Boxing is a popular sport in Wales, and since the early 20th century
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
has produced a notable number of professional boxers including several World Champions. The most notable boxers include Wales' first World Champion
Percy Jones;
Jimmy Wilde
William James Wilde (15 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He held the IBU world flyweight title in 1916, the EBU European flyweight title twice; firstly in 1914 and again from 1916 to 1 ...
, who is seen as pound-for-pound one of the World's finest boxers and
Joe Calzaghe
Joseph William Calzaghe ( ; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine ...
, who ended his career an undefeated World Champion.
The early history of boxing in Wales
Despite the sport of
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
in Wales being heavily identified with the industrial south, it was a common pastime in pre-industrial Wales around the country; and was patronized by the local gentry.
[Davies (2008), pg 78.] In the late 18th century, boxing became more commercialised with promoters and publicans organising paid matches that attracted spectators, and with them heavy betting.
In 1797 the skilful 'Whitechapel Jew',
Daniel Mendoza
Daniel Mendoza (5 July 1764 – 3 September 1836) (often known as Dan Mendoza) was an English prizefighter, who became the 18th boxing champion of England from 1792–1795. He was of Sephardic or Portuguese Jewish descent.''The Jewish Boxer's ...
fought in a match near
Neath
Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...
and 1819 saw exhibition bouts staged by two of England's greatest
bare-knuckle boxers Bare-knuckle means without gloves, bandages or any other protection for and/or dangerous 'arming' (such as a knuckle-duster) of the knuckles, a larger part or even the whole hand. It refers specifically to:
* Bare-knuckle boxing, boxing without bo ...
,
Tom Cribb
Tom Cribb (8 July 1781 – 11 May 1848) was a world champion English bare-knuckle boxer of the 19th century.
Cribb was born near Bristol but moved to London before starting professional fighting. He undertook a series of fights between 1805 an ...
and
Tom Spring
Tom Spring (born Thomas Winter) (22 February 1795 – 20 August 1851) was an English bare-knuckle fighter. He was heavyweight champion of England from 1821 until his retirement in 1824. After his retirement he became landlord of the Cast ...
.
One of the more common ways for the Welsh public to watch a fight was at race meets. Boxing had always been associated with horse racing, and according to the ''Racing Calendar'' the favoured Welsh courses were Brecon, Carmarthen, Knighton, Wrexham and Monmouth. In 1824 the 4,000 racing pundits at Monmouth were also entertained with a fight in which a quarryman called Parry beat Powell in a 103-round contest. The early 19th century also witnessed the emergence of Welsh boxers whose fame extended beyond the confines of the boxing rings. One of the first Welsh fighters of note, despite being born in
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
in London, was Ned Turner. Turner's parents were both from
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...
and he was dubbed the "pugilistic prince of Wales' by the ''North Wales Gazette'' in 1823.
[Stead; Williams (2008) p.6]
The opening of the South Wales Valleys to industrialisation in the mid-1800s saw a large influx of commercial immigration. This was followed by an improved transport network, which in turn allowed larger crowds, and larger wagers, to be brought to the sport of boxing. When the
Taff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stag ...
was extended to
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
in 1840, the locals celebrated by a contest between
Cyfarthfa
Cyfarthfa is a community and electoral ward in the west of the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales.
Community
Cyfarthfa mainly consists of the settlements of Gellideg and Heolgerrig and Rhyd-y-car area just west of Mer ...
champion John Nash, and Merthyr hardman
Shoni Sguborfawr
Shoni Sguborfawr or Sioni Ysgubor Fawr (''Johnny ''of'' Big Barn'') (1811–1858) was a notorious Welsh criminal, most notable for his part in the Rebecca Riots and his subsequent attempts to blackmail fellow rioters.
Early history
Shoni was chris ...
.
The adoption of boxing as a sport for the underprivileged in industrial Wales is compared, by Welsh historian Gareth Williams, to the living conditions of the emerging towns themselves. Towns like Merthyr, one of the heartlands of the world's iron industry, with its dire health and living conditions, along with a high rate of industrial injury and death, reinforced in the minds of the working class that life was short and brutal.
[Stead; Williams (2008) p.9] The sport of boxing, though exploitative of the common man, was still a means to rise above the poverty of everyday life and glamourized the primitive.
In 1867, Wales made its first major contribution to boxing, when
Llanelli
Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...
-born sportsman and sport organiser
John Graham Chambers
John Graham Chambers (12 February 1843 – 4 March 1883) was a Welsh sportsman. He rowed for Cambridge, founded inter-varsity sports, became English Champion walker, coached four winning Boat-Race crews, devised the Queensberry Rules, staged the ...
devised and drafted the
Queensbury Rules, the basic code to which boxing still practices under to this day. Although boxing now had its legitimate code of laws, Wales would often be the location of illegal bare-knuckled fights, and there would be known mountainside locations where locals would meet to watch fights.
