Benjamin Lynch (2 April 1913 – 6 August 1946) was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division in his era and has been described as the greatest fighter

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

ever produced. '' The Ring Magazine'' founder

Nat Fleischer Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector. Career Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ...

rated Lynch as the No. 5 flyweight of all-time while his publication placed him 63rd in its 2002 list of the "Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years".Cyber Boxing Encyclopedia – Benny Lynch
CyberBoxingZone.comThe 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years
BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2014. Like Fleischer, both Statistical boxing website

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profes ...

and the International Boxing Research Organization also rank Lynch as the 5th greatest flyweight ever.All-Time Flyweight Rankings
BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2014.All-Time Flyweight Rankings
IBROresearch.com Retrieved on 29 April 2014 He was elected to the

Ring Magazine hall of fame ''The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922. In 1954, the magazine established its own boxing Hall of Fame and inducted 155 members before it was abandoned after the 1987 inductions. Boxing inductions continue through the International Boxing ...

in 1986 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998.

Life and career

He was born in a tenement flat at 17 Florence Street, in the Gorbals area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, and learned his fighting skills in the

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival t ...

booths that were popular in the West of

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Early professional fights

Lynch made his professional debut in April 1931 with a second round stoppage of Young Bryce. His professional career started inauspiciously, winning only 8 of his first 15 fights. His first significant victory came in June 1932, when he beat the experienced Jock Joe Aitken on points. In March 1933 he began an unbeaten run that would last three years. He beat Bert Kirby on points in October 1933, and in January 1934 beat Jim Brady in an eliminator for the Scottish Area flyweight title, beating Jim Campbell in May to take the title. He successfully defended the title against Campbell a month later. Lynch rounded off the year with further wins over opponents including

Maurice Huguenin Maurice Huguenin (born 3 November 1909) was a French boxer who won the French flyweight title, and challenged for the European flyweight title on two occasions and the European bantamweight title once. Career Born in Paris, Huguenin made his pr ...

Jim Brady James Scott Brady (August 29, 1940 – August 4, 2014) was an American public official who served as assistant to the President of the United States, U.S. president and the seventeenth White House Press Secretary, serving under President R ...

Valentin Angelmann Valentin is a male given name meaning "strong, healthy, power, rule, terco". It comes from the Latin name ''Valentinus'', as in Saint Valentin. Commonly found in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Latin America ...

, and Pedro Ruiz.

British and European flyweight champion

Lynch won the British, European and world flyweight titles from Jackie Brown in an historic bout held in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

on 9 September 1935, the two having fought a draw six months earlier. The fight attracted enormous support from Glaswegians who travelled en masse to watch Lynch floor his opponent eight times before the bout was stopped in the second round. In his next three fights he beat

Gaston Maton Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) *Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston I ...

(but had to pay a forfeit after failing to make the weight), Harry Orton, and Phil Milligan, before suffering his first defeat in three years when he lost on points to

Jimmy Warnock James Warnock (1912 in Lurgan – 1987) was a Southpaw boxer from the Shankill Road, Belfast, Ireland. Jimmy Warnock began his early boxing career at Belfast's Chapel Fields in prize fights organised by Clara Copley. In the 1930s he beat ...

in Belfast in March 1936. In September 1936 he successfully defended his British and European titles against Pat Palmer, stopping the Londoner in the eighth round. In November 1936, Lynch was sued for £2,000 by his former manager Samuel Wilson, for alleged breach of contract; Lynch counter-sued, alleging that Wilson had not carried out his duties properly.

World flyweight champion

There was dispute, on at least on one side of the Atlantic, as to who was the genuine world flyweight champion. Lynch, recognised as champion in Britain, settled the matter when he out-pointed NBA and NYSAC flyweight champion Filipino

Small Montana Benjamin Jamito Gan (February 24, 1913 – August 4, 1976), known professionally as Small Montana, was a Filipino boxer. Montana, who stood 5 feet and 4 inch (163 cm) tall and never weighed more than 112 pounds, won the Flyweight Cham ...

in London in January 1937 to establish himself as the undisputed world flyweight boxing champion. In his next fight he beat Spanish flyweight champion Fortunato Ortega on points. In March he was disqualified against Len Hampston when his second entered the ring. The two met again three weeks later, with Lynch winning via a tenth round stoppage. In June he was again beaten by Warnock in a fight for which he failed to make the weight. In October 1937 he handed

Peter Kane Peter Kane (28 February 1918 – 23 July 1991) was an English flyweight boxer and a world champion in the 1930s. Kane was born in Heywood, Lancashire, on 28 February 1918, but grew up in the town of Golborne, Lancashire, after his family move ...

