One of the largest ticket sellers who left London in the seventies Alan Salter Peckham. He was an thrilling warrior and although his record of 13 wins from 32 competitions does not look very good on paper, he was rated as high as the third in the British class of lightweight weight (currently super airy), and also boxed the British title of this weight. Alan born in 1950 died only nine days after his 35th birthday, having in a coma seven years earlier after a tragic accident in 1978.

Alan had about 30 or 40 amateur competitions during boxing for dogs Kennel Hill BC and South Norwood BC. He did not achieve much as an amateur, because he did not train properly and liked to go out with his friends. Because he needed money, he tried a professional game, wondering that it would be better to match his style. Initially, he signed a contract with Dickie Waterhouse, but his continuation of undisciplining with alcohol led to winning only seven of his first 16 competitions. In 1975 Bn The article described his road works: “I returned home in the early hours, I drunk as a sack and run out. I have to be the only warrior that has ever been drunk responsible for the tracksuit.”

On February 25, 1974, Salter fought Dennis Harbon from Bradford in Manor Place Baths on an act crowned by his partner Pat McCormack. The photo accompanying this article shows the result, and Alan stands above Harbon before he finished it in three rounds. I think this is a perfect picture – a testimony of this wonderful photographer, Derek Rowe, who rarely left the fight at that time. It perfectly reflects the atmosphere of miniature boxing in London in the death of oldschool places, swimming baths and town halls, which maintained sport for the previous 30 or 40 years. Alan boxed mostly – in the Town Hall of Shoreditch and Batterssea, in York Hall and six times in Manor Place Baths, the most local for him and where he was a great favorite.

After passing at Phil Coren’s stable in 1974, and Kenny Lynas as his trainer, Alan became more devoted and slowly turned his career. He began with a good victory over the previously undefeated Tommy Dunn. After shaking the early penalty, Alan went through to overwhelm the warrior of reading in four rounds Bn described as “stunning nervousness.” After not leaving in three consecutive competitions, Alan was tailored to Joey Singleton, the British master, in the 10-Rund at The Royal Albert Hall at night Johnny Franham, located Chris Finnegan in their first fight. Alan gave the Singleton a real fight, and when Judge Roland Dakin raised Singleton’s hand at the end, the place was in the scope.

Alan finally arrived, and for promoters a ready British fight for the title had to be organized. This took place four months later, after the Singleton recovered after hand injuries in the first competition. This time it was different. Singleton was a very elegant warrior and seriously took up the challenge of Salter. The fight was one -sided, and Salter’s game did not match the skills he had to face and was detained in nine rounds. In the next competition, against Des Morrison, Joey won the belt and deserved it.

Salter’s career came out after his title challenge and returned to cleaning the windows, built a successful round on the streets, where he was so loved. Three years later he was involved in a terrible accident when he was thrown through the sliding door of his van. He never recovered after terrifying brain damage, remaining in a coma until he died of pneumonia in 1985. Only a compact life lived, but he lived in full.

After World War II, the British audience wanted emotions and entertainment like never before. After six years of trauma and disabilities, they came to dance rooms, cinemas and sports stadiums with feverish pleasure and boxing – then Sport Mas – was one of the biggest draws.

Fighters who dragged crowds – then, as now – were those who promised color and emotions. And at the end of the 1940s. Great Britain a delicate division boasted a boxer whose performances provided both. Billy Thompson was a active, tenacious fighter who rarely took a backward step. Turning Pro in the year in which the war ended in 1945, for fans of fighting was an ideal antidote for darkness, which he embraced Great Britain for so long.

Born in Modern Silksworth, Sunderland, in 1925, Billy moved to Thurnscoe, near Rotherham, with his family at the age of five. As a boxer, the student won the title of Yorkshire school for two years, and when he left the school to work at Hickleton Maine Colliery, like his father, he said that he could train in the newly built Collier gym.

He lied about his age – claiming that he was 17 years aged, not 16 – to enter the northern senior poviat championships and defeated a number of older opponents to take the title. In 1943 he won the feather crown of the northern poviat, and in 1944 he founded a seal for his amateur fame, winning the delicate title of ABA. He planned to defend his crown in 1945, but he was kept away from the championship due to an ear injury.

The chest, shot Yorkshireman, could stay longer in amateurs, but his father was exhausted from the pits after the expansion of silveriasis, and Billy needed to support his family. It was said that his father returned to the extraction of coal after two or three years of regeneration, but Billy tried to make sure that his dad would never have to leave the mine again.

