For everyone interested in the British boxing scene in the 1920s and the 1930s, they could not do anything better than read two books, which are unique in terms of performance not only of the national scene at that time, but they provide some context how sport was seen in society. There is a lot in them to surprise the newfangled reader.

First book, Born in BoxIt is written by a long -time collaborator in this column, Alex Daley, and tells the extraordinary story of his grandfather, Nipper Pat Daly. Second, Rochadale ThunderboltHe is equally good in the history of Jock McAvoy. This book, written by a former manager and promoter, Jacek Doughty, tells the story of boxing in Rochdale since the mid -1920s and contains some great photos of juvenile boys, mainly from the cities of Lancashire Mill, who fought in the open air at the Roiton stadium.

Jock McAVoy is one of the most arduous fighters in Great Britain. He had the title of British average in 1933–1934, after which he won the title about lithe weight in 1937. He was a great blow and a wild man in the ring. On the way, from 1927, McAvoy wore most of his national opponents, and among them there were several real people, simply passing through them before providing a blow. A very high percentage of his victories was achieved by pure knockout, and soon became the star of the best line in Belle Vue in Manchester, where, together with stable colleagues, Jackie Brown and Johnny King created a third of the triumvirus of boxers in Manchester, who made the city the capital of the province in the mid -1930s.

Jock had a reputation when he performed best when he was in front of his home fans and thought he didn’t travel particularly well. For example, in January 1935 he went to Paris to fight Marcel Thil for the title of European medium weight and was beaten on points after full 15 years. Then he had three competitions in Belle Vue against the Spanish, Australians and the Frenchman, and he licked all three. When he went to America, this fall, there wasn’t much from him. He was adapted to Al McCoya, a challenging lightweight, which won 21 at the trot, a lot at a distance. Bn I was right, saying that although they did not know much about America: “We may feel quite sure that McCoy must be a useful performer, because it usually does not happen that the British master has something effortless for his American debut.” The headline of the next week was therefore the most welcome: “McVoy mastered McCoya. The British medium weight master is a great hit in Madison Square Garden. “

American fans immediately started to Jock. Pre-fight Underdog, his two-handed impact delighted the observers and twice threw McCoya on the pants sitting. The decision in his favor was unanimous, and the promoters did not waste time to adapt him to Eddie Babe risk three weeks later. This time Jock really took the place with storm when he sensationally hit his rival in less than three minutes.

The United Kingdom produced a long line of masters who failed to find in the United States, and many of them achieved extremely badly, so Jock’s exploits were delighted not only by Americans, but also the legions of fighting fans who knew that the best of our boys were for everyone.

Jock missed his challenge in the world title with John Henry Lewis the following year, again in Madison Square Garden, but his story is good, and Douggy’s book tells it beautifully.

In 2020, in our series at the 50 best competitions, which took place in Great Britain and Ireland, I took a clash of February 1979 between Clinton McKenzie and Colin Powers for British delicate titles of lightweight weight weight to the sixth number. The competition between these two has expanded far beyond this competition and you can do a good case of return that took place later in the same year as another candidate for this prestigious list. In this case, their second fight simply missed, but what a competition it was.

Two men met twice as amateurs, and McKenzie wins both, and when they became professionals, it was inevitable that their paths would exceed again. Powers was the first of the couples who hit the salary, turning over in June 1975 and made a quick impression. As an amateur Colin, he won the title of the North-West Division in London at the beginning of this year, but in the finals in London he had a misfortune to find himself with the final winner, the outstanding Graham Moughton, who knew too much for him in the semi-finals. Powers immediately announced that he was going to transform a professional. After winning his first eight competitions, he went in five rounds to Des Morrison in the title challenge in the southern area in September 1976. In the next month, McKenzie became a professional, and as an outstanding amateur he was expected from him. Master ABA in 1976 in a delicate circle, McKenzie also passed in the European Championships at the level of under 21 and at the senior level, before he lost to Sugar Ray Leonard in the last 16 years at the Olympic Games in 1976.

As a professional, Clinton easily won his first four, and then he was adapted to Powers in the eight round at the Hilton Hotel, Mayfair. Powers returned from loss to Morrison, winning four in a row, and his victims, including two former British champions in Joey Singleton and Tommy Glencross. Bn Slightly privileged perception permissions, commenting that Powers, which was at a slight risk, took a high risk. In a match made in 9. 12 pounds, Colin was in a destructive form, and the crowd was shocked, seeing how he completely overwhelm his rival, throwing him in just two rounds.