his first loss by knockout in a defence of his British and world titles. One of his training sessions before the fight had attracted 10,000 spectators. Towards the end of the month he was knocked unconscious in a car crash. Two months later he stopped

Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels ...

in the eighth round at the

Granby Halls Granby Halls was a popular live music, exhibition and sports arena in Leicester, England, also notable as the long serving home of professional basketball team, the Leicester Riders, from 1980 until 1999. It was located in a triangle of prime ...

in Leicester. Lynch and Kane met again in March 1938, fighting a draw, with Lynch again failing to make the weight and paying a forfeit. Lynch was arrested later that month and charged with driving offences after crashing his car while drunk and hitting a telegraph pole and a pram containing a 12-week-old baby, and failing to stop after the accident. His trial was delayed until after his world title fight with American

Jackie Jurich Jackie Jurich was an American former professional boxer. He is also known by his nickname "Rose of San Jose." Professional career Jurich claimed the World Flyweight Title, after he was scheduled to face then World champion Benny Lynch in a t ...

. He forfeited his world flyweight title against Jurich, when he weighed in at 118.5 lb (53.8 kg), half a pound over the

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Bra ...

limit. Lynch stopped Jurich in the 12th round, but lost the title. At his trial in July, he was fined £20 and disqualified from driving for a year.

Decline and death

In July 1938 he was fined £200 by the BBBofC and stripped of his British and European titles; Lynch appealed against the decision. In September his boxing licence was suspended for a breach of training regulations. He did, however, face K.O. Morgan at bantamweight later that month at Shawfield Park, losing on points despite being once again over the agreed weight and over 7lbs heavier than his opponent. In October 1938, after his weight increased again and he suffered a third-round knockout at the hands of Aurel Toma, he was offered 'three months holiday' and received several weeks treatment at a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, arranged by the National Sporting Club in an attempt to return him to fitness. In December he left for Ireland to spend a fortnight in a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

near

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. In January 1939 he went missing during a training camp in Stirlingshire; He was found after being lost on the hills for over six hours, half a mile from his training base, wearing just pyjamas, a dressing gown, and slippers, and suffering from

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...

. In February 1939 he was arrested and charged with assault. In March he was found guilty of assaulting his estranged wife, his 11-year-old sister-in-law, and three police officers, with a further charge of assaulting his 18-month old son by attempting to gas him deemed not proven, and was fined £20, with an alternative sentence of 60 days in prison. In June he was the subject of court action by the Inland Revenue. He was due to fight Dudley Lewis on 27 February 1939 but was prohibited from doing so by the BBBofC. On 21 August 1939, the Boxing Board refused his application for the restoration of his boxing licence, stating that "he is at present not fit to carry on a career as a professional boxer". In April 1940 he was fined 30 shillings after being found drunk in Glasgow Road, Ralston. In October 1942 he was charged with offences against a 7-year-old girl in a Glasgow cinema, and was subsequently found guilty of assaulting two girls aged 7 and 10. He would continue to battle with alcoholism for the rest of his life despite several attempts to treat the disease. Lynch died in 1946 of malnutrition-induced respiratory failure, aged 33. He was buried at St. Kentigern's Cemetery, Glasgow, with some 2,000 people attending the funeral.

Legacy

Lynch's life was the subject of Bill Bryden's 1974 stage play ''Benny Lynch'', with a book of the play published in 1975, and a television adaptation made in 1976. A second play based on Lynch's life, written by Peter Arnett, was first performed in 1985. He was featured on the cover of Scottish rock band Gun's second album, '' Gallus'', in 1992. A documentary about the life of Benny Lynch, directed by John Mackenzie and narrated by Robert Carlyle, was made in 2003. Another documentary film about Lynch, ''Benny'', directed by Andrew Gallimore, was first shown in 2017. ''The Benny Lynch Story'', a stage play written by David Carswell and directed by David Hayman Jr, with Stephen Purdon playing the boxing champion, toured Scotland in May and June 2019.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
The Benny Lynch website
, - , - * https://www.hugmansworldchampionshipboxing.com/fly * https://titlehistories.com/boxing/na/usa/ny/nysac-fl.html * https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1937 * https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1936 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Benny 1913 births 1946 deaths Scottish male boxers Flyweight boxers World boxing champions World flyweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions People from Govan Boxers from Glasgow People from Gorbals Alcohol-related deaths in Scotland Drug-related deaths in Scotland