Donald "Don" Braithwaite
BEM (1936–2017) was a former professional
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
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Animal kingdom
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from
Caerphilly
Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley.
It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...
,
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 ...
, who competed 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 during his career. As an amateur he represented Wales as a flyweight in the
1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958.
Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...
winning a bronze medal. Donald become a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire in the Queens birthday honours 2015 for services to boxing, the opportunities he's provided for youngsters and his support for a variety of charities, Don was also awarded a lifetime fellowship member of Swansea University for his support in research for brain injury in sport.
Boxing career
Amateur years
Braithwaite was born in Wales in 1936. He began boxing as an amateur at the age of 12 and in 1958 he was selected to represent Wales at the British Empire and Commonwealth games which was held in
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 ...
in his home country.
At the Games Braithwaite was drawn against Rhodesian fighter William Pretorius in his first round. Braithwaite beat Pretorius on points, which saw him face Scotland's
Jackie Brown in the semi-finals.
Braithwaite was beaten on points, and Brown went on to win his final bout to take the gold medal. Despite losing against Brown, there were no third place eliminator, and both he and Ireland's
Peter Lavery were awarded the bronze medal.
Professional career
Braithwaite turned professional shortly after his Commonwealth success.
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 profess ...
record Braithwaite's first professional bout as 12 January 1959 against Billy Downer, a journeyman from London. The six round fight went the distance with the decision given to Braithwaite on points. His first year as a professional was fairly successful, with six wins and a draw over three losses. Towards the end of the year, in November, Braithwaite fought at the
National Sporting Club
The National Sporting Club was a club founded in London in 1891, which did more to establish the sport of boxing in Great Britain than any other organisation.
Origins
The club was founded on 5 March 1891 as a private club. Its premises were at ...
in London for the first time. There he beat Yorkshire fighter Eddie Baraclough, who was disqualified in the fourth round.
1960 began well for Braithwaite, with a win over Bernie Dillon in London and three successful encounters against fellow Welshman Errol Flynn. One of the fights with Flynn saw Braithwaite back at the National Sporting Club, and he returned twice more in 1960 losing both fights, the first to Billy Walker in September and then Brian Cartwright in October. He finished the year with two eight round points wins, over Brian Bissmire and Billy Colvin.
Braithwaite began 1961 with a rematch with Colvin, the result was identical, a points win for Braithwaite after eight rounds. This was followed with a defeat to Bissmire and then a draw against London fighter Derek Lloyd. A rematch was arranged against Lloyd in March, which Lloyd won by
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
in the third. This was the first time that Braithwaite had been knocked out in his professional career. In May he travelled abroad to face
Jean Guerard, the ex-flyweight French champion. Braithwaite suffered another knockout, with guerard stopping the Welshman in the third round. On his return to Britain he managed a draw with George McDade before he finished the year with two loses, the first to Alex O'Neil and the second to future Scottish flyweight champion
Danny Lee.
Braithwaite fought once in 1962, a loss to Ernie Butterworth, but an industrial accident in 1963 ended any chance of future professional fights.
As a trainer
Braithwaite was never able to earn a living from fighting and worked as a labourer throughout his career. His accident in 1963 saw Braithwaite hospitalised for nine months and he suffered brain damage for some time afterwards. In 1964 he opened Wingfield Amateur Boxing Club, and the club has moved to several locations over its lifetime, becoming All Saints ABC in Virginia Park in
Caerphilly
Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley.
It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...
. The club has started the careers of several notable fighters, including two amateurs that have also won Commonwealth medals,
Anthony Davies (
silver – light flyweight 1970) and
Aneurin Evans (
silver super heavyweight 1986). Donald become a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire BEM (British Empire Medal) in the Queens birthday honours 2015 for services to boxing, the opportunities he's provided for youngsters and his support for a variety of charities.
In 2016, to celebrate his 80th birthday, local brewer,
Brains
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...
, created a beer in his honour, named 'The Don'.
Notes
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, Donald
1937 births
Living people
Welsh male boxers
Flyweight boxers
Boxers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Wales
Sportspeople from Caerphilly
Recipients of the British Empire Medal
Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing
Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games