Pat Butler (16 May 1913 – 7 March 2001) was a British boxer who won the British

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 ...

title in 1934.

Career

Born in

Rothley, Leicestershire Rothley ( ) is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. Situated around west of the River Soar and north of Leicester, it had a population of 3,612 inhabitants . The population measured at the 201 ...

, Butler was a grocer's assistant before he began his professional career at the age of 18 with a points defeat to

Len Wickwar Len Wickwar (11 March 1911 – 1 June 1980) was a British boxer who fought between 1928 and 1947, mostly as a lightweight. He fought more verified professional fights than any other boxer in history at 473 with 4,020 rounds fought in his 19 year ...

in April 1932. In his first year, he lost several fights, but improved results, including a win over Wickwar in October 1933 led to a fight for the Leicestershire Welterweight title, which he won by beating Herbie Nurse. A run of victories, including a non-title fight against British welterweight champion Harry Mason, led to a challenge for Mason's title 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 l ...

, Leicester, in December 1934, which he won with on a points decision. By this point in his career Butler had fought 79 times, losing 13 fights. He fought several non-title fights in the month that followed and after suffering a first round defeat to Harry Woodward on 10 January 1935, he resigned as British champion, saying "I cannot go on like this. I must give up boxing for a time and take a long rest before returning to the ring." He soon returned, however, but he was hampered in 1935 by injury and illness including a septic arm, an ulcer on his eyelid, and a foot injury which turned septic. He was due to challenge Gustave Eder for his European welterweight title in March 1935, but the fight was cancelled with Butler needing to take a rest from boxing. Butler retired after defeats to Kid Davies, Jack "Kid" Berg, and Eric Dolby in late 1935. He died in 2001.

References

1913 births 2001 deaths Welterweight boxers Boxers from Leicester English male boxers {{England-boxing-bio-stub