Len Wickwar (11 March 1911 – 1 June 1980) was a British
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 ...
who fought between 1928 and 1947, mostly as a
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 ...
. He fought more verified professional fights than any other boxer in history at 473 with 4,020 rounds fought in his 19 year career.
Career
Born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, Wickwar turned professional in 1928 at the age of 17 and made his debut on 23 October at
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 ...
, knocking out Jim Young Shepherdson in the fourth round at Leicester's Spinney Hill Club.
[Uncrowned King of the Ring]
, ''Leicester Mercury
The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...
'', 4 March 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2014[Bozeat, Matt (2018) "Record Breaker", ''Boxing News'', 18 January 2018] He had been discovered by manager George Biddles at a gym above the Friar Tuck public house on Woodgate.
Biddles also managed the
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
featherweight
Tish Marsden.
Starting his career fighting in small clubs, Wickwar would fight up to three times in one night.
In 1934 alone he had 58 fights.
In December 1937, Wickwar beat then British lightweight champion
Jimmy Walsh in a non-title fight at
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 ...
. By 1938, Wickwar was an "official contender" for the British lightweight title then held by
Dave Crowley
Dave Crowley (4 May 1910 – 11 December 1974) was a British boxer. After winning an Area title at bantamweight, he moved up to featherweight, at which he challenged for a world title, before moving up again to lightweight, at which he was Briti ...
. Although he never got a shot at the title, one of his biggest fights was at
Welford Road Stadium
Welford Road (currently known as Mattioli Woods Welford Road for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union stadium in Leicester, England, and is the home ground of Leicester Tigers. The ground was opened on 10 September 1892, and is located betwe ...
in July 1939 in front of a crowd of 14,000, in a non-title fight against reigning British champion
Eric Boon
Eric Boon (28 December 1919 – 19 January 1981) was a champion British lightweight boxer. Born in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, he was known by the nicknames Boy Boon and the Fen Tiger. Of a total of 119 fights, he won 92 ( KO 62), lost 21 (KO ...
, who had taken the lightweight title from Crowley eight months earlier;
Wickwar was knocked out by Boon in the ninth round.
His boxing career was put on hold 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 ...
; He returned to boxing after the war but only fought four more times before retiring.
In his final fight he was knocked out in the fifth round by Danny Cunningham in a
welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
contest on 6 February 1947.
He fought a total of 470 professional fights, which is the highest amount by any boxer, including 340 victories.
After retiring from boxing, Wickwar lived in the
New Parks
New Parks is residential suburb of the city of Leicester, in the Leicester district, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. It was also an electoral ward of the City of Leicester whose population at the 2011 Census was 17,128.
...
area of Leicester and worked for local company Bentley Engineering as a packer and labourer.
Coincidentally, both Marsden and Wickwar died on exactly the same day in 1980.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickwar, Len
1911 births
1980 deaths
Boxers from Leicester
English male boxers
Lightweight boxers