By Miles Templeton

Liverpool Stadium hosted many great fights in its 53-year history and opened and closed the title with British eliminators.

At the top of the account last night in 1985, Horace knocked out the local hero Noel Quarless in seven rounds in the fight in massive weight. The notification was won by the British title the following year after the arrest of Hughroy Currie on the island of Man. When the room opened in 1932, he replaced the elderly stadium, which was located in the nearby Pudsey Street. The novel place could accommodate 4000, and each place was taken at night to see how Stoker Reynolds from Portsmouth will stop another local hero, Alf Howard, in the eliminator of the British semi -edible title.

There was a very committed crowd of fighting in the city, which regularly appeared every Thursday evening to watch who was on the account, local or not. Sometimes two men from the city reached the peak at the same time, and the resulting competition really lives a place. One of these fights took place in 1956, when Pat Mcaateer fought Billy Ellaway.

Mcaateer was the prevailing master of the British medium weight and came from Birkenhead, on the other side of Mersey from the city center. He was always known as patmac and had huge supporters. The Mcaateer family produced many good boxers, including Gordon, Les and Neill, all lively in the 1960s. Pat was also the uncle of Jason Mcaateer, Liverpool player from the 90s. He won his British title in the previous year and retired as an undefeated British champion in 1958 after winning the Lonsdale belt.

Billy Ellaway came from Bootle, north of the city, and every boy is approaching from opposite sides of the river, the competition between them became even more intense. Ellaway boxed from 1950, two years longer than Mcaateer, and they were both born in 1932. Ellaway was a sensation at the stadium, he never seemed in a lifeless fight. When they both met in August 1956, Billy was rated number two in Great Britain.

He was recently beaten by Lew Lazar in the last eliminator of the Mcaateer title at the stadium. Mcaateer watched from the ring how Lazar “served a shiny show of speedy, skillful and effective defensive boxing” to state a warrior from Liverpool. The whole Liverpool wanted to see how Mcaateer fights for the title, so Billy’s defeat was a great disappointment not only for himself, but for the whole city. Nevertheless, two men were tailored to the 10-Rund, which served as a warm-up to defend Mcaateer against Lazar, which took place two months later.

Two men met in 11 pounds, two pounds above the championships. Mcaateer, who soon left these banks on the American concert tour, did not have a mood to do it with another defeat under the belt. Recently, he was overtaken in 10-Rund by Tiberio Mitri in Rome and now it has only done this victory. That is why he received a shock of his life when Ellaway, after a quick start, caught patter with a large shot. Bn He informed that “Billy broke into the middle with a neat left hook, and then in the flash he hit the right cross of Sianmaker. He caught Pat partly on his nose and left cheek. Down he went to one knee for eight, seriously shocked and with blood flowing down his nose. ” It was just a kind of blow for which fans loved Ellaway, and the stadium was involved when they returned to the bends.

For the next nine rounds, Mcaateer did not risk, processing his rival with the master’s performance. At the end of the judge of the competition, Fred Blakeborough accidentally raised Ellaway’s hand. After realizing his mistake, he repaired everything and raised his hand to Mcaateer. We informed that “the biggest battle of Mersby Derby for many years”.

By Miles Templeton

In 1912, when the cosmopolitan gymnasium in Plymouth was one of the most significant places of fighting in Great Britain, a juvenile boy who approached the name “Rabbitts”, entered the ring to fight the last professional competition.

Such names of the rings were not unusual in the days before licensing and “Rabbitts”, along with “Black Bob”, “Student of Jagi” and “Duffin’s Nipper” fought there many times, although today it would be very hard to identify them positively. These are the joys of running records, and “Rabbitts” is only partially mentioned in Boxrec. From 1908 I traced 32 competitions, and he won only six of them. He was the bottom of the fighter Bill, who gave himself everything in six runes. His last fight was against a decent boy from nearby Stonehouse, and “Rabbitts” fell to the inevitable loss of points.

That same night, much higher, Tom McCormick had his second competition in the city. Dundalk, McCormick came to England in his youth and served in the Manchester regiment as a private. After a decent boxing career in the army, Tom began to treat things more seriously in 1912, winning all five competitions before arriving in Plymouth. After throwing Jacek Marx in one round in June 1912 in his debut Plymouth, he was adapted to the fight with Taylor from South Africa, over 15 rounds, on the night where “Rabbitts” bowed.

I like to think that Tom and “Rabbitts” could mention a few words in the cloakroom that night. Tom was a former soldier, and “Rabbitts” planned to join the army.