[Stead; Williams (2008) p.7] These illegal fights were often conducted at dawn in isolated or remote areas, though they were still sometimes disrupted by the law.
To evade criminal proceedings, fights were often arranged on land near county borders where jurisdiction was vague and law enforcement intermittent.
[Stead; Williams (2008) p.10] In particular the area between
Tafarnaubach near Tredegar and
Llangynidr
Llangynidr is a village, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales, about west of Crickhowell and south-east of Brecon. The River Usk flows through the village as does the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. It is in the historic county of B ...
in Powys became the 'nursery for would-be champions' due to its proximity to the borders of three counties.
Towards the end of the Victorian period several Welsh boxers, who made their name as mountain fighters, began fighting under Queensbury rules and became well known and respected sportsmen. Among their number were champion fighters,
John O'Brien,
Dai St. John,
Redmond Coleman
Redmond may refer to:
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Elsewhere
* ...
and butcher brothers
Sam and
Ivor Thomas. By the early 20th century, boxing had not advanced to a great degree in Wales, and many of the country's early professional boxers began their career fighting in booths at fairgrounds. With the popularity of the sport increasing, a scale of weights and titles evolved, which allowed the emergence of working-class local heroes.
20th century boxing in Wales
![Freddie Welsh headshot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Freddie_Welsh_headshot.jpeg)
In the first third of the 20th century the South Wales valleys produced a prolific stream of boxing champions. The valleys area around
Pontypridd
() (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Geography
comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...
produced more champions during this period than any region of a comparable size in the world.
The champions included three boxers from the
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ('' ...
;
Tom Thomas of
Penygraig
Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas, Edmondstown, Penrhiwfer and Williamstown. Penygraig is within ...
,
Percy Jones of
Porth
Porth ( cy, Y Porth) is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rh ...
and
Jimmy Wilde
William James Wilde (15 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He held the IBU world flyweight title in 1916, the EBU European flyweight title twice; firstly in 1914 and again from 1916 to 1 ...
from
Tylorstown
Tylorstown (Pendyrus) is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown.
History
B ...
, and Pontypridd's own
Freddie Welsh and
Frank Moody. All these boxers fought with a particular 'Welsh' stance, upright, and using a combination of fast two-fisted attacks. Of these fighters, Jimmy Wilde stands out as a true great of World boxing, whose diminutive stature and light frame hid an incredible punching power, that was reflected in one of his nicknames, 'The Ghost with the Hammer in his Hand'. Wilde fought over 150 professional bouts, losing just five, and achieved 99 knockouts.
Jimmy Wilde boxing profile
boxrec.com Although the coalfields and ironworks of South Wales produced notable fighters, other areas of South Wales also produced memorable fighters. The darling of Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
was 'Peerless' Jim Driscoll, who took the featherweight Lonsdale belt in 1910. Other boxers who were able to translate success in Britain abroad, included Gipsy Daniels
William "Gipsy" Daniels (9 February 1903 – June 1967), was a Welsh Light-heavyweight boxing champion of Britain who, in an eighteen-year career, took in 141 contests, including eight fights in New York City, and notably knocked out Max Schmeli ...
who fought at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
and Bill Beynon who took the Empire Bantamweight title.
In April 1928 the Welsh Boxing Association and Control Board was set up to regulate championships and ensure the safety of the boxers in Wales.[Lee (2009) p. 58] It initially attempted to remain independent of the British Boxing Board of Control
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom.
History
The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...
(BBBC), with whom it had had some disputes, but by 1929 it had amalgamated with the newly reconstituted BBBC, and after that Welsh boxing was managed by the Welsh Area Council. The Welsh Board set about forming a championship for each weight division, and by 1929 all eight weights had a recognised Welsh champion. With the championship formed, the titles could now only be won in a Board of Control designated contest. Although Wales was now recognised within the BBBC as one of the eight areas of their control, the Welsh champions were regarded as representing their country rather than just an administrative area.[Lee (2009) p. 59]
Despite the popularity of team sports in Wales such as rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
and football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, boxing as a solo sport was integral to regional culture in Wales and extremely popular with the working classes. Even when Welsh economic fortunes slumped during the depression in the 1930s, boxing retained popular support, though the number of world championship titles faded. Two Welsh boxers of note emerged during this period, Jack Petersen, who won the British Heavyweight Championship on two occasions and the 'Tonypandy Terror', Tommy Farr
Tommy may refer to:
People
* Tommy (given name)
* Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film
* ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
, who took the Empire heavyweight crown. Although Farr never achieved the success of previous Welsh boxers, his struggle as a professional fighter, especially his 1937 15 round defeat to Joe Louis, was seen to mirror the struggle of the Welsh workers.
