josco wrote:Wow! that tested the ould memory a bit! Way back then I was on the verge of becoming a regular at the old Liverpool Stadium and went to see a big local favourite, Wally Thom, win the British Welterweight title over 15 rounds (I think) against another local favourite Peter Fallon. This was around 1953/4 and as I recall the promoter was Johnny Best (can only remember that because he was the brother of my GP). Had a bit of a break then as went off to sea for a few years but the Stadium was still going when I came back and it was a bit of a regular thing to go to the (free) weigh ins which took place on Thursday lunchtimes. A pal of mine actually married Wally's daughter a few years later. Wally himself (after retiring from boxing partly because of cut eye problems) later did some refereeing at the Stadium but sadly died young in his fifties I think. His Lonsdale Belt was a sight to behold and far superior to the rubbish WBA/WBC/WBO/IBF etc belts which always seem to be designed for guys about 10 feet tall!. He never seemed to have a problem weighing in on the day of the fight.
Thanks Mimmy - them were the days! Same day weigh ins are a bit of a favourite of mine but being just an old fogey do not find it easy to argue the detailed pros and cons.
josco wrote:Wow! that tested the ould memory a bit! Way back then I was on the verge of becoming a regular at the old Liverpool Stadium and went to see a big local favourite, Wally Thom, win the British Welterweight title over 15 rounds (I think) against another local favourite Peter Fallon. This was around 1953/4 and as I recall the promoter was Johnny Best (can only remember that because he was the brother of my GP). Had a bit of a break then as went off to sea for a few years but the Stadium was still going when I came back and it was a bit of a regular thing to go to the (free) weigh ins which took place on Thursday lunchtimes. A pal of mine actually married Wally's daughter a few years later. Wally himself (after retiring from boxing partly because of cut eye problems) later did some refereeing at the Stadium but sadly died young in his fifties I think. His Lonsdale Belt was a sight to behold and far superior to the rubbish WBA/WBC/WBO/IBF etc belts which always seem to be designed for guys about 10 feet tall!. He never seemed to have a problem weighing in on the day of the fight.
I remember Wally as a top domestic referee; he handled one of the best British title fights of all time in Tony Sibson vs Frankie "The Animal" Lucas. It was five rounds of mayhem.
mimmy123 wrote:So, can you remember the first British title fight you ever went to see.
Mine was Sean Murphy v Johnny Good for the British Featherweight title.
Murphy won the title from John Doherty, not really sure how Good got a title shot to be honest being a 10 fight novice winning only 6 of those 10.
Murphy was leagues above Johnny and knocked him out in 2 rounds. I remember in the arena that night there were loads of postcards with the picture of Gary DeRoux on them saying that this was the next fight. Again DeRoux hadnt really beaten anyone of note to even get a shot of Murphy's title but he knocked out Murphy when the 2 met for the title. That was DeRoux's last win however because along came Colin McMillan who was being hailed as the next best thing since sliced bread.
Murphy did pick up the title again when McMillan relinquished it to fight Maurizio Stecca for the WBO version but Murphy then relinquished to fight Steve Robinson for the world title too.
Murphy would move up Lightweight to fight Billy Schwer for 2 titles but Schwer was far superior for Murphy that night.
Anyway thats the first British title fight i ever saw live. Sean Murphy v Johnny Good.
Jimmy Anderson outpointing Brian Cartwright, Super Featherweight title. Albert Hall, October 1968. Undercard had Joe Bugner, Johnny Clarke, Mark Rowe, all won, but Pat Dwyer suffered a surprise loss. It wasn't the greatest show in history but I'd just moved to London and it was the first big London professional show I attended, so it was exciting for me at the time.
mimmy123 wrote:
Indeed. He had that song playing on his ring walk.
Im sure someone said Johnny was a roofer these days.
Yes he is .
Do you know him well Paddy? Id love the guy to post on here. Hope hes doing ok but its a shame the old school just dissapear into the crowd.
These older boxers ive seen live always left an imprint in my brain and i guess i respect the older lads than the new breed.
Not massively well mate his brother trained me and I bump into Johnny now and then .I did try to get Wayne Alexander on here and he posted a couple of times .
It's funny the first fighters you see always leave an imprint I'm like that with rocky Kelly as I mentioned earlier in the thread .
Do you know him well Paddy? Id love the guy to post on here. Hope hes doing ok but its a shame the old school just dissapear into the crowd.
These older boxers ive seen live always left an imprint in my brain and i guess i respect the older lads than the new breed.
Not massively well mate his brother trained me and I bump into Johnny now and then .I did try to get Wayne Alexander on here and he posted a couple of times .
It's funny the first fighters you see always leave an imprint I'm like that with rocky Kelly as I mentioned earlier in the thread .
Apart from Johnny boxers, well ex boxers i often think about are.
Michael Murray (RIP)
James Oyebola (RIP)
Anthony Hanna
Robbie Regan
Steve Gee, his daughter posted on here 1 time but never got back to me.
mimmy123 wrote:
Do you know him well Paddy? Id love the guy to post on here. Hope hes doing ok but its a shame the old school just dissapear into the crowd.
These older boxers ive seen live always left an imprint in my brain and i guess i respect the older lads than the new breed.
Not massively well mate his brother trained me and I bump into Johnny now and then .I did try to get Wayne Alexander on here and he posted a couple of times .
It's funny the first fighters you see always leave an imprint I'm like that with rocky Kelly as I mentioned earlier in the thread .
Apart from Johnny boxers, well ex boxers i often think about are.
Michael Murray (RIP)
James Oyebola (RIP)
Anthony Hanna
Robbie Regan
Steve Gee, his daughter posted on here 1 time but never got back to me.
All genuine boxers and likeable men.
Steve gee used to drink in my local for a while a larger than life character.
Not massively well mate his brother trained me and I bump into Johnny now and then .I did try to get Wayne Alexander on here and he posted a couple of times .
It's funny the first fighters you see always leave an imprint I'm like that with rocky Kelly as I mentioned earlier in the thread .
Apart from Johnny boxers, well ex boxers i often think about are.
Michael Murray (RIP)
James Oyebola (RIP)
Anthony Hanna
Robbie Regan
Steve Gee, his daughter posted on here 1 time but never got back to me.
All genuine boxers and likeable men.
Steve gee used to drink in my local for a while a larger than life character.
Im sure hes from Birmingham if i remember rightly Paddy. I met him in 86 at a boxing show and got to have a chat with him before his fight with Paul Lister. Had a great photo i took of Gee in the dressing room.
Speaking of Lister, wonder what hes upto these days. He was a Geordie, maybe from Hartlepool or somewhere close to Newcastle, Gateshead.
The question in the thread title has got me thinking because I havnt got a clue ...
The first show I went to & worked on was the Mike Tyson v Julius Francis show in Manchester ... but then the amount of shows I went to with the then Frank Maloney was unbelievable in 2000 ...
This thread has got me thinking & I would love to know & remember.
Spud wrote:The question in the thread title has got me thinking because I havnt got a clue ...
The first show I went to & worked on was the Mike Tyson v Julius Francis show in Manchester ... but then the amount of shows I went to with the then Frank Maloney was unbelievable in 2000 ...
This thread has got me thinking & I would love to know & remember.
I guess too when you were running about you prob missed a lot of fights despite being at the venue!
Frank was really busy with Panix in the 90's, Dean Powell was doing the matching there before he went to FW
Had to look through some old programmes but the first one I can trace is Ralph Charles v Johnny Cooke and Jimmy Anderson v Jimmy Revie on the same Royal Albert Hall bill in Feb 1968. Can't say I can remember either of them very clearly, but Johnny Cooke fights were usually pretty boring.
Howard Eastman vs Wayne Elcock at the Coventry Skydome in September 2007. Was also the first bill i went to at all.
The Skydome was half-shut and the half that was open was about a third full. There were no ring girls and the first action I witnessed as we walked in was an undercard fighter being sick in the ring after taking a couple of bodyshots. Oh the glamour
Competitive main event though and a fine drink afterwards sampling the delights of Coventry.
