In October of 1932 Heavyweight Don McCorkindale of South Africa fought George Cook of Australia at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England.
The above two were white fighters and in 1932 the UK Colour Line was still very much in effect which stopped black fighters fighting for a British Title (but were allowed to box for the British Empire/Commonwealth Title I believe).
My question is as crazy as it sounds I've read that the above fight was a British Title Eliminator. Is this true?
KOJOE90 wrote:In October of 1932 Heavyweight Don McCorkindale of South Africa fought George Cook of Australia at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England.
The above two were white fighters and in 1932 the UK Colour Line was still very much in effect which stopped black fighters fighting for a British Title (but were allowed to box for the British Empire/Commonwealth Title I believe).
My question is as crazy as it sounds I've read that the above fight was a British Title Eliminator. Is this true?
Until 1949 Australians and South Africans were British subjects. I assume this is the reason why they could contest British titles (as long as they were white, of course).
It's also possible they were eligible through one or more parents being British. In recent times fighters like Barry McGuigan have fought for the British title while being citizens of another country.
Actually (to the best of my knowledge) Barry was a British subject having claimed that status via his father's birth in Northern Ireland (as part of the UK). If I'm wrong then Ok, but let's not start another "John Duddy is Irish" style thread!
Collins2000 wrote:Until 1949 Australians and South Africans were British subjects. I assume this is the reason why they could contest British titles (as long as they were white, of course)..
Fair point, but I can understand this allowing them to fight for the Commonwealth Title or British Empire Title as it was then called, but British Title? I honestly don't know. Does anyone here have the answer?
Collins2000 wrote:It's also possible they were eligible through one or more parents being British.
Things were a lot different then. If you were a British subject it was almost the equivalent of being born there. As for being white, from his pictures, I believe George Cook was at least half aborigine, and so would not have been accepted in "polite" society.
