Hi folks this is part of the latest newsletter - full version on the web site - which i hope you will like. As a general point of interest i am currently working with liverpool football Club museum to establish the history of the usage of the anfield Stadium as a boxing venue and thus far have around 70 fights listed along with a reasonable collection of news reports. However there are no photo's which are around showing any of the fights held.
if you have any please tell me.- or anything comes to mind
Memories of the Liverpool Stadium
The fight report from the Liverpool Stadium this month covers the bill for Thursday 24th March l955,and the subsequent report written by the late Gilbert Odd, the then editor of Boxing News, reads as follows;—
If anyone has it in his mind to question the quality of Johnny Sullivan as a worthy champion of his country, let me answer him.. The Preston lad wanted this fight with Andre de Keersgieter. He knew that the Belgian had belted out Alex Buxton and Billy Ellaway, and had given Pat McAteer the toughest fight of his career. Yet he asked his manager to book this bout, and they came close to quarrelling about it.
“Champions before me have been ruined by soft jobs”, quoth Johnny. ”Give me some tough’uns,and when it comes to meeting the world champion, I’ll be prepared for him”. He was so confident in his argument, that George Dingley finally agreed, although he thought that his fighter was taking an unnecessary risk. Johnny Best made the match and here was the testing point for the Pride of Preston.
If he lost, they would say — and rightly so - that “he asked for it”,
but Sullivan is a throw hack to the mighty John L, who loved to roar, “I’m the champion, and I can lick any mother’s son in the world”.
Johnny,to use his own words “stunk the place out” in his home town when he fought Abe Quartey, and had to scramble through to get the decision. On that showing he wasn’t reckoned to stay the course with “Killer” de Keersgieter, and the majority of the Merseyside fans, who packed the Stadium to the rafters, were there expectant of a British set-back.
But if there was one man in Liverpool last Thursday who thought he could lick the Belgian kayo specialist it was Johnny Sullivan, and from the moment that he left his corner as the gong sounded to start the opening round, he was the guv’nor, phsycologically as well as physically, intent on demonstrating that his confidence in himself was not misplaced.
De Keersgieter, fully aware of the potency of his right hand, walked flat footed into the Englishman, hut he got the shock of his -life when a stiff straight left smote him hard between the eyes, and sent him hack on his heels.
Andre blinked, took a step forward and flung his right, but Sullivan beat him to the punch with another left stab and then closed in and hooked him heavily to the jaw with the same hand. Again the Belgian tossed over his big punch, but it never reached the target, and a succession of lefts stung him in the face.
De Keersgieter landed a high right and then another a little lower, but instead of going down. Johnny shot over his own right that landed flush on the chin. He tried another, missed badly and took a stiff left to the mouth as a result. This sent Johnny back and he just avoided the full impact of a hefty left swing to the ribs.
Sullivan was soon hack with his left leads and de Keersgieter hacked of endeavouring to draw his rival into the path of a countering right. But The Britisher was too cute to be caught by such an old trick, so the Belgian showed that he too could use a straight left and leading shots were equally exchanged, with Andre getting in an occasional right to the body. Then Sullivan suddenly stepped in and hooked his left hard to the point, followed with a peach of a right, and then another stiff left hook. The Belgian wobbled, but before Johnny could put over another blow the bell had sounded to end the first round.
Sullivan had his left going as soon as the second round started. Andre banged in a right that was too high, and he immediately winced as if it had hurt him more than his opponent. A powerful right shook the Belgian to his toes, but he came marching in to he met by short and swift left and rights to the chin.
De Keersgieter stood his ground and he whipped back vicious two-handed hooks to the jaw. Then they stood toe-to-toe and swapped short range hooks with Johnny getting in the last punch of the rally. The Belgian went hack and was helped on his way by a left jab to the nose. Over came a beautiful right that knocked Andre off balance to catch a left hook that sent him reeling the other way into the ropes.
Johnny stormed into him, hooking and upper cutting, sinking his blows round his rivals elbows into the ribs, and crashing through his gloved defence to rattle his jaw. Pluckily, the Belgian kept his feet until the bell went, then he walked somewhat unsteadily to his corner after giving his rival a penetrating look, almost of admiration.
There was still plenty of danger for Sullivan, however, and Johnny was in no apparent hurry. He took a vicious right on his shoulder, exchanged lefts to the face and then stabbed the Belgian off into the ropes with a stream of accurate lefts. As de Keersgieter went back, in leapt the British champion and he cracked home a short right to the chin that sent the Belgian bouncing into the hemp. Then, as he rebounded, Sullivan smashed home a vicious left hook to the body. Johnny’s glove sank deep under the Belgian’s ribs and Andre gave a gasp and sank to the canvas.
He turned over onto his back in one convulsive moment and then lay stretched out like a fallen tree. There was never a hope of him beating the count, in fact, he stayed on the floor for half a minute before being helped to his corner.
The third round had lasted exactly 35 seconds. Naturally, Johnny was jubilant and de Keergieter came across the ring, giving the “OK” sign with the thumb and forefinger, to congratulate the winner. Both men weighed in at 11st 6½1bs.
MERSEYSIDE AND WIRRAL EX BOXERS
Web site address
http://www.lmu.livjm.ac.uk/inmylife/Cha ... t/1116.htm
Memories of the Liverpool Stadium
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robert.snell1
- Heavyweight
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- Joined: 16 Oct 2003, 07:56
Spoken like a true fighter.“Champions before me have been ruined by soft jobs”, quoth Johnny. ”Give me some tough’uns,and when it comes to meeting the world champion, I’ll be prepared for him”. He was so confident in his argument, that George Dingley finally agreed, although he thought that his fighter was taking an unnecessary risk. Johnny Best made the match and here was the testing point for the Pride of Preston.
