Everyone who tries to promote at a miniature boxing event in the 1960s, just like today, had to be prepared for a lot of money.

The 1950s was the last decade in which such undertakings could prove to be profitable for regular programs. As this decade passed, and television began to enter the life of working families, and people stopped looking for entertainment, professional boxing hit slipping, and the number of tournaments dropped rapidly.

George Merritt has been an oldschool professional since the 1930s. With Silvertown, a strenuous area next to the docks on the north side of the Thames, George took part in almost 150 competitions in a strenuous career, which lasted in 1932–1945. One of the three sides, George was the best, in 1934. In 1934 he took part in 34 competitions, of which there were 12 rounds. After the end of his career, George remained in boxing, in 1962, at the age of 48, he decided to try his hand as a promoter.

The best in miniature London rooms were in the hands of rivals. There were several good in the area, including West Ham Bath, Seymour Hall in Marylebone, Shoreditch Town Hall and Majestic Ballroom at Finsbury Park. George had to find his own place and tried the winter bath in East Ham for his first show. It was the only one and only the show he had ever taken there, but George was encouraged enough to try again.

Then he found another novel place, a miniature Art-Deco pub built in 1936, known as Roundhouse and located in Dagenham, the perfect place from which he attracts fans of fighting. George also found a good man who bases these concerts; Local warrior Tommy Rix has only recently become a professional and in six months he won six competitions. Master of national schools and London finalist, Tommy was an elegant performer with a good amateur rhodium and could sell tickets.

In January 1963 he won the seventh fight in Roundhouse, on the account on the sovereignty by another local boy, Danny Wells of Basildon. A good crowd appeared, and George decided to choose monthly concerts on the spot. With Matchmaker, Jacek Hopwood, another 100-year-old veteran from the 1930s, George lured Johnny Caiger, another best amateur from Dagenham, to the place to debut. With Rix on the account, Merritt again won another hit and everything looked good.

His third program took place in October, and Rix won again. Caiger suffered a defeat at the hands of Joe Sommerville, losing due to disqualification in the third. Tommy looked good, winning the octa -ła decision about Tommy Icke from Wolverhampton to register his 13th victory in a row. On Monday, November 25^thTommy received victory number 14 when he was again at the top of George’s account, this time beating Nigerians, Tommy Atkins.

It seemed that Merritt managed to set up, with a good miniature place and decent cards filled with local boys, some of whom looked promising. But because the margins of the profit were so tense, it was not straightforward to justify the time and effort needed to organize these programs, and George was a busy man away from sport.

Both Merritt, as a promoter and Rix, as a warrior, were inactive throughout 1964. Rix returned in February 1965 in Nottingham, and fought again in March, this time for the competing promoter Harry Grossmith in Shoreditch Town Hall.

In June 1965, Merritt, without his star, held his last concert in Roundhouse, and then packed it, deciding that he was not worth effort, and London lost another miniature room. Rix retired the following year, after his first loss.

Roundhouse in the seventies better in the 1970s, when as a musical place he visited Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd and the personal favorite of Rory Gallagher. He is still there and serves a decent mug.

Controversial decisions seem quite common today in boxing. This is not surprising, considering the way virtually every high -level competition can be seen live, and its result debated on any number of social media platforms. Judges and judges have never been more examined than today.

Fifty years ago, much less boxing was available on television, and what was often shown edited boxing events that took place at night or even a week earlier. Some decisions, however, caused confusion and no more than the Henry Cooper V Joe Bugner competition in 1971. Another one, which stands out in this era, was the Olympic semi -final between Alan and Western German, Dieter Kottysch. The fight was shown live in Great Britain, and the verdict in favor of Kottysch caused absolute smelly, both here as in Germany.

I remember these games well, unfortunately overshadowed, like them, killing Israeli athletes. Athletics events were unique, like the performance of the US swimmer, Mark Spitz. Great Britain won 18 medals at matches, but three of them, all bronze, were won by boxers. In addition to Minter, both George Turpin and Ralph Evans were eliminated in the semi -finals, but brought a medal home. There was no dispute with two of these losses, but the verdict of the mintera was bad.

Alan was one of three hopes for medals identified by Bn In their preview a week before the start of the matches. Together with Maurice Hope and Neville Cole, Minter was awarded because he was “an aged hand in the international circuit. Good banger, and has the right forecast. He respects his command of commands even at the highest level. If he is not marked, he can reach the semi -finals.” Other members of the nine team are Billy Knight, Billy Taylor and Great Graham Moughton. . Bn The reporter got this place with a slight weight of delicate based on Crawley, but Minter did not deserve to go out when he did.

