Peter Kane (28 February 1918 – 23 July 1991) was an English flyweight boxer and a world champion in the 1930s. Kane was born in Heywood, Lancashire, on 28 February 1918, but grew up in the town of

Golborne Golborne (pronounced or ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south-southeast of Wigan, northeast of Warrington and to the west of the city of Manchester. Combined with the village of Lowto ...

, Lancashire, after his family moved there before his first birthday. In Golborne Peter Kane Square is named in his honour.Photograph
''Geograph.org''.

Boxing style

He was a two-fisted fighter, renowned for his punching power. Fifty-three of his eighty-eight wins were by knockout.

Professional career

He made his professional debut in December 1934, at the age of sixteen. He fought and beat Joe Jacobs in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, where he was to have many of his fights. The fight was stopped in the fifth. He went on to record a string of forty-one consecutive wins, before challenging

Benny Lynch Benjamin Lynch (2 April 1913 – 6 August 1946) was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and has been described a ...

for the World flyweight title, at the age of nineteen. The fight, in October 1937, was staged at Shawfield Park,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in front of a crowd of over 40,000. Lynch retained his title by knocking Kane out in the thirteenth round. Kane had a re-match with Lynch in March 1938, and fought a draw over fifteen rounds in Liverpool. Lynch could not make the flyweight limit and had to pay a forfeit. In his next fight, against the American Jackie Jurich, Lynch was again overweight despite winning the fight and forfeited his World flyweight title. The

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

declared the title vacant.

World title

Jurich and Kane were regarded as the chief contenders for the vacant world flyweight title, and a fight was arranged between them in September 1938, in Liverpool. Kane won on points after putting Jurich down five times during the fight. He was now world flyweight champion, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to get down to the flyweight limit. In 1939, Kane announced that he was going to fight as a bantamweight in future, and at the end of that year, the

National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

of America stripped him of his title. He continued to be recognised as world flyweight champion by the International Boxing Union, in Europe. Kane continued to fight recording a string of victories with only the occasional defeat, but most of his fights were at bantamweight. Although he was the world flyweight champion, the British and Commonwealth titles were held by the Scotsman

Jackie Paterson Jackie Paterson (5 September 1920 – 19 November 1966) was a Scottish boxer who was world flyweight boxing champion. He was also British champion at flyweight and bantamweight. Early life Born in Springside, Ayrshire, Paterson emigrated with ...

. In June 1943, a fight was arranged at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

, Glasgow, with all three titles at stake. Kane managed to make the flyweight limit for the fight but was knocked out in the first round. The fight lasted 61 seconds.

Subsequent career

Kane continued to fight but concentrated on the bantamweight division from now on, again winning most of his fights. In September 1947, he fought the Frenchman Theo Medina for the European bantamweight title, at Belle Vue,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Kane won on points to become European bantamweight champion. In December 1947, he defended the title against the Belgian Joe Cornelis, again at Belle Vue, and again won on points. In February 1948, he defended his European title against the Italian Guido Ferracin, again at Belle Vue, and this time lost on points. He had a re-match with Ferracin in July 1948, at Belle Vue again. This time Kane was forced to retire in round five. He had only three more fights, losing on points to Stan Rowan in November 1948 and to Arthur Garrett in January 1950, and knocking out Johnny Conn, who was making his debut, in April 1951.

Retirement

He worked throughout his career as a blacksmith in the village of

Lowton Lowton is a suburban village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is around from Leigh, south of Wigan and west of Manchester city centre. The settlement lies across the A580 East Lancashire Road. Wi ...

, which neighbours Golborne. Throughout his adult life and boxing career, he lived on Lowton Road, Golborne, the main road between Lowton and Golborne, (except when he lived at 211 Liverpool Road, Pewfall). He died on 23 July 1991, aged 73.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* Maurice Golesworthy, Encyclopaedia of Boxing (Eighth Edition) (1988), Robert Hale Limited,
My Most Thrilling Fights and Lessons I Learned (1937)
Peter Kane article. *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Peter 1918 births 1991 deaths People from Heywood, Greater Manchester English male boxers Flyweight boxers World boxing champions World flyweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions People from Golborne Place of death missing