In the early years of the last century in Liverpool there were two boxing places in the direct competition: Malakoff Club at the Cleveland Square and Gymnyteic Club at Dale Street, half a mile up.

These were two main places in the city at that time, and on March 31, 1902, the Gymnastic Club organized a tournament in which Jack FairClough from St helens faced a local boy, Billy Bierley in twenty rounds. Earlier that evening, the judge had a fight in which American Billy Barrett, in two rounds, knocked out Billy Willoughby, a manchester warrior. Barrett came to Great Britain at the beginning of this year and as the previous opponent of the “terrible” Terry McGovern, former world champion in a featherweight, he mixed up in a lofty company. He wrote campaigns in Great Britain until 1904, making Liverpool his base.

When the main event took place, nothing happened for eight rounds, and the judge had enough that he left the ring, leaving the competition in Aleyance. He could simply announce “no competition”, but he decided to tidy, outraged by fighters. Another judge, Dan Whelligan, took control, and the fight ended as a draw. The name of the original referee was Kinsell, and when I saw it in the report, I immediately thought about the weighty weight of Liverpool from the 70s Paul Kinsella. It wasn’t until last year that another Liverpool warrior with this name, Harry Kinsella, made his debut with Dale Street, at Echo Arena.

I am very excited when I can make these connections for over 120 years of boxing history in one city. I have no idea if the annoyed judge in 1902 is any relationship of Harry and Paweł, but I strongly suspect that he is.

Another example is Jim and Billy Pennington from Patricoft in Manchester. Both of these boys were busy at the same time as Barrett and fought in different places in the city. As an official of the board, I met Joe Pennington, the leading airy of the Northside boxing club, several times and I can’t wonder if his boxing origin returns to Jim and Billy. I will have to ask him when I see him.

Paul Kinsella was a tough man. He had only 12 professional competitions during his career, which lasted in 1975–1978, but left his trail. He never boxed in his hometown, fighting instead of London, under the best coach, George Francis. As an amateur Paweł, he won national schools, Junior ABA, the Royal Championships and the northern counties. He was disturbing in the 1975 semi -final, losing to Garfield Mcewan from Birmingham Rum Borner ABC. He briefly served as a royal Marine, hence his title of Navy.

In a sensational professional debut, Pat Quinn from Manchester blew up in just 50 seconds at the English -American sports club at the Hilton Hotel London, before Prince Charles. He was undefeated in his first six fights before the wheels fell. Was rated at 10 in Bn Rankings from March 1976 together with my previous amateur winner, Garfield Mcewan at 11 and Eddie Fenton, whom I presented in the article in September 2020, at 12.

Kinsella and Fenton were matched in the next month in six runes in the Royal Albert Hall, on the undercard of the demolition of Billy Knight Alan Minter. Under the headline “Kinsella failures in a thriller”, Bn He informed that Larry O’Connell had stopped the fight on the fourth, officially due to the poorly divided upper lip, with Kinsell beaten. “It was the most bruise preliminary fight of the year, and few main events matching effort, drama or emotions,” we wrote. Paul was never the same after this competition, but I remember him as one of the Kinsells from Liverpool, a proper boxing city.

For anyone who reads Bn 40 or 50 years ago, the 1950s were often presented as a golden age for British boxing. This will have a lot in common with the age of correspondents, with many of them to start a journalistic career at the beginning of this decade, and with nostalgia what it is, a significant photo was painted from the era.

In 1950, 770 tournaments were held in the country. In 1959 it was only 240. It was a rather shocking fall and it largely caused the arrival of television and an economic boom that took place over the years. In 1948, over 1,000 tournaments took place in Great Britain, so until 1950 the rot was already starting.

At the beginning of the decade, Freddie Mills was a world -class airy champion, but he lost this coat by the end of January. In what turned out to be the last struggle of Mils’s career, he was knocked out in 10 rounds by American, Joey Maxima in the exhibition hall, Earls Court. Three months later, Terry Allen raised the empty title of World Flyweight, beating Honore Pratsi compared to the full 15 on the Harringay Arena. Then Allen lost the crown in his first defense, losing to Dado Marino in Honolulu in August 1950. Despite this, Britiska could still say that he had two world champions in the 1950s, and the decade was only nine months elderly.

Randolph Turpin was the hottest prospect of Great Britain in 1950 and proved his value, defeating Ray Robinson’s great sugar in the one that was never avoided in July 1951 in Court Earls. It was one of the best victories that the British warrior ever achieved. Sixty -four days later he was crushed by Robinson in a return in Recent York. And it was that in the 1950s there will be no longer British world champions, as long as Terry Downes and Johnny Caldwell in 1961. Six British fighters tried to win world awards for the rest of the decade and everyone was defeated comprehensively. We had two pretenders in heavyweight, and Don Cockell fell at the hands of all time, Rocky Marciano, in the absurdly diminutive ring in 1955, and then Brian London was crushed by Floyd Patterson in 11 rounds in Indianapolis in 1959. Both men fought boldly, but they were both of their depth.

