Joe Erskine vs. Ray Cillien

Joe Erskine 196 lbs beat Ray Cillien 190 lbs by TKO in round 4 of 10

• Date: 1963-07-29
• Location: Drill Hall, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
• Referee: James Brimmell

It looked like an extreme mismatch when British heavyweight veteran Joe Erskine met Ray Cillien from Luxembourg. The fight took place in Cardiff. Erskine had nearly 50 fights behind him, being a former British and Empire Champion. He had been in the ring three times with Henry Cooper, once with Ingemar Johansson, had a fine points win over Willie Pastrano and a disqualification win over a young George Chuvalo.

Ray Cillien, a 24 year old electrician from Luxembourg, and according to Boxing News August 2. 1963 the only professional boxer in that small country, had a record of 3 wins and 3 losses. He did surprisingly well though, set a high tempo from the start and gave Erskine trouble with series and a hard right. But by the 4th Cillien was worn out by this strategy. A solar plexus blow sent the tall blonde Cillien gasping for air on one knee. He was up at 9. Erskine chased him around the ring and dropped him with a right cross. Cillien again rose at 9. He was met by blows to the head and the referee interrupted.

Cillien fought for 3 more years, retiring with a 7-13-0 record. He lost to the likes of Lennart Risberg and Wim Snoek.