BoxRec

Gunner Moir fights 'Bombardier' Billy Wells:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTDaIdOfO84

Count the knockdowns.

Here's also Billy Wells's knockout loss to Joe Beckett:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk8OVGw16nU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J20z4g1yn4I

Footage from England during that time-period always seems to be of such higher quality than U.S. footage, I'm assuming b/c it was directly archived in much more proper settings by one of the broadcasting companies that merged into the BBC.

Excellent find! Wells looks to be doing a poor man's Ali routine but had fair countering ability and decent lateral movement. The more compact Moir kept his arms in tight applying pressure to work the inside. Very 'modern' looking fight.

dempseyfire wrote:Footage from England during that time-period always seems to be of such higher quality than U.S. footage, I'm assuming b/c it was directly archived in much more proper settings by one of the broadcasting companies that merged into the BBC.

Excellent find! Wells looks to be doing a poor man's Ali routine but had fair countering ability and decent lateral movement. The more compact Moir kept his arms in tight applying pressure to work the inside. Very 'modern' looking fight.

Seems like Weills ran badly out of gas at the end.

The uploader also posted many other good fights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfasKAZ1Vso
Tommy Gibbons vs Jack Bloomfield

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOJrAxBElaQ
Beckett vs old Tommy Burns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbFxTSu7zHw
Beckett vs Smith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsMqofvB4zI
Beckett vs Cook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaMYY0_08K4
Beckett vs Moran

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGPmUJ4M6IA
Bloomfield vs Magill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaJtOdzFvIo
Bloomfield vs Goddard

Interesting to see some less heralded fighters of the day.

I would not give the BBC Archives too much credit.
As they notorisley junked(wiped)most of their television video archives in the early 1970's because
of the cost of video-tape was expensive and they wanted to re-use the tapes.
(There must have been a Scotsman in charge at the BBC archives to do that.)

Is the Georges Carpientier-vrs-Gunboat Smith fight from July 1914 at the Olympia in London available or is it lost?
I read where that fight was filmed.

Nice find, been wanting to see film of Wells for a while.

I'd assumed all his KO defeats were due to a bad chin but it looks as though he didn't have much of a defence to speak of and just relied on movement. he also must have gassed in a lot of his bouts, fighting the way he did.

The combination of power and vulnerability must have made him and exciting fighter to watch.

Edit: Just checked his record and realised that fight with Moir was only his 5th fight so maybe he became a little less naive later in his career.

TheGreatA wrote:Gunner Moir fights 'Bombardier' Billy Wells:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTDaIdOfO84

What a wretched level of "boxing."

TheGreatA wrote:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfasKAZ1Vso
Tommy Gibbons vs Jack Bloomfield

This shows how remarkable a fighter Gibbons was.

Thank goodness the British filmed this.

What a gem!

granberry wrote:

TheGreatA wrote:Gunner Moir fights 'Bombardier' Billy Wells:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTDaIdOfO84

What a wretched level of "boxing."

Wells scored with a nice counter right hand and it went all downhill from there when it comes to boxing. But it was definitely a fight.

TheGreatA wrote:

granberry wrote:

TheGreatA wrote:Gunner Moir fights 'Bombardier' Billy Wells:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTDaIdOfO84

What a wretched level of "boxing."

Wells scored with a nice counter right hand and it went all downhill from there when it comes to boxing. But it was definitely a fight.

There are fights in bars all over the world every night of the week.

granberry wrote:

TheGreatA wrote:

granberry wrote: What a wretched level of "boxing."

Wells scored with a nice counter right hand and it went all downhill from there when it comes to boxing. But it was definitely a fight.

There are fights in bars all over the world every night of the week.

And this was exactly that, a fight, a brawl, a slugging match with little skill involved. I enjoy both aspects of boxing, especially when they're put together. In this case the skill wasn't there but both men gave it their best in a thrilling contest, even if it wasn't the 1911 version of Harold Johnson vs Archie Moore.

I have a much longer version of the Gibbons-Bloomfield fight

where Gibbons displays his remakable defensive skills.

Here is Billy Wells training.
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=27886