There were no British contenders either in a featherweight or welterweight, but in a airy weight Dave Charnley became the first fighter of Great Britain who questioned the world championship title from Jacek Kid Berg, 28 years earlier. Charnley fought with “Ancient Bones” by Joe Brown in Houston, Texas in December 1959 and lost in the average eye stop in sixth place, when behind all three results cards.

No wonder that it was lighter weights in which the world title attempts. In Bantamweight Danny O’Sullivan, the great star of Snooker, Ronnie O’Sullivan, recently lost in the European title challenge after it was not less than ten times. A few months later, in December 1950, he traveled to South Africa to deal with the great VIC for the title of world champion. This time, Danny hit deck 14 – yes, fourteen – opportunities, but he went at a distance. In 1952, this tough man from Scotland, Peter Keenan, also lost in Toweeel in the world title. Dai Dower was our Flyight weight representative for World Honors, and his defeat of the Argentine Pascal Perez in March 1957 was destructive. Dai had an advantage of almost six pounds, but was crushed in one round before a crowd of 85,000 in Buenos Aires.

In the 1960s, it would be a slightly greater success for British fighters, but only in the 70s and 80s Great Britain really accelerated and laid a mark on World Boxing, producing a series of really great world champions.

From the debut in Winsford, to boxing in Myrtle Street Drill Hall in Crewe, and then five performances in Madison Square Garden in the early 1950s. She was quite a journey for the heavyweight Ray Wilding from Northwich, Cheshire. At the moment when the place was at the peak of fame at this world renowned Arena, and Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano and Sandy Saddler appeared regularly.

Few remember Ray Wilding today, but when he left these banks at the beginning of 1951 to create his fame and fortune in the United States, he did it with a terrifying reputation of the Great Puncher and was expected to be much.

In 1947 he returned a professional in 1947, boxing in many diminutive rooms that took place near Cheshire and North Wales. Some of his early competitions are complex to trace, but most of them won through pure knockout, and at the beginning of 1950 he knocked on the door of the British heavyweight in the top ten. After winning the heavyweight tournament in Watford Town Hall, he began to regularly appear at exhibitions at Royal Albert Hall, Earl’s Court in Belle Vue, Manchester.

In June 1950, Ray was recognized as a sparring partner Lee Savold, who was in Great Britain to fight Bruce Woodcock for the version of the world’s heavyweight. The American damaged the jaw during hefty sessions in the gym. While in Warrington Infirmary, Wilding received a visit to the graceful Savold, who encouraged him to go to America, where he seemed to reach a great time.

Nine months later, Ray stood on the other side of the ring from Nash Karahan, ready for a box in a six -edge on Undercard of the Bob Murphy V Harry Matthews Heavyweight Clash in the renowned garden. When he left Great Britain, he won the last six fights at the distance and lost only two competitions from his 35 professionals, both because of the damaged nose. He continued this form in the United States, where after crushing Karahan in two rounds he won five more at a distance. His fifth competition, the detention of Jimmy Russo in the fourth round, took place at the failed Savold competition against Joe Louis, again in the garden.

Wilding returned to Great Britain in November 1951 to fight Stephane Olenek in the 10-Rund at the Harringay Arena, and two men were thrown out in fifth place for not trying. After defeating Rocky Brown in the Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Ray once again jumped through the Atlantic to face Frank Bell at Central Area Heavyweight Crown in Harringay. Did the right job on Bell Bn Reporting that “wild has set about Bell on eighth with revenge. Frank went to “eight” after he took a number of blows into the jaw and suffered a later defeat, although he showed an amazing game. He fell into his bend into the bell, and his trainer did not waste time to tell the judge that his man took enough for one night. It was a great victory for Wilding. “

This victory brought a wild competition with Werner Weigand at Undercard of Don Cockell against Randolph Turpin Contest in White City in June 1952. Unfortunately, Weigand called, and the tardy replacement was found in Aaron Wilson, an American hefty weight, which knocked out Jacek London and Don cokella London. Wilson shocked everyone, sending Raya in just three rounds.

After the outbreak of the bubble, Wilding returned to America, where he fought four more times in 1953, losing to Charliem Norkus with a two -king stop in a competition, which finally paid his hopes. He settled there and ran a successful business with his son. For a moment he looked like a world beaten.