Rescued from the archives: 1 - Dick Greaves v Roy Hilton
By Miles Templeton
One of the joys of researching and compiling boxers' records from before the war is to do so in the knowledge that these records, unlike those of the 1950s onwards, can never be completed. So many contests took place in those days that each record produced can only ever be the summary of contests that have been found thus far.
Each bout found, therefore, adds a little extra to the record, and there is great satisfaction to be had in watching them grow. For instance, back in 2006 my record for Sam Minto contained details of 281 professional contests. After a further five years' research, ably assisted by fellow record compiler Richard Ireland, the total had grown to 331 bouts. Many of these additional bouts were located in aged newspapers. This is where Colindale Newspaper Library comes in.
This wonderful institution contains a copy of virtually every newspaper printed in the UK and is further supplemented by a large collection of overseas newspapers. I visit the library about four times a year for about four or five days each time. Richard travels up one day per week. Between us we are slowly working our way through hundreds of local newspapers in a search for long forgotten boxing contests that were not reported in Boxing News.
Although it is an arduous and gruelling task, it is also hugely rewarding and enjoyable. One is transported back in time by reports of long-forgotten murders, scandals and rail disasters, a world of coal mines and football matches where the star players were called Bert, Ted and Wilf and played in front of 50,000 spectators for a fiver a week.
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Excellent insight into the work of a boxing record compiler
Re: Excellent insight into the work of a boxing record compiler
This site is becoming really awsome.
I loved the video with previously unpublished photos.
Having worked my way through a lot of pre-1950 editions of Boxing News (adding results to the database), I've certainly got some insight into how tough the sport was back then.
On numerous ocasions I have come across reports of fights where one - or both - of the boxers went through the ropes and landed on the floor outside of the ring, only to make it back into the ring and fight on.
No Kermit Cintron's around back then.
Other times you can read about slugfests where boys guys hit the canvas numerous times each.
No 3 knockdown rule in those days, no sir, I've seen reports where a fighter would take 15(!) trips to the canvas before the referee or corner finally stepped in.
Add that to the sheer amount of fights many of the boxers had.
Fighting every other week or so was the norm, often with injuries and cuts not nearly fully healed.
Tough times breed tough fighters.
You better believe it.
I loved the video with previously unpublished photos.
Having worked my way through a lot of pre-1950 editions of Boxing News (adding results to the database), I've certainly got some insight into how tough the sport was back then.
On numerous ocasions I have come across reports of fights where one - or both - of the boxers went through the ropes and landed on the floor outside of the ring, only to make it back into the ring and fight on.
No Kermit Cintron's around back then.
Other times you can read about slugfests where boys guys hit the canvas numerous times each.
No 3 knockdown rule in those days, no sir, I've seen reports where a fighter would take 15(!) trips to the canvas before the referee or corner finally stepped in.
Add that to the sheer amount of fights many of the boxers had.
Fighting every other week or so was the norm, often with injuries and cuts not nearly fully healed.
Tough times breed tough fighters.
You better believe it.
Re: Excellent insight into the work of a boxing record compiler
Glad you're enjoying it. What we have at the moment is only the blog. We'll be launching the main website within the next couple of months. You're spot on about the tough ring men of those days! Also, many of the referees were inclined to let fighters continue till they couldn't get up any more.
Regarding fighters getting knocked out of the ring: this happened rather a lot in the pre-war days, as the rings lacked the vertical cord that today holds the ropes in place.