BoxRec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuJOY6-fQMA

I'll add this to the boxrec Youtube thread but I though I'd post it here too as Driscoll is a fighter who gets mentioned alot on here and I certainly never seen film of him before I found this fight.

Driscoll was old in that film.

He is fighting what amounts to a sparring partner level opponent for him.

As I have said before on this forum Jim Driscoll is one of the true masters of the sweet science. The word great is too often thrown about this sports history but this Welsh master was great.

Fast and mobile, wonderfull defence, near perfect timing and had every punch in the book. I fear we will never see his like again. This is a man who was much better than most World Title holders ever were.

Many state that Jimmy Wilde is the greatest UK fighter who ever lived and thay may well be right, but in my opinion Driscoll is right up there with him.

Jim Driscoll was something very, very special.

The quality of that film is outstanding for 1911.

Even at an old age, Driscoll displays some great skills.

A pity Driscoll doesn't have an opponent here who could give him a contest.

One thing that puzzles me is Driscoll keeps throwing a right hand to the body from long range.

He would have gotten his head handed to him by any top level opponent who would hit him with a left hook to the head as he tried that.

He never could have gotten away with that against Attell, etc.

Maybe he just knew this particular opponent wsn't capable of doing anything about it.

dempseyfire wrote:The quality of that film is outstanding for 1911.

Even at an old age, Driscoll displays some great skills.

Outstanding is right! Great find here J-C, I have obviously never seen Driscoll before and even though this is towards the end of his career it is fascinating to watch such a master in action.

granberry wrote:Maybe he just knew this particular opponent wsn't capable of doing anything about it.

That is what I thought as well. Dricoll has already beaten this fighter before and was maybe just very confident/lazy that night, take your pick.

What is the location of that statue?

Any further info about it?

The statue is outside AXA Insurance building, city end of Bute Street, Cardiff, Wales.

More info here.

http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/AH/CARDIFF033.htm

KOJOE90 wrote:The statue is outside AXA Insurance building, city end of Bute Street, Cardiff, Wales.

More info here.

http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/AH/CARDIFF033.htm

Thanks.

I wonder if there is anything else of Driscoll on film.

The British should have been more conscientious about preserving evidence of one of their greats if there isn't.

granberry wrote:The British should have been more conscientious about preserving evidence of one of their greats if there isn't.

I agree. Sadly if there is more film of Driscoll in circulation somebody is keeping it well hidden and locked away. If the BBC (British Broadcasting Corperation) own some, they have a reputation of keeping them locked away and not showing them to anyone. I know for a fact they have hundereds maybe thousands of hours of fight footage locked away, never to be seen apart from an occational clip on a BBC Boxing documentary. The BBC also has/had a terrible habit of destroying film footage of any type that they feel is no longer needed or of use (TV programs such as Dr Who, Quatermass and Hancocks Half Hours, many episodes lost forever) so who knows what wonderfull fight films have gone up in smoke.

The same of course can be said of USA TV companys and countless greats fighters such as Greb and Burley etc where there is no or very little footage of them available to the average fight fan, fight historian etc.

A crying shame.

KOJOE90 wrote:

granberry wrote:The British should have been more conscientious about preserving evidence of one of their greats if there isn't.

I agree. Sadly if there is more film of Driscoll in circulation somebody is keeping it well hidden and locked away. If the BBC (British Broadcasting Corperation) own some, they have a reputation of keeping them locked away and not showing them to anyone. I know for a fact they have hundereds maybe thousands of hours of fight footage locked away, never to be seen apart from an occational clip on a BBC Boxing documentary. The BBC also has/had a terrible habit of destroying film footage of any type that they feel is no longer needed or of use (TV programs such as Dr Who, Quatermass and Hancocks Half Hours, many episodes lost forever) so who knows what wonderfull fight films have gone up in smoke.

The same of course can be said of USA TV companys and countless greats fighters such as Greb and Burley etc where there is no or very little footage of them available to the average fight fan, fight historian etc.

A crying shame.

I spent a lot of time talking to Jimmy Jacobs about his collection and how he went about collecting them.

The main problem is that the old nitrate films were so fragile.

His partner Cayton made a GIGANTIC mistake, it turns out, handing the collection over to ESPN.

He assumed they would show films of the wonderful fighters going as far as the 1890's in the collection.

Instead they show a few of the currently considered "greatest of all time" fighters over and over.

The modern media people handling this for ESPN obviously have no comprehension of the value or the significance of the collection and what Jimmy Jacobs accomplished by creating it,

I hope they haven't destroyed anything.

granberry

I agree with you 100%

As for ESPN, well their Boxing 'covarge' of classic fights is very repetative and they show here (UK) nothing I have not seen (or own on tape) myself. ESPN = myopic.

Boxing has such a rich and colourfull history and although we have been lucky enough to have many fine writers/historians that cover the sport in the written word, nothing can really replace seeing the fighters in action, even on tape.

So fustrating.

Langford, Greb, Burley, Booker, Driscoll, Welsh etc, if only!!!!

KOJOE90 wrote:granberry

I agree with you 100%

As for ESPN, well their Boxing 'covarge' of classic fights is very repetative and they show here (UK) nothing I have not seen (or own on tape) myself. ESPN = myopic.

Boxing has such a rich and colourfull history and although we have been lucky enough to have many fine writers/historians that cover the sport in the written word, nothing can really replace seeing the fighters in action, even on tape.

So fustrating.

Langford, Greb, Burley, Booker, Driscoll, Welsh etc, if only!!!!

The guy who posted the dricoll film actually has two videos of Welsh versus Packy Mcfarland too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AQLdYSJVNs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H83XYgpF ... ed&search=

J-C wrote:The guy who posted the dricoll film actually has two videos of Welsh versus Packy Mcfarland too

It's one video, broken into two parts. 12 min 53 sec, rounds 1 and 3 incomplete, 14, 19 and 20 complete. I think I recorded them both (the Welsh and the Driscoll fights) from the same program titled 'British Compilation' from French version of ESPN Classic Sports.