Lyn Philp (1924-1981) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

professional

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 ...

, and New Zealand's

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 mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

Champion from 1947 - 1954. *Ranked fourth best bantamweight New Zealand all-time greats. With his punching power, speed and elusive style, Philp soon became the #1 contender for the bantamweight belt. In 1960 he was ranked third best bantamweight in New Zealand history.

Biography

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Philp was drafted into the

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

, serving with distinction in the

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and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Amateur career

In the spring of 1942, the United States First Marine Division sailed for Wellington, prior to opening a counteroffensive against the advancing Japanese forces. The marines were matched to fight local boxers on the preliminaries to the Strickland-Mullett heavyweight title fight. In the local team there appeared two Wellington fighters who were to turn professional after the war, Jack McCann and Lyn Philp. Both had wins over US Marines, and 15-year-old Bobby Goslin, drawn to meet P. Gonsalves, less than a minute later they were picking a semi-conscious Marine up off the deck! Goslin who would represent New Zealand at the 1948 Olympics. Philp, incidentally, fought Goslin three times, winning once and losing twice. Philp while serving with

J Force J Force (sometimes referred to as "Jayforce") was the name given to the New Zealand forces that were allocated to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) which occupied Japan following the end of the Second World War. The force was deploy ...

in Japan after the war, he would win a tournament in Kure, beating an Australian in the final. Kure is at the southern end of Japan's main island Honshū. The allocated area of occupation included the Hiroshima Prefecture.

Professional career

He started his pro-career as a bantamweight joining the training stable of the legendary Dick Dunn. His first professional fight was a win against Ronnie Hawes on 21 April 1947 at

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. At Hastings New Zealand on 6 August 1947, and his second professional fight he met Tot Hoggarth the bantamweight champion in the first of three meetings between the pair, being defeated in round twelve. In his rematch with Tot Hoggarth, on 6 October 1947 at Petone New Zealand he won by KO, setting the stage for the final showdown and the battle for the belt. The Philp-Hoggarth battle took place on 21 February 1948 at the Petone Recreation Ground New Zealand. For the third and final time they would meet to decide the champion. Hoggarth was stopped by knock-out, Philp winning the New Zealand

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 mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

title and the belt. He retained the belt until his eventual retirement from the ring on 6 June 1954, when he vacated the title. In 1954 he stepped up to featherweight fighting Johnny Hanks for the vacant featherweight title, losing by KO in round eight.

World Title Fight

He was matched for a world title bout against World Champion Jimmy Carruthers. For reasons unclear the fight never went ahead.

Career record

Personal life

After retiring from the ring Lyn Philp opened a boxing gym where he became a trainer and coach.

References

External links

*
New Zealand boxing matches - 1941 - 1950New Zealand J Force
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philp, Lyn Sportspeople from Lower Hutt New Zealand Army personnel New Zealand people of World War II New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand professional boxing champions Bantamweight boxers 1924 births 1981 deaths New Zealand male boxers