Death of Bob Darley - Army and Navy Featherweight Champion 1908 and 1909

In the Sporting Life dated Tuesday March 27th 1917 the following notice appeared:

REPORTED DEATH OF SERVICE CHAMPION AT BAGHDAD

We have received a communication from Mr J J Johnson informing us of the death of Sgt. Major Bob Darley, the well-known featherweight boxer. It appears that he was taken prisoner when Kut fell, but was so weak and ill that he was left in hospital in Baghdad, and died there last October. 

Darley, who was attached to the West Kent Regiment, will be remembered as winning the Navy and Army featherweight championships in 1908 and 1909, while in civilian rings he won several money matches. Standing with right hand and foot foremost, he was an awkward proposition to all 9st. men.

Famous Pugilists of the English Prize Ring 1719-1870

Mick Hill has recently produced a worthy book on the English Prize Ring. For those of you who don't know Mick, he has long held an interest in boxing, and in particular, the days of bare-knuckle fighting.

Mick has produced a 200-page book on the prominent boxers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and he has ensured that many of the lesser-known names of this period are included, in the form of mini-biographies. There are nearly 80 pugilists featured within the book and some of them will be new to even the most fervent follower of boxing during the bare-knuckle age. Two of the first three names included within the book, for instance, are Tom Pipes and Bill Gretting, and it is a welcome change to see the stories of men such as these recorded.

BBBC Inspector Arthur Musson Saves the Show

I have in my collection a number of items of correspondence relating to a boxing tournament which was held at the Kings Hall, Derby on 11 December 1950. The show was held under the jurisdiction of Central Area Council (Area No 5) of the British Boxing Board of Control. The North Midlands and West Midlands Councils had been abolished in 1947 when the Central Area was formed and this reorganisation had not been popular with the officials in the Midlands and there were clearly one or two teething troubles including events at this show. 

Some short time later the Midlands Area Council (Area No 8) was formed and it took part of the Central Area with it, including Derbyshire. This Council became a very well organised and successful organisation and the sport in the Midlands prospered under its control during the 1950s. This was due, in no small part, to the both the efficiency and the skill of its secretary, Mr G. Arthur Musson.

Programme Notes : Albert Finch v Bob Cleaver

Date: May 24th 1949.

Venue: Selhurst Park Football Ground, Sydenham.

Promoter: Bill Goodwin and Alf Hart.

Attendance: approximately 4,000.

Contest between Albert Finch of Croydon, ranked number 1 contender for the British Middleweight Title and Bob Cleaver of the Borough, ranked 3 star (just outside the top ten) in the British Middleweight rankings

Distance: 8 x 3 minute rounds.

Weights: Finch 11st 8lbs, Cleaver 11st 4½ lbs.

Outcome: Finch won by knockout in the seventh round.

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. 

Bill Chevalley 1925-2013

Bill supervises Mark Rowe's groundwork during a training session (1970)

I was saddened to hear last week that the veteran boxing trainer Bill Chevalley, perhaps best known for guiding middleweight Mark Rowe to a British and Commonwealth title, had passed away at the age of 87. While it’s perhaps a cliché to say of someone ‘boxing was his life’, this statement is entirely true of Bill, and so I say it here without hesitation.  

While there are many people who knew Bill far better than I and who are better qualified to write about him (I wasn’t even born when Bill’s well-known protégé Mark Rowe was making headlines), when I heard the news of his passing I felt compelled to pen a small tribute. 

A punch on the proboscis

By O. F. Snelling

This article, written in the 1980s, is reproduced here with the kind permission of Derek O’Dell, Editor and Producer of ‘The Southern Ex-Boxer’.

Teddy Baldock lands a left on the nose of
Kid Pattenden in their 1929 British
bantamweight title clash

Professional boxing isn’t like entering some beauty competition. And it never was. Certainly, some pretty handsome fellows have taken to the punch-up for fame and fortune, but if they ever worried about their looks excessively they were simply mugs who adopted the wrong occupation. Few of them ever got very far.