Post World War II, Wales produced another round of championship contenders, though as with the previous decade they failed to emulate the Welsh boxers of the 1920s. Ronnie James
Ronnie James (8 October 1917 – 12 June 1977) was a British Lightweight boxing champion. Born in Swansea, Wales, James had over 130 professional bouts winning 114 of them, 61 through knockout. In 1946 he challenged Ike Williams at Cardiff fo ...
of Pontardawe
Pontardawe () is a town and a community in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: ''Cwmtawe'') in Wales. With a population of 6,832, it comprises the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos. A town council is elected. Pontardawe forms part of the county bo ...
, Dai Dower
David William "Dai" Dower MBE (20 June 1933 – 1 August 2016), was a Welsh professional boxer who was a British, Empire and European Flyweight boxing champion, and is considered by fans and critics alike as one of the most successful Welsh box ...
of Abercynon
Abercynon (), is both a village and a community (and electoral ward) in the Cynon Valley within the unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community comprises the village and the districts of Carnetown and Grovers Field to the south, ...
and Colin Jones of Gorseinon
Gorseinon is a town within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is situated in the north west of Swa ...
all held British titles but did not win a world title belt. The later half of the 20th century saw a string of Welsh boxers who engaged the Welsh psyche, with a centred group of fighters coming from the Merthyr area. These Merthyr boxers included welterweight Eddie Thomas, featherweight Howard Winstone
Howard Winstone, MBE (15 April 1939 – 30 September 2000) was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold ...
and bantamweight Johnny Owen
John Richard Owens (7 January 1956 – 4 November 1980) was a Welsh professional boxer who fought under the name Johnny Owen. His seemingly fragile appearance earned him many epithets, including the "Merthyr Matchstick" and the "Bionic Ba ...
, who lost his life in a fight against Lupe Pintor
José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born 13 April 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He won the WBC bantamweight title in 1979 after defeating Carlos Zárate Serna, and made ...
in 1980.
Welsh boxing in the twentieth century produced a number of notable light and middle weight boxers, but failed to have a similar impact on the heavyweight categories, which was not reflective of the rest of the United Kingdom. The notable exceptions to this were the Dick Richardson of Newport and Joe Erskine from Cardiff, who, along with England's Henry Cooper
Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer, best remembered internationally for a 1963 fight in which he knocked down a young Cassius Clay before the fight was stopped because of a cut eye from Clay's punches. Coo ...
and Brian London
Brian Sidney Harper (19 June 1934 – 23 June 2021), known professionally as Brian London, was an English professional boxer who competed from 1955 to 1970. He held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title from 1958 to 1959, and twice ...
formed a quartet of promising British heavyweights during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The final decade of the twentieth century saw four Welshmen take World Championship titles. Steve Robinson became the WBO Featherweight Champion in 1993, followed by Robbie Regan
Robbie Regan (born 30 August 1968) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1996. He held the WBO bantamweight title in 1996, the IBF interim flyweight title in 1995, and once challenged for the WBO flyweight title in 199 ...
(WBO World Bantamweight) in 1996, Barry Jones (WBO World Super-Featherweight) and Joe Calzaghe (WBO Super Middleweight), both in 1997.
21st century boxing in Wales
The first decade of the 21st century of boxing in Wales was dominated by a single fighter, Joe Calzaghe
Joseph William Calzaghe ( ; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine ...
. Although Calzaghe came to note after beating former Middleweight World Champion Chris Eubank
Christopher Livingstone Eubank (born 8 August 1966) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995, and is ranked by BoxRec as the thir ...
on points in 1997 to win the WBO title, it was during the 2000s that he came to prominence. Calzaghe finished his career with 46 bouts and no losses, one of the few World Champions to retire undefeated.
Other boxers of note to emerge during the early 21st century include, Jason Cook who became European Lightweight Champion in 2002, Nathan Cleverly
Nathan Cleverly (born 17 February 1987) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2017. He is a two-time light-heavyweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 2011 to 2013, and the WBA (Regular) title from 2016 ...
the European, British, Commonwealth and WBO World light heavyweight title holder, Gavin Rees
Gavin Rees (born 10 May 1980) is a retired Welsh former professional boxing world champion who competed from 1998 to 2014. He held the WBA super lightweight title from 2007 to 2008 and challenged once for the WBC lightweight title in 2013. ...
former WBA light-welterweight champion and Enzo Maccarinelli
Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008. At regional level, he held the European and British cruiserweight titles betwe ...
former WBO and WBU cruiserweight champion.
Welsh boxing champions
Wales Area boxing champions
British boxing champions from Wales
European boxing champions from Wales
World boxing champions from Wales
NWS: Newspaper decisions
Notes
Bibliography
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