Forgotten story… the man who sought revenge for Jimmy Wilde

[Alex]

Words such as 'great' and 'legend' are all too often misused by scribes seeking to venerate the latest sporting sensation. Few sportsmen or women truly deserve such lustrous accolades; in an age dominated by hype it's easy to lose perspective on the achievements of the people who perform for our entertainment. But one man from boxing's past who fully deserves the lavish praise still rightly thrown his way is the incomparable Welshman Jimmy Wilde.

Often conceding more than a stone, this pale-faced, fragile-looking former pit boy – too small even to be a fully fledged flyweight – demolished the finest fly and bantamweights of his day. He scored a century of inside-the-distance wins from 134 victories (and just four losses) in 148 recorded fights. Few boxers of any country or era commanded a nation's respect like Wilde. The loss of his world flyweight crown to Filipino great Pancho Villa, in June 1923, broke the hearts of fight fans all over Britain.

This isn't a piece about Wilde, however, but one of his devoted fans. A fellow fighter who admired the little Welshman so much that he threw away his own domestic prospects to travel to America, in the hope of bringing Wilde's world crown back home.

Continue reading:

http://news.boxrec.com/news/2011/forgot ... immy-wilde

[REEVE]

excellent piece - must of been a fair bit of research went in to this

its a shame there isnt more footage of jimmy wilde!

[black panther]

Great read, thanks for that Alex. Jimmy Wilde was truly an ATG but Frankie Ash must have been a very good fighter. He'slike so many who didn't pick up a world title, a forgotten man of boxing.

[JC]

Nice one Alex, as a native Plymouthian I had always wanted to know more about about Frankie Ash. He was born just across the road from where I went to school.

Plymouth was a real boxing town before the war they should make more of that history really. There should be a statue or at least a plaque to remember Len Harvey.

[dondada]

There should be a statue or at least a plaque to remember Len Harvey.

Get a bit of history together on him, contact a few people and take it to the Council. A plaque wouldn't cost much and they'll be up for a good news story mate.

[JC]

There should be a statue or at least a plaque to remember Len Harvey.

Get a bit of history together on him, contact a few people and take it to the Council. A plaque wouldn't cost much and they'll be up for a good news story mate.

Good idea, will give it a go next time I go home to visit the family.

[Alex]

Cheers fellas! Glad it was of interest.

[Alex]

There should be a statue or at least a plaque to remember Len Harvey.

Get a bit of history together on him, contact a few people and take it to the Council. A plaque wouldn't cost much and they'll be up for a good news story mate.

Good idea, will give it a go next time I go home to visit the family.

Tremendous idea! Or even a monument to mark Plymouth's boxing past bearing the names of all its finest fighters.

Joe Symonds, Harry 'Bugler' Lake, Ted Moore, Tom McCormick, Teddy Murton and Kid Kelly are some others who deserve recognition.