Alan started the event exceptionally well, stopping the Guyana warrior, Reginald Ford, in two rounds. Bn He informed that “with professionals on the wings of Southpaw Minter gave one of his most impressive shows to completely outclass and finally crush Ford with pure knockout.” This is the same Reggie Ford, which defeated both Dave Boy Green and Kirkland Laing in duels at Royal Albert Hall in the early 1980s.

In the next round Minter was combined with Russian Valery Tregubov, a man nine years older than Minter and with a lot of experience. Alan did not show him respect and won the streets. His next fights were against Algeria, Louucif Hanmani, and once again Alan dominated his opponent in a complex competition, pushing into the decision 4-1 in “one of the growing, hardly striking performances that we expect from the 21-year-old.” The stage was now prepared in half, and Alan was drawn against Kottysch from the host nation.

The German was another Southpaw and he also looked impressive in his transition to the last four. He was well known to fans of the fight in Great Britain because he defeated Tom Imrie and Johnny Whitehorn in international matches and was a very experienced amateur who never went to a professional. He was born in Poland, but settled in Hamburg. BN described the competition as a “criminal, stimulating battle”, in which Kottysch roared through the guerrilla crowd.

Minter had to withstand bulky, exact shots all the time, but he gave more than he got, and when at the end each boxer counted two votes from four judges, he went to the fifth man to decide on the result. He even won the fight, but he gave the voice of the casting of Kottysch with one advantage.

Alan could not get closer to the Olympic final, but more than compensated for his disappointment as a professional.

One of the best fighters who have never won the British title is undoubtedly Owen Moran from Birmingham.

While Moran was vigorous, in 1900–1916, the British title really came as a prestigious title in this country. In 1909, when the Lonsdale belt was created, all eight categories of weight had only one clear and unquestioned master. Moran boxed between Bantam in weight and airy during a long career and it is demanding for me to believe that a man of such talent was not crowned with the king of his country.

Midlands was breeding for high quality fighters at the beginning of the 20th century, and earlier produced many Barenuckle masters in England, including William Perry (The Tipton Slasher), Tom Paddock and Tom Allen, and Moran was a worthy successor to these men. His first crucial competition took place at the National Sporting Club in 1903 against Digger Stanley and although Moran lost this fight on points, it led him to leading leading Bantamsweights that day. In January 1905, both met again, in the same place, this time over twenty rounds and in the match, which was settled for the 8th championship of 2 pounds in England. This time Moran made a decision and in a few months he was in the US during his first route, where he won both competitions, including victory over Monte Attell, the brother of the more famed Abe.

It was in the States that he seemed to fight at its best and stayed there between 1907 and 1912, and he gained a huge name in the world for himself. In November 1907, he turned the leading claimant to the title of featherweight Frankie Neil. The men were contracted to weigh 122 pounds three and a half hours before entering the ring, and after managing constant defeating Moran won when the police entered the ring to stop the competition.

After passing this test, Moran was invited to Box Atentell for the title of the world in a featherweight, and two men met on Modern Year, 1908, in 25-runy in San Francisco, with the referee is nothing more than the former world champion, James J Jeffries.

Jeffries was a much better warrior than he was a third man and decided to draw after two men stood on their fingers for 75 minutes. A consensus among observers, especially the British, was that Moran won quite easily. “”Mirror of Life and Boxing World“He probably called it in an editorial article, when he stated that” Moran had to do better than Attell, otherwise Americans would have received a decision. “

In his next competition, Owen decided in a newspaper in Sześcień against the Great Ad Wolgast. With so many US states prohibiting boxing, unless the warriors did not agree to the competition without a decision -making, the judge could not issue a sentence if the fight conducted a full course. To deal with this, a survey was taken among these reporters, and the unofficial winner was a man who gained the most votes. That is why the newspapers decided about the result.

Moran also defeated Harlem Tommy Murphy, Matty Baldwin and Frankie Conley, and in 1910 knocked out the fight with Nelson, one of the best and the most cruel, from early world airy masters.

When Moran finally returned to Great Britain in 1912, he was quickly adapted to the Great Jim Driscoll for the title of British featherweight, and two men met on January 27, 1913 at the National Sporting Club, and once again the decision about the draw between Moran and the title. This time the consensus was with Welsh, although Moran fought the heart, he didn’t do enough to win. He retired a few years later and died in his family Birmingham, at the age of 64, in 1949.