“I never wanted to beat anyone like that,” said Colin after the consequence. “When I turned with a professional, I told my manager Vic Andreetti that if McKenzie ever decided a professional as the one I wanted to fight above all. Today everything went to the set. “

During the year, Colin defeated Morrison for a British lightweight title, defended him against Steve Walker, and then stuck Jean-Baptiste Piedvache in eleven rounds to pick up the European title. Then he lost his European title in a complex fight with Fernando Sanchez, being a victim of an absurdly early detention, and also left his British title.

Clinton did not speak not excuses for his loss for power, returned to the gym, returned to the basics, and then began to win a good win against excellent British pretenders. At the end of 1978, he defeated this challenging Irishman, Jim Montague, who received the title recently abandoned by Powers. And so the stage was prepared for a rematch between Clinton and Colin and what was the fight! As I wrote in 2020. This is one of them. “It was Colin that regained his title on one round.

In the September rematch, Clinton finally beat his professional nemesis in another outstanding competition Bn By reporting that “their two fights will have to divide the common status of the best of 1979.” Two great masters who are the direct winners of the Lonsdale belt.

Because the war is still crazy in Eastern Europe, it is demanding to imagine the time when the Ukrainian will again enter the ring with the Russian. After two world wars spread throughout Europe in the 20th century, the relations between Great Britain and Germany were very the same.

Germany did not have a long tradition of boxing when the First World War exploded in 1914. There was only the sporadic number of shows that took place there and the German boxer did not come to the fore. The first German boxer, which I think, considering the competition in Great Britain, was Peter Gotz, the highest class wrestler, who got involved in many matches with gloves in 1909. In 1912, the English-German sports club was established in Berlin. In 1914, German boys began to appear in British rings, especially in London, but the war stopped it.

Hans Breitenstraeter, massive weight, began to make waves in the early 1920s and several British weights went there to fight him, including Tom Cowler, Harry Drake and Harry Reeve, but fans of the fight against Great Britain were still not ready to see German here. This changed on December 29, 1924, when two Germans appeared on the account at Victoria Baths, Nottingham. One of them, Erich, was adapted to Italian, Franco Vitale, in the bills competition within 15 rounds.

Many present will serve on the Western front and despite the hostility, which still existed for many, these two boys have a sultry reception. Italy was originally our enemy during a recent conflict before the change of sides, so the matching Germany with Italian was a bold movement of the promoter. Earlier that evening, the first German, who entered the British ring since the war, Walter Funke, threw the Irish medium weight, Pat Mcallister, in the next 15-Rund.

In a few months there were many other German boys. Until 1927, when Ted Sandwina debuted in Great Britain, relations between the two countries in the boxing ring were normalized. Two other pioneers are Franz Krupel and Hans Lincke, who regularly had fun after Great Britain, especially in the northeast, where they made Sunderland their base in the delayed 1920s.

Sandwina was a sensation in a few years in which he resisted in London. In the end he set off so that the United States could fulfill his ambitions to gain the title of the world in massive weight, and finally disappear in oblivion, he never approached, but paved the path of the next generation German heavyweight so that he would storm the UK Britain in the 1930s. These include Hein Mueller, Erenst Guehring and Hans Schoenrath and, in particular Walter Neusel. And then the Second World War came.

The accompanying press photography of Leo Staroscha, seen in the defeat in 1954 with Johnny Sullivan in Preston, mistakenly states that he was the first German to appear on the British ring since 1945. You can get a much better claim for Werner Wiegand, another massive who came to the Harringay Arena in December 1952 to sideways Johnny Williams. A month earlier, Wiegand overtook Tommy Farr in Dortmund, but he did not fit Williams, a British heavyweight master and the Empire, who knocked him out in the fifth round.

Bn He probably stated that Wiegand was “the first boxer born in Germany, who appeared in the British ring since 1939.” I found earlier. Eight months earlier, during the promotion of Fred Ashton at Royal Hall, Harrogate, Eric Polesky, lost the verdict of six points against Ronna Ivenson Gateshead. Either way, seven years passed before the fans of Great Britain were ready to see the German warrior, one more than in 1924.