Fred Snell

Name: Fred Snell
Birth Name: Frederick John Snell
Hometown: Birkenhead, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Birthplace: Birkenhead, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Died: 1996-03-01 (Age:94)
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 173cm
Pro Boxer: Record

Division: Light Heavyweight
Manager: Jack Jarvis

• Also fought as Jack Snell.
• He spent some two years in Canada (1924-26).
• Reportedly he had some 20 fights, including opponents such as Red Meech, Johnny Klesh, and Johnny Paske.

Life

Fred Snell was born in Birkenhead, Wirral, Uk and started boxing at the age of 16 and was a great lover of the outdoor life and spent much of his spare time at the leasowe camping site a few miles from where he lived.

By 1924 he had taken part in at least 100 fights but only some details of these are available at this time. He had completed his apprenticeship at the local shipyard as a boilermaker and had the urge to travel.

He worked his passage to Canada in 1924 as a steward and settled at first in toronto. his first fight was with Chief Halftown and degenerated into something worthy of a music hall farce. Fred ( my Dad) was unaware that the local gangsters had there money on Halftown . Fred knocked him clean out of the ring only to find a mad dash of men in suits throw him back in. Fred lost the fight on an alleged foul as it was the only way Halftown could win.

The night before this fight was also quite memorable and he wondered later if this was just a chance event. Sitting in his hotel room trying to relax when two men broke into the room and pointed a gun at him.

Much to their surprise Fred's response was to say "How dare you point a gun at me I'am an Englishman f..k off" . They then asked him where some other guy was and got the same reply. They then left saying they would try upstairs where the sound of a party could be heard going on. Fred never found out what happened at the party.

In Oct of 1924 Fred had managed to save enough to pay for his future wife Peggy to join him from England. The day she arrived was not the best of timing as he had a fight that same day with Johnny Paske, which he won on points.

When asked about whether she was non to pleased about this he simply said "she was a bit put out" " but seeing me win seemed to settle things". They married some 2 weeks later.

The majority of this record has been supplied by Fred's son Robert Snell.

Sources

• [1]boxingbiographies.com