Thomas G. Nicholls (12 October 1931 – 31 July 2021Report by Toby Neal.) was an English

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 won the silver medal representing Great Britain in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

division (– 57 kg) at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Biography

Nicholls was born at South Elmsall, Yorkshire, in 1931, son of Jack, a miner, who moved with his family to

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated 4 miles (6 km) northwest of central Telford and 12 miles (19 km) east of Shrewsbury. The summit of The Wrekin lies 3 miles southwest of the town. The ...

when Thomas was aged seven or eight. He won the 1951 and 1952 Amateur Boxing Association British bantamweight titles and the 1955 and 1956 featherweight titles, when boxing out of the Slough Centre ABC, when boxing out of the Royal Air Force BC and the Sankeys ABC respectively. He competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, reaching the final in 1956, where he was defeated by

Vladimir Safronov Vladimir Konstantinovich Safronov (russian: Владимир Константинович Сафронов) (29 December 1934 in Ulan-Ude, Buryat-Mongol ASSR — 26 December 1979) was a featherweight amateur boxer. Safronov traine ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. He also competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, where he was beaten in the second round by eventual gold medalist

Pentti Hämäläinen Pentti Olavi Hämäläinen (19 December 1929 – 11 December 1984) was a Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Fin ...

from Finland. It was at Wellington he began training in his sport at Sankey's boxing club. He retired from professional boxing in 1957. He was living at Brandlee,

Dawley Dawley ( ) is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It was originally, in 1963, going to be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan before it was decided in 1968 to name the new town as 'Telford ...

at the time of his Olympic appearances but later returned to live in Wellington. He married in 1955 June Clift, who predeceased him. They had a son, Mark, and daughter, Carol, who survived him. He died at Lightmoor View Care Home in

Telford, Shropshire Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an e ...

in July 2021 aged 89. His funeral took place at Emstrey Crematorium, Shrewsbury, on 19 August following.Death notice, ''Shropshire Star'', Friday 13 August 2021, page 20.

Olympic results

1952 (as a Bantamweight) *Lost to

(Finland) 3-0 1956 (as a Featherweight) *1st round bye *Defeated Noel Hazard (Australia) points *Defeated Shinetsu Suzuki (Japan) points *Defeated

(Finland) points *Lost to

(Soviet Union) points

Amateur accomplishments

*1951 ABA Bantamweight champion *1952 ABA Bantamweight champion *1955 European Featherweight Champion in West Berlin *1955 ABA Featherweight champion *1956 ABA Featherweight champion

References

databaseOlympics

1931 births 2021 deaths People from Wellington, Shropshire Sportspeople from Shropshire Sportspeople from West Yorkshire Featherweight boxers Boxers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in boxing English male boxers Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists {{UK-Olympic-medalist-stub