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!

By Miles Templeton

There is all a lot of global rating of boxers who died juvenile.

Harry Greb, Pancho Villa and Tiger Flowers are three that are cheerful to come, and it is in the 1920s. There are others who died in suspicious circumstances; Randolph Turpin, Oscar Bonven and Arturo Gatti are significant examples. Sometimes these deaths are so mysterious that they advise against conspiracy theories, as in the case of Freddie Mills and Sonny Poston. Another warrior, Zora Folley, marks all three fields.

Folley was an outstanding warrior from the golden age of heavyweight boxing. It is best to remember your title today in 1967 against Muhammad Ali in Madison Square Garden. He was far away when he got on the ring with the “largest”, and after a decent start he was knocked out in seventh place. Ali was at the time at that time and is a man that everyone remembers, but Folley himself had an intriguing life. A veteran of the Korean war, he was involved in terrifying fights with weapons and grenades before he was notable for its gloves. When he was written as a 22-year-old in 1953, he won five battle stars. He would fight British opponents four times in his 96-year-old 17-year career.

After learning to box in the army, Zora did not waste time to start her professional career. Within five years he won the 41-2-2-2-2-2– and came to Great Britain, fighting for his first British opponent, Henry Cooper. Two men met at Empire Pool, Wembley in October 1958 and, as the accompanying photo shows, Henry still had a full head! Cooper’s form has been not uniform in the last two years, winning only two out of eight, and Folley, rated in the second place in the world by the Ring magazine, was to beat him and do it clearly.

A week earlier, Brian London detained Willie Pastrano in five rounds at the Harringay Arena, and Pastrano assessed just behind Folley as the third best massive weight in the world, Cooper’s victory turned the rankings up.

It was a bad night for Zory when our “Energy rejected their ears. Folley himself was a stylist with a perfect stab, so Cooper’s performance was in my opinion one of the best in his career. . Bn This week, the cover had the “Classic’s Win” headline, and the accompanying report said that “the margin of ten rounds was convincing, was stimulating and completely unexpected. In the last round, the crowd set up a constant roar of encouragement with feet pressing and shouts when they sensed that Cooper won safely within its reach. The victory, which must take the success of Tommy Farr over Max Baer. “

Zora remained in Great Britain long enough to defeat Joe Bygraves at Halls Granby in Leicester just six weeks later. When he then came to Great Britain, four years later to fight Cooper again, we saw another warrior. In December 1961, Folley seemed tender, and the recent losses of detention for Alejandro Lairteante and Sonny Liston. On the other hand, Cooper was on the wave. How Bn Place this “the American has nothing to lose, Cooper has everything.” After raising the cut in the first round, Cooper was chewed in the right cross in the second and did not get up. It was a sensational Folley performance.

Six years later, Folley came here again to abandon the 10-round decision to Brian London at the Liverpool stadium and retired three years later. In 1972, Folley died after diving in a hotel pool and hitting his head. To this day, some still say he was murdered.