Tommy Glencross (31 July 1947 – 29 February 2008) was a Scottish boxer, who held the British
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 ...
title between 1972 and 1973, the Scottish
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 ...
title between 1976 and 1977, and who twice challenged for the European featherweight title.
Career
Born in
Anderston
Anderston ( sco, Anderstoun, gd, Baile Aindrea) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th cent ...
, Glasgow, Glencross then moved to
Dalmarnock
Dalmarnock (, gd, Dail Mheàrnaig) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated east of the city centre, directly north of the River Clyde opposite the town of Rutherglen. It is also bounded by the Glasgow neighbourhoods of P ...
in the city's East end. He boxed as an amateur as a member of Glasgow Transport Amateur Boxing Club, where, as a left-hander without great power he was encouraged by coach Tommy Bell to fight using a
southpaw stance and concentrate on boxing skills.
[Donald, Brian (2008)]
Tommy Glencross
, ''The Herald'', 18 March 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2017 Glencross was a finalist at the ABA Championships in 1963 in the class 'A' 7-stone division, and won Scottish amateur titles in 1966 and 1967, and represented Scotland against England in January 1967, defeating Tony Hume.
In May 1967, he fought at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in Rome, going out in the quarter-finals.
He turned professional in June 1967, stopping Frank Fitzgerald on his debut.
He won his first twelve fights before suffering his first loss in February 1970 when he lost a points decision to experienced
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
ian
Bob Allotey in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.
Glencross won his next eleven fights, including a points win over
Luis Aisa and a sixth round knockout of former Spanish champion
Valentin Loren, setting him up to challenge for
José Legrá
José Legrá (born 19 April 1943) is a retired professional featherweight boxer. He is a former two time WBC World Featherweight Champion.
Professional career
In June 1960, Legrá turned professional in Cuba winning his first fight against P ...
's European featherweight title in February 1972 at the
Bingley Hall
Bingley Hall in Birmingham was the first purpose-built exhibition hall in Great Britain. It was built in 1850 and burned down in 1984. The International Convention Centre now stands on the site.
Precursor
The precursor of Bingley Hall was an " ...
in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, after relocating to the city and signing with promoter Alex Griffiths; Legra retained the title on a split decision.
Glencross's next fight came in September that year, a challenge for
Evan Armstrong
Evan Armstrong (15 February 1943 – 8 July 2017) was a Scottish professional bantam/ feather/ super featherweight boxer of the 1960s and 1970s, who won the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) Scottish Area bantamweight title, BBBofC ...
's British title; The fight went the full fifteen rounds, with Glencross winning by only half a point to take the title.
A draw against
Jimmy Bell and defeats to Bingo Crooks and
Billy Waith followed before Glencross got a second shot at the European title in May 1973, when he faced
Jose Antonio Jimenez in
Gijon for the vacant title; Glencross lost a unanimous decision.
His bad run continued four months later when he was stopped due to a cut over his left eye is the first defence of his British title against Armstrong in Glasgow.
He lost again to Crooks in April 1974, retiring due to broken bone in his hand, and subsequently going missing for twenty months.
Glencross was out of the ring for almost two years before returning in 1976 at lightweight with a first-round stoppage of Martyn Galleozzie.
In March 1976 he beat Tommy Wright on points to take the
BBBofC Scottish Area lightweight title but in April 1976 lost to
Charlie Nash on points over eight rounds.
He made a successful defence of the Scottish Area title later that month against
John Gillan,
racking up two further wins before facing
Vernon Sollas
Vernon Sollas (born 14 August 1954) is a Scottish former Boxing, boxer, businessman and music manager, who was British featherweight champion between 1975 and 1977.
Career
From Edinburgh, Sollas fought as an amateur out of the Madison ABC, and ...
in June. Sollas stopped him in the third round, and Glencross lost all of his remaining fights before retiring in 1978, although to high quality opponents, including future world champions
Cecilio Lastra and
Cornelius Boza-Edwards
Cornelius Boza-Edwards (born Cornelius Bbosa; 27 May 1956) is the former WBC Super Featherweight Champion of the World. Born in Kampala, Uganda, he fought in both the super-featherweight and lightweight divisions. He emigrated from Uganda to En ...
, former British champion
Joey Singleton
Joey "The Jab" Singleton (born 2 June 1951) is a former British professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 1982. He is a former British light-welterweight champion.
Early life
Singleton was born on 2 June 1951 in, Liverpool, England. He won ...
,
and future British and European champion
Colin Powers.
Glencross died on 29 February 2008, aged 60.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Glencross, Tommy
1947 births
2008 deaths
Scottish male boxers
