Andrew Daries Jephtha (born 30 December 1879 - 1931) was the first black boxer to win a British boxing title, winning the welterweight title in London on 25 March 1907. However, Jephtha is not often recognised as the first black British boxing champion.

Early life

Andrew Jeptha was born on 30 December 1879 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

. He was the son of a Cape Town carpenter and was educated at the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...

School in Hope Street, Cape Town. He came to England in 1902 after winning a boxing competition in South Africa organised by visiting world champion

Kid McCoy Charles "Kid" McCoy (October 13, 1872 – April 18, 1940), born Norman Selby, was an American boxer and early Hollywood actor. He claimed the vacant world middleweight title when he scored an upset victory over Tommy Ryan by 15th round knockou ...

. He married Abby Mitchell (born 2 December 1881 in

Adlington, Lancashire Adlington is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, near the West Pennine Moors and approximately three miles south of Chorley. It became a separate parish in 1842 then grew into a township around the textile and coal mining indust ...

) in 1904 in the District of St Marylebone, London. They had four children. Abby Mitchell was the daughter of Charles Mitchell and Mary Ellen Hope. Her parents ran the Cardwell Arms pub in Chorley Road, Adlington.

Career

Jeptha became a professional boxer in South Africa before the age of 18 years, fighting as a professional in the Vaudeville Theatre and also in Fillis' Circus. He started his boxing career in England as a booth fighter and was reportedly a big attraction for Peddlar McMahon who operated a booth-fighting business. He had 74 fights in his career, winning 32 (KO 21), losing 27 (KO11) and drawing 6. He was a popular and well known boxer. Stories about him often appeared in newspapers and he was known as "le Negre" in France and as "the Boer" in Ireland. His first recorded fight in England, which he lost, was against Jim Green in Liverpool in September 1902. He won his British boxing title in a fight hall called Wonderland at 100 Whitechapel Road, Mile End, London on 25 March 1907, when he knocked out Curly Watson in the fourth round. The fight was arranged for a purse of five hundred and fifty pounds. At the time, Watson (who was also known as Robert Watson, Curley Watson and Seaman Watson) was the boxing champion of the Royal Navy. Curly Watson later died of injuries sustained in a fight with Frank Inglis in London on 5 March 1910. Jeptha had been having problems with damage to his eyesight since before the March 1907 title fight and had received treatment at the Moorfields Eye Hospital, and now had blurred vision. Jeptha did not hold onto the title for long. He was defeated by Joe White in the British welterweight title fight at Cardiff in August 1907. He was at the peak of his career at this point, but knew that he needed to retire because of the problems with his eyesight. However, he kept on fighting and was able to make a living outside of boxing for a while when he appeared in a play called "Black against White". An actress called Mabel Goldswain appeared with him in this vaudeville play, along with British lightweight champion

Jack Goldswain Jack Goldswain (22 July 1878 – 5 November 1954) was a British boxer who won the English & Imperial ten stone title in 1906 and fought for the British welterweight title in 1910. Career Born in Bermondsey, London, Goldswain began his professio ...

. Jeptha played the role of a villain and it is said that his eyes suffered further damage from heavy blows to the head from Goldswain in every performance.

Later life

Jeptha fought Jim Doran in October 1909 and the sight in his right eye was permanently damaged during this contest. However, he continued to box until he was injured in a fight with Joe White in July 1910. Apparently, the famous referee John Douglas and his son

Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to ...

, together with other prominent sportsman, tried to help him earn a living. Andrew Jeptha was in hospital in Liverpool for a while, but unfortunately nothing could be done to save his sight. His supporters bought him a tobacconist and confectionery shop in Walthamstow, but he was unable to make a go of it because of his lack of sight. He returned to South Africa without his wife and children. It is recorded that he could be seen sitting on the sidewalk between the flower sellers in

Adderley Street Adderley Street is a street in Cape Town, South Africa. It is considered the main street of the central business district (downtown) of Cape Town. The Christmas lights, night markets, main train station and numerous shops and restaurants and off ...

, Cape Town, selling a booklet at the price of one shilling. The title of this booklet was "A South African Boxer in Britain – Experiences of Andrew Jephta". There is a copy of this book in the South African Museum in Cape Town. 05 Andrew Jeptha died in South Africa in 1931.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jephtha, Andrew 1879 births Sportspeople from Cape Town Welterweight boxers South African blind people 1920 deaths Cape Colony sportspeople South African male boxers Cape Colony emigrants to the United Kingdom