Thompson became a professional with a youthful, developing London manager Jarvis Astaire and put 34 fights in his first two years in paid ranks. Billy was 30-2-1, when he faced Stan Hawthorne of North Shields on Anfield in October 1947 in the case of a free British delicate title.

The fight was a slaughterhouse, Billy attacked a man with North Shields with uncontrollable cruelty from the opening bell. Somehow Hawthorne survived a lot of knocks to survive in the third round when judge Peter Muir came in. Thompson won the crown in less than seven minutes.

Billy maintained the title for less than four years, seeing the challenges of Harry Hughes from Wishaw and Tommy McGovern from Bermondsey. Thompson was perfectly boxed to capture the European crown from Italy Roberto Proieti in February 1948 and kept it against Pierre Montane (France), Josef Preys (Belgium) and Hughes, before he lost the title with low disqualification of disqualification for Kid Dussart from Belgium in July 1949.

During his height to the best, Billy looked great, but after winning the titles, his form became unpredictable and tried to make a delicate. In 1951, Thompson fought as a full Heelter, but he came down to delicate defense against McGovern. Pale, forced to the burden of the spirit of Billy Thompson, the world of boxing knew that he was dressed by the first real blow of the fight, and Ko’d in 45 seconds. After a few consecutive attacks in welterweight, Billy retired at the age of 27. He was the first post -war master who won the Lonsdale belt, and more importantly, was able to buy his family a farm in Thurnscoe with earnings from the ring.

Thompson died in January 2009, at the age of 83. At the funeral, his nurtured Lonsdale belt was decorated with a casket as a proper reminder of his achievements.

In recent years, the British rings have been full of foreign boxers and are a spine for many shows of diminutive halls taking place in the country. Most of these boxers come from Eastern Europe and there are almost all “journeymen” with long -term records. In the 1950s, many bills in Great Britain also included foreign fighters from all over Europe and the community of nations, but the import standard was much higher at the time than in today’s case. A typical bill on the Earls Court, in which Freddie Mills was a promoter, can easily include the Belgian, Frenchman, South Africa and Ghana. People like Roy Ankrah, Dave Sands, Duilio Loi and Yolande Pompey could be seen next to the top -shelf Londonians during this period. Wardrobes were like a mini version of the United Nations.

One of the men who came to Great Britain in 1955 was the heavyweight of Kitione Lave, known to fans of the fight from Great Britain as “Tongan Terror”, and Fresh Zealanders and Australians, where he had previously lit the trail in 1953 and 1954, as “Torpedo Tongan”.

Queen Tonga came to Great Britain for the coronation of the queen in 1953, and she caused a sensation during the royal procession because of her enthusiasm, warmth and highly colorful clothing. British public opinion warmed up to her and there was something like that for all things Tongan. When Kitione arrived in 1955, he did it with the support of his queen and was expected of great things from him. His world crashed very quickly when he was stuck by Johnny Williams, a former British and community of a massive community, in Sparkbrook in Birmingham. Lave was planted three times and stopped in the first round. The competition was described by the BN as “farce almost”. He certainly can’t come back.

Kitione slowly rebuilt his reputation thanks to the crushing one -time victory over Manny Burgo in a low West Hartlepool competition. He continued his rapid victories over Eddie Hearn (Batterstea) and Nosher Powell, although between these two victories there was a loss of a point for the next high quality heavyweight, Joe Bygrave.

Then Tongan was invited back to Sparkbrook to the 10-Runda against another British and community community, Jacek Gardner, and this time the roles were reversed. According to BN: “In the catastrophic first round, Gardner was dropped in two cases” five “and” nine “on the jaw rights. His left eye was noted and was hit from the pillar to the position. At no time during the competition he did not look like a winner. “Unfortunately, the judge did not agree, because at the end of the fight she raised Gardner’s hand, to the surprise of the crowd.

Two more quick wins against the European opposition led to Lave on another former heavyweight champion, Don Cockellwho had his second competition since he was erased by Rocky Marciano last year. Cockell was adapted to Gardner to a free British heavyweight title, and both men boxed at this account at Earls Court in sultry -up competitions. They were both supposed to lose badly. Lave just killed Cockella, dropping him six times in two rounds, in which the competition lasted. Gardner was similarly arranged by Bygraves, this competition also ended in the second round. Never before, two men have not adapted to the British heavyweight title, and they both immediately retired, paving the path of Joe Erskine to pick up a free crown.

As the Lave and Bygraves award, they were adapted to the empty title of the community of nations, but at full distance Lave was far behind. For a few more years he boxed both in Europe and in the United States, but he never fully pushed into the world. He will be remembered, like his queen, for the excitement he brought to Great Britain in these gray post -war years.