathe News began around 1911 in America.
I dont know if there is a database of news reel clips like the British Pathe web site,but I think theyre working on it.
May perhaps be more info at this site.

http://www.filmpreservation.org/filmpla ... enews.html

Does the Pathe require a special machine to play the films?

[Brutu]

I would think it would be on 16 or 35mm safety film,because if its on silver nitrate film they had better get it to a film preservation society real fast.
Maybe the guy is pulling your leg.
Thats sounds like the old video that the moon landing was originally recorded on and the machines are almost obsolete,and if they dont find the originall moon landing video-tapes,they may not be able to restore them due to no machines available.

[granberry]

I would think it would be on 16 or 35mm safety film,because if its on silver nitrate film they had better get it to a film preservation society real fast.
Maybe the guy is pulling your leg.
Thats sounds like the old video that the moon landing was originally recorded on and the machines are almost obsolete,and if they dont find the originall moon landing video-tapes,they may not be able to restore them due to no machines available.

I may have the word Pathe wrong,

but the film collector told me he had film of the Corbett-Tunney sparring session but did not have the proper equipment at the time to play it-- or copy it--because of the type of film it was.

[dempseyfire]

There is footage of Corbett and Tunney sparring online . . .I'll look for the link.

[Brutu]

Here is a link again to the Tunney-Corbett sparring session on Pathex 9.5 mm film ca.1925 which could have only been shown on a
Pathe Baby projector.
It was an early home movie projection system,
(click on the small arrow on the lower left of the second Pathex label image on web page,as I was trying were to play video 5 minutes there)

http://www.orphanfilmsymposium.blogspot ... cture.html

[Brutu]

There were reports in 1927 that the Tunney-Dempsey II fight was seen on Pathex.
But it has been thought that it may actually have been a Kodak 16 mm reduction print of the official Tunney-Dempsey II fight that they were
actually seeing at home of the fight, as the Tunney-Dempsey fight was not listed in the Pathex catalog of the time.
However of course that would not mean that the reel(s) did not exist.
(each reel was about 3 minutes in length).
If it was filmed by Pathe it was most likely filmed from the audience by a different camera then the official version.

here is a link to Pathex films and equipment

http://www.pathex.com

[granberry]

I was hoping to find a more complete copy of the Corbett-Tunney session.

From the photos on the site notice how high Tunney holds his hands.

Notice where Corbett puts his front foot.

[jaclem2]

..i forgot to put this thread on my request for replies and if i just submit tot he forum with too few characters it's refused...so here are more characters, although one would think there were enough of those in this forum.

[bennie]

Wodcock was massive after the war. I've mentioned this on another thread but a post-war British record crowd of 60,000 turned up for the rematch between Woodcock and Lee Savold at White City Stadium in London in June 1950. Thirty million tuned in on the radio for the same fight (when the population of the UK was probably around 45 million)


You know, Freddie Mills fought Gus Lesnevich for the world light-heavyweight title and Woodcock in the space of 21 days.

[Brutu]

Woodcock was wildly popular.Check this out.i wonder how much one would go for on E-Bay nowdays?

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=48462

[bennie]

I remember he made the national newspapers in the 1980s when he stood up to what he described as "young hooligans" terrorising his estate. I can imagine Bruce was still pretty formidable.