On This Day - March 25th 1934 Sunday Afternoon at The Ring, Blackfriars

Back in 1934 there was boxing every day of the week in London and Sunday afternoon shows were very popular. On March 25th 1934 one could pay "three and a tanner" or less than 20p to get a decent seat and be entertained by boxers of great quality at the Blackfriars venue. On the same day one could also watch boxing in London at East Ham Palais de Danse, the Chalton Ring in Euston, Merton Stadium, at Luna Park in Whitechapel, the Alexandra Arena at Stratford, the Central Ring at Wood Green and also at Stepney, where fans had the choice of boxing at either the Beaumont Hall or at the Osbourne Social Club. 

World heavyweight champion behind the bar at your local!

Seen Mike Tyson down your local recently? At first glance this might seem like a ridiculous concept. An ex-world heavyweight champion in an English pub? In 1926 one of Tyson’s predecessors, a man from Canada, didn’t just visit an English pub, he was the landlord!

Tommy Burns held the world heavyweight title for two years. After losing to Jack Johnson in Sydney on Boxing Day 1908 he retired a wealthy man, free to indulge in his interests. He dabbled as a boxing promoter in more than a few countries and was always on the look-out for a budding heavyweight champion. He maybe thought he had found one in Luther McCarty. But poor Luther died, aged 21, in a contest against Arthur Pelkey at Calgary in 1913. Tommy Burns was the unfortunate promoter. In 1920 Tommy was tempted into his final comeback in a contest with Joe Beckett, the British heavyweight champion, at Olympia, London. After losing in seven rounds Tommy hung up his gloves for good.