Bn The editor, John Murray, opened his editorial article on July 19, 1916 with the following words: “Tom McCormick was the first of our first professional boxers who went to the shooting line, and now he was the first to appear on the roll of the roll of the roll of the roll honor . “Tom was killed during the Battle of Somme in July 1916. His good buddy and colleague Boxer, Corporal Jim Winspear, was with him when he died and told about the details of his last moments: “He was of the last one to last. He is commemorated in Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.

Tom had a great career, winning the title of British welterweight in 1914 under the 20-round decision about Johnny Summers, from all places, Rushcutters Bay Stadium in Sydney, Australia. It was the same place where Jacek Johnson V Tommy Burns World Heavyweight hosted the title six years earlier. McCormick became the first warrior who won the British title abroad and repeated the feat in the same ring five weeks later, this time knocking out years, which was a great warrior, in the first round.

Five weeks later, Tom lost the title of Matt Wells of Lambeth, again in the same ring. In just 10 weeks Tom Won, he defended and then lost the British title, and each competition took place on the other side of the world.

McCormick returned to Great Britain later the same year and fought six more times. He registered again immediately after the war, joining his aged regiment, and as Murray put him in his editorial article: “He not only joined, but also asked to send to the front as soon as possible.”

To sum up his tribute to McCormick, Murray ended with the following words: “McCormick was the Idol of the Boxing World Plymouth, who lost another aged favorite in the private place of Ah Wilson with 3^Rd The shooters brigade, better known in Plymouth circles as “rabbitts”. Wilson was killed in action, but not earlier than the Distinguished Conduct medal won for his bravery at the Battle of Armmentieres in October 1914. “

By Miles Templeton

John Vail, a very generous man, recently contacted me. He had manually in the color of a photograph of a long -term warrior, Gammy Smith from Cambridge, whom he wanted to go to a good home. Gammy was an venerable friend of Father John, and when Gammy died in 1988, he did not leave his family to convey a photo, so John wanted to give it to me.

For a long time I think that there should be a national boxing museum in the area, just like in football, and if there was such a place, it turns out to be a natural location for a attractive song that you can go to. When I get time, I’m going to check if you can do something in these lines.

Hand -colored photos were also very popular. Colorful photography, when Gammy was in 1920, was practically non -existent and only in the 1960s. This process became normal in the case of personal photographs. That is why all photos of venerable great ones, such as Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and even Rocky Marciano, are in black and white. For a adolescent boxer from Cambridge in 1927, to ask the artist to hand the colors of his black and white photo, it was quite unusual, but that’s what Gammy did, and the created portrait is quite attractive. Although I knew the name of Gammy Smith and examined his struggle record, I didn’t know much about him or the details of his ring career. I think it is right now to decorate this color, so uncommon, with a miniature look at its exploits.

Gammy was in medium weight and a great member of time. In the 1920s, most adolescent boys were all shorter than today, and the stones were lighter. Times were hard and the diet was not good, especially for boys from the working class. Most professionals in Great Britain in 1927, when Gammy was taken, weighed no more than nine and a half stone, and most of them ran between the fly and lightweight.

This made Gammy stand out and did not have to fight next to countless little boys to bet. He was part of the so -called “Cambridge School”, a group of fighters from the city who all emerged at the same time and who all trained together at the boxing school. Gammy together with Archie Allen and Brothers Ed and Gilbert Stubbings were the spine of the “school” and completed the bills for the exchange of corn in their hometown in the 1920s. He had 20 professional competitions, of which only eleven were reported on the pages Bn.

There was so much boxing around, and BN, grabbing most of them, still skipped a huge amount. That is why boxers’ careers from this period are so hard to examine. At the beginning of his career, Gammy suffered two losses in Bedford, going down to Johnny Seamarks, a very good warrior and Harold Bass by knockout. Then he packed several times in Ipswich, winning one and losing, then restored with a long series of victories to exchange corn.

His first 15-runder took place there in 1928 against Londonian Mick Harris. It was a return because Gammy beat him six months earlier within 12 rounds. Harris was dissatisfied with the sentence during the first meeting, and Gammy was too content to meet him again. They both fought in front of the packed house and Bn The report states that Gammy has clearly won this competition. In his next competition, Gammy knocked out a Canadian in five rounds, and then followed this good victories over the Canons Bert and Bill Softley.

Gammy Boxled at the Blackfrires a few time before the Głębocie in 1930, with a record 11-9. He is forgotten now, but this picture is proud. Thanks, John!