What’s the commonest blow employed in boxing? I’d say, without hesitation, that it’s the straight left lead to the face. It doesn’t always land, but when it does it usually arrives with a plonk right on the schnozzle, and the poor old proboscis is the human feature which takes more than a bit of the brunt in most fistic exchanges.

Consequently, just as most fighters seldom get through a career without sooner or later knocking up one or two of their knuckles, so very few manage all their days in this tough business without suffering a broken nose.

Sparring partner to Mickey Walker – June 1927 (aged 14)

Nipper Pat Daly aged about 15

"When Mickey Walker was signed up to defend his world middleweight title against Scotsman Tommy Milligan at the Olympia on the above date the whole world of British boxing fans were agog with interest.

Jack Kearns, Walker’s manager, struck camp at Taggs Island, which was situated in the middle of the Thames river at Hampton Court. Kearns, who was the former manager of Jack Dempsey, former heavyweight champion of the world, was very businesslike and arranged what order we would spar with his present champ.

As he looked at me I could see the disappointment in his eyes, and he said, 'You’re far too light for this job.' I weighed 7st-12lb or 110lb, American method. My manager explained to him that I was engaged for my speed, not my strength. Mickey, who was talking to another of his partners, noticed that we were talking, rather excitedly came to us and on hearing the cause of the argument said, 'Okay I’ll just spar with him last to speed me up, and he better be fast.'

Story behind this picture – Frankie Burns

By Gilbert Odd

This article and the accompanying photo are reproduced here with the kind permission of Derek O'Dell, to whom they were entrusted by the late Gilbert Odd for publication at a later date. 

The boxer on the floor has just been knocked out in a championship contest. A few days earlier he had saved someone from drowning. Did his heroic act cause his defeat?

The story of the boxers who sailed on the Titanic

In the January 21st 1911 edition of ‘Boxing’ under the article headed ‘Welsh Notes’ there appeared the following: “Wanted – a smart boxer. A well-known American sports promoter has just written to me from across the Atlantic to ask me to recommend a smart boxer for a trip across the water, and the terms, which I do not care to make public, will gladden the heart of the selected man. At present I have two lightweights in view, both good men, but I am in no great hurry to make the selection, as circumstances allow me ample time to do so.” The article was penned by the Welsh correspondent, Charles A Barnett, and it referred to an invitation he had received from a wealthy racehorse owner and sports promoter, Frank Torreyson.

The following week Barnett wrote that “As might have been expected, quite a shoal of boxers have written to me offering their services in answer to the announcement that I made last week.” Barnett added that he had been given a name by Torreyson and that until this person had accepted or declined the offer he would look no further.

'Boxing by the Sea' - The history of professional boxing at Morecambe

At one time the Winter Gardens at Morecambe, a seaside town in Lancashire, was one of the most important small hall venues in British boxing. Between 1928 to 1964 no fewer than 644 professional boxing promotions were staged there and men of the calibre of Jock McAvoy, Frankie Taylor, Johnny King, Jackie Brown, Frank Johnson and Jimmy Walsh all fought there.

Larry Braysher, one of Britain’s leading boxing memorabilia collectors and a local to the area, has recently published a fine book which tells the story of this famous boxing venue. ‘Boxing by the Sea’ is available direct from the author for £10.90 + £2.50 post and packing.

Boxing letters from 1938

Old-time newspapers really are fascinating. In the absence of TV, radio and archival film they provide an unrivalled insight into the lives of our forebears, including those who once inhabited the boxing world.

While fight reports and other newspaper editorial must conform to style constraints and, to an extent, the agenda of a publication, letters from readers need not. Often a letter will tell us as much about the personality of the letter writer as it does the topic of the letter. Like it or not, what we write can say more about us than we intend.

Aside from that, historical boxing letters can offer a rare insight into fight fans’ opinions of the time (without the distortion of hindsight), shed light on the careers of long-forgotten fighters and tell us about the lost customs of the ring; all with an immediacy that gives one the feeling, if only momentarily, of stepping through time.

The below selection of readers’ letters printed in Britain’s trade paper Boxing in 1938 provides a flavour of the fight game of that era.