Donald Emerson Scott (23 July 1928 – 13 February 2013) was a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, who competed in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division during his career as an amateur. He fought as Don Scott.

Biography

Born Donald Emerson Scott in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

in 1928, he began boxing at age 12 at the Arboretum Boxing Club. He attended Pear Tree School, He attended night school at Bemrose School to take English & Math GCSE at the age of 59. He wife Doreen died in 2004, He has a daughter named Sue and a son named Paul, He has two grandchildren named Simon and Adam, and great-grandson named William, whom he met William three days before he died. He was chosen to carry the Olympic torch though Derby on 29 June 2012.

Amateur career

Scott represented his native country at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

, and won the silver medal at Light Heavyweight. He subsequently won the

Empire Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

gold medal in Auckland in 1950. He served in the

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operation ...

during national service. In his autobiography, the famous boxing referee

Harry Gibbs Sir Harry Talbot Gibbs, (7 February 191725 June 2005) was Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1981 to 1987 after serving as a member of the High Court between 1970 and 1981. He was known as one of Australia's leading federalist ...

claimed to have fought Scott and won during their military service. Scott had no recollection of the bout; Gibbs is adamant that Scott was a serving soldier in the Brigade of Guards so it is possibly a namesake. Scott won the

Amateur Boxing Association England Boxing, known until 2013 as the Amateur Boxing Association of England, is the Sports governing body, governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England. There are separate organisations for Scotland and Wales with boxing in Northern Irela ...

1948 light heavyweight title, when boxing for the army.

1948 Olympic record

Below are the results of Don Scott, a British light heavyweight boxer who competed at the 1948 London Olympics: * Round of 32: bye * Round of 16: defeated György Kapocsi (Hungary) referee stopped contest in the second round * Quarterfinal: defeated Giacomo Di Segni (Italy) on points * Semifinal: defeated

Adrian Holmes Adrian Holmes (born March 31, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his work on the Bravo television series '' 19-2'', for which he won a Canadian Screen Award in 2017. He is also known for playing the role of Uncle Phil in the ''Fresh Pr ...

(Australia) on points * Final: lost to George Hunter (South Africa) on points (was awarded silver medal)

Professional career

He boxed professionally as a heavyweight and was managed by Bob Curley. He was a big enough name from his amateur career to box in London at the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

. His professional career was not as successful as his amateur. On his retirement from the ring he was involved in retail management. He continued his interest in boxing in the Derby area and was involved in coaching. He regularly attended both amateur and professional boxing events in Derby and preferred to sit quietly at the back rather than be presented in the ring.

Death

Scott resided in Derby until his death on 16 February 2013. He lived at Arboretum House for three and a half years before moving to Lavender Lodge Nursing Home three weeks before he died of heart failure at the age of 84.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Don 1928 births 2013 deaths Boxers from Derby Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in England English male boxers Light-heavyweight boxers Olympic boxers of Great Britain Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Boxers at the 1950 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Military Police soldiers