Len Wickwar. The most bouts in history. Corrections to his record required.

[prewarboxing]

I am aware that this should really be posted under the records thread but as it is such an iconic record, I am putting this post here in the hope that an editor can sort this out, and because I think it will be of interest to those keen on the history of the sport.
I have had a look at the BoxRec record for Len Wickwar. Len had more traceable contests than any other boxer in the history of the sport and therefore this record attracts considerable interest. It is imperative, I think, that it is accurate.
There are quite a number of amendments that need to be made to it. I have 472 contests for Len. BoxRec has 469. However, 8 of the bouts on the BoxRec record are incorrect, seven of them definitely so, and these need to be deleted. One of the contests could remain for the while so that it can be verified. I also have an additional 11 contests that need to be added to the Box Rec record.
This will mean that Len had 473 contests, one of which needs to be verified (Mar 9 1931. See below).

These are the eight bouts that should be deleted. But note my comments about the contest on Mar 9 1931.
March 20 1930 v Sol Severns. This is a duplicate of a contest also entered for 1931.
April 18 1930 v Sandy McLeod. This bout never took place and it should be deleted.
Oct 22 1930 v Siki Coulton. This is a duplicate of the contest that happened on the 28th. There definitely was not a contest that happened on this date.
Mar 9 1931 v Harry Brown. This one is a little more interesting. I am prepared to concede that it should be in the record but I have never found a report for it. The editor has attributed the source of the bout as being the Northampton Mercury. I have not looked at this paper and it is not available online. I have my doubts about this contest and would like to see proof.
Mar 3 1932 v Seaman Frank Read. This is a duplicate of a contest also entered for 1933.
Apr 30 1935 v Jack Bland. This is a duplicate of a bout also entered on May 7. It did not take place.
Feb 24 1937 v Mick Carney. This is a duplicate of the bout also entered for Mar 24 1937.
Jun 12 1940 v Ginger Ward. This is a duplicate of the bout entered for Jun 10, which is the date that it did happen.

These are the extra contests that I have found for Len Wickwar and I have original fight reports , taken from newspapers, for all of them.
Nov 16 1928 Bobby Wood (Leicester) WPTS(6) Priory Street Baths, Coventry
Nov 12 1929 Harry Siddons (Leicester) WRTD3(6) Spinney Hill Club, Leicester
Jan 10 1930 Eric Jones (Coalville) LKO1(10) Baths Hall, Coalville
Apr 14 1930 Sandy McEwan (Aberdeen) WPTS(10) Spinney Hill Club, Leicester
Sep 26 1930 George Siddons (Leicester) WPTS(6) Fountain Inn, Leicester
Jan 16 1931 Arthur Ryan (Leicester) WPTS (10) Corn Exchange, Newark
Mar 27 1931 George Siddons (Leicester) WPTS(10) Belgrave Club, Leicester
Oct 7 1931 Billy Beason (Birmingham) WPTS(10) Drill Hall, Wednesfield
Nov 3 1931 Frank Marks (Northampton) DRAW(10) Town Hall, Northampton
Jan 2 1933 Pat Butler (Leicester) WPTS(10) Town Hall, Loughborough
Feb 19 1934 Lyndon Bennett (Brierley Hill) WPTS(10) Coventry

I also have quite a large number of amendments to the dates published on the BoxRec record for Wickwar which we can also correct. I will post these shortly.

It is a pleasure to be able to help with this and I hope that we can get things straight so that this record can be as accurate as possible

Miles Templeton

[wouter]

Thanks, the corrections have been made. Judging by the notes of the editor in question, part of this record is based on secondary sources and may therefore contain inaccuracies.

[prewarboxing]

Thanks, the corrections have been made. Judging by the notes of the editor in question, part of this record is based on secondary sources and may therefore contain inaccuracies.

Thanks Wouter. Apart from that bout on Mar 9 1931 every contest had a verifiable and accurate source. It is good to get this record right. I will come back later today with some date changes

Miles Templeton

[Bladder]

From the (Friday) 13 March 1931 edition of The Northampton Mercury showing Harry Brown's win over Len Wickwar on 09 March 1931

[prewarboxing]

From the (Friday) 13 March 1931 edition of The Northampton Mercury showing Harry Brown's win over Len Wickwar on 09 March 1931

Excellent bladder! So that means we can settle on 473 for Wickwar. Thanks a lot.

Miles Templeton

[wouter]

Excellent bladder! So that means we can settle on 473 for Wickwar. Thanks a lot.

Miles Templeton

We have 474, is there still a fight on there that does not belong?

[prewarboxing]

Excellent bladder! So that means we can settle on 473 for Wickwar. Thanks a lot.

Miles Templeton

We have 474, is there still a fight on there that does not belong?

Yes I can see the problem. Jan 2 and Jan 7 1933 against Pat Butler. The bout took place on Jan 2.

Miles Templeton.

[oogiebe]

My Lord! How many rounds did this savage go?!

[prewarboxing]

Wickwar’s purses for his 1939 contests are as follows:
(I have converted them to modern money)
Jan 1st £22.50
Jan 16th £25
Jan 27th £20
Jan 29th £22.50
Jan 31st £30
Apr 27th £40
May 8th £15
May 14th £15
May 21st £20
Jun 5th £30
Jun 14th £30
Jul 17th £100 (His biggest ever purse)
Aug 16th £60
Aug 25th £25
Aug 28th £25

This was one of his quieter years of activity and yet he still earned a total of £480 for 15 contests. At the time the average wage for a skilled worker was about £4 per week. That means that Wickwar earned the equivalent of 120 weeks pay.
Today I suppose, a reasonably skilled worker worker can expect to receive about £500 per week. So, in todays terms Wickwar earned the equivalent of £60,000 for those 15 contests. After his manager had taken his cut of 25% he will still have walked away with £45,000 in today money.
Not bad given that this was, for him, quite a quiet year!

Miles Templeton

[prewarboxing]

The date changes:
Jan 21 1929 not Jan 22 1929
Jan 10 1930 not Jan 20 1930. I have given you this one incorrectly, it should have been a date change, so please remove the Jan 20 entry. Total bouts back down to 472. We’ll get there!
Nov 24 1930 not Nov 29 1930
Apr 24 1933 not Apr 25 1933
Feb 16 1934 not Mar 16 1934
Aug 31 1934 not Aug 26 1934
Jul 16 1935 not Jul 15 1935
Apr 20 1936 not Apr 21 1936
Nov 26 1936 not Nov 25 1936
May 7 1938 not May 6 1938

[Chuck1052]

Wickwar’s purses for his 1939 contests are as follows:
(I have converted them to modern money)
Jan 1st £22.50
Jan 16th £25
Jan 27th £20
Jan 29th £22.50
Jan 31st £30
Apr 27th £40
May 8th £15
May 14th £15
May 21st £20
Jun 5th £30
Jun 14th £30
Jul 17th £100 (His biggest ever purse)
Aug 16th £60
Aug 25th £25
Aug 28th £25

This was one of his quieter years of activity and yet he still earned a total of £480 for 15 contests. At the time the average wage for a skilled worker was about £4 per week. That means that Wickwar earned the equivalent of 120 weeks pay.
Today I suppose, a reasonably skilled worker worker can expect to receive about £500 per week. So, in todays terms Wickwar earned the equivalent of £60,000 for those 15 contests. After his manager had taken his cut of 25% he will still have walked away with £45,000 in today money.
Not bad given that this was, for him, quite a quiet year!

Miles Templeton

The manager's 25 percent cut, did Len Wickwar have any other expenses? Wickwar may have made a decent living by English standards at the time, but not a great one by any means.

From what I gather, George Biddles, Wickwar's manager, also managed George Marsden, who had 338 bouts during his career. Biddles must've been doing quite well while having a couple of meal tickets like Wickwar and Marsden.

As many bouts that Wickwar and Marsden had during their respective careers, it appears that they could have had many more if World War II hadn't intervened.

- Chuck Johnston