Augustus T. Platts (24 October 1891 – 4 December 1942) was a British boxer who was British and European
middleweight champion.
Career
Platts' first known fight was in 1910. His first defeat came in December that year to Kid Vinton. After building up an impressive record, he won the Yorkshire welterweight title in September 1911. In November that year he beat
Johnny Basham on points. Undefeated in 1912, he lost in April 1913 to future World welterweight champion
Tom McCormick. After a Summer fighting in the US, he fought McCormick again in September, this time winning a 20-round points decision. He travelled to Australia for a series of fights in early 1914. In May 1915 Platts, at the time a Private in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
was arrested after a match against Sergeant McCusker after absenting himself without leave to take part in the fight. In August 1915 he beat
Tom Gummer
Thomas Gummer (1894–1982) was a British middleweight and heavyweight boxer who won the British middleweight title in 1920 and went on to fight for the European title.
Career
Born in Rotherham in 1894,[Noel "Boy" McCormick
Noel Hugh "Boy" McCormick (25 December 1899 – 22 January 1939) was a British boxer who won the British light heavyweight title in 1919, holding the title until 1922.
Career
Born in India, and of Irish descent, McCormick was based in Salford. He ...]
after the latter broke a bone in his hand punching Platts.
Platts won the European middleweight title in February 1921, beating
Ercole de Balzac in the 7th round.
He defended the title successfully against Gummer a month later, taking the British title in the process. He lost both titles in May that year after losing to
Johnny Basham on points at the
Royal Albert Hall. He again made the trip to the US where he lost to
Mike McTigue
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...
among others. He fought Balzac again in January 1922, this time losing to the Frenchman, and continued until May that year, his last fight a defeat to Rene DeVos in
Antwerp.
Platts had a part in the 1922 film ''
The Referee'' playing a boxer, credited as 'Gus Platz'.
He made a comeback to boxing in 1927, winning his first fight back against fellow veteran
Harry Reeve
Harry Isaacs (7 January 1893 – 10 December 1958), better known as Harry Reeve, was a British middleweight and cruiserweight boxer who was British Cruiserweight champion in 1916. At the time, the cruiserweight division was referred to as ligh ...
. After a loss to Con O'Kelly and a win over Rocky Knight, his final fight was a loss to future British heavyweight contender Don Shortland on 7 March.
In a career of over 200 fights, Platts was never knocked out.
[Mullan, Harry (1997)]
Boxing: From Spice Boy to man of the world
, ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', 20 April 1997. Retrieved 30 November 2014
After retiring from boxing, Platts had a successful career as a
wrestler
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...
, his first match being in April 1932.
He went on to become a boxing manager and promoter, and also a referee.
Platts married Grace Gite and after retiring from boxing was a
publican
In antiquity, publicans ( Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'' (singular); Latin ''publicanus'' (singular); ''publicani'' (plural)) were public contractors, in whose official capacity they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed th ...
, running a public house in Petre Street in Sheffield, before moving to
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
where he ran the White Hart Inn in Glasshouse Street.
Gus Platts died on 4 December 1942 in a Nottingham hospital after a long illness;
["Sheffield Telegraph Obituaries 1850 - c. 1970 Surnames P - T", sheffield.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2014] he was 51.
His funeral was held at
Wilford Hill
Wilford Hill is the highest point in Nottinghamshire on the Trent's south bank, giving views of the Trent Valley as far as Newark-on-Trent. It is listed as having an elevation of 87m and a prominence of 49m.
The area has historic significance ...
.
References
External links
Gus Platts career record boxinghistory.org.uk
''In Training'' (1921) British Pathé - footage of Platts and
George Cook training
{{DEFAULTSORT:Platts, Gus
1891 births
1942 deaths
Military personnel from Sheffield
British Army personnel of World War I
British Army soldiers
Burials in Nottinghamshire
Sportspeople from Sheffield
English male boxers
Middleweight boxers
Articles containing video clips