James Hall (15 October 1892 – 13 November 1953), better known as Seaman Nobby Hall, was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 was British and European

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 ...

champion between 1922 and 1923.

Career

Born in Peebles in 1892, James Hall began his professional boxing career in 1917. A sailor on the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, he won several Imperial Services Championships, but began his pro career with two defeats. In February 1919 he beat former British bantamweight champion

Curley Walker Curley Walker (4 February 1894 – 1973) was a British boxer who was British bantamweight champion between 1914 and 1915. Career Born in Bermondsey and based in Bermondsey, Cornelius "Curley" Walker made his professional debut in August 1909. In ...

on points and in November drew with

Ted Moore Ted Moore, (7 August 1914 – 1987) was a South African-British cinematographer known for his work on seven of the James Bond films in the 1960s and early 1970s. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Fred Zinnemann's ...

. In August 1921 he took a notable scalp when he beat former British, European, and World champion Matt Wells and in January 1922 beat French champion Georges Papin. Undefeated since September 1920, in September 1922 he beat

Ernie Rice John Tomasso (17 November 1896 – 1979), better known as Ernie Rice, was a British boxer who was British and European lightweight champion between 1921 and 1922. After retiring from boxing he became an actor, appearing in several films and tele ...

at Liverpool Stadium to become lightweight champion of Britain and Europe. He suffered his first defeat in two years the following month when he was beaten on points by Alex Ireland. He successfully defended his British title in January 1923 against Johnny Brown at the Industrial Hall in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, but lost both titles at

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in May to Harry Mason, after being disqualified in the thirteenth round for low blows. He lost again to Mason in October. He continued boxing, largely without his earlier success until the end of 1924. After being out of the ring in 1925 he returned in January 1926 to fight Tommy McInnes, losing by an eighth-round knockout. It was almost two and a half years before his next fight, a win over Kid Charlie at the New World Arena in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Hall would fight at locations where the ship that he was serving on docked. From mid-1931 to early 1934 he fought more regularly in the UK and while he fought some notable boxers of the time he never again challenged for a title. He made a final comeback in October 1935, at the age of 43, drawing with Jim Hendry.

References

External links

Career record
at boxrec.com
Career record
at boxinghistory.org.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Nobby Scottish male boxers Lightweight boxers People from Peebles 1892 births 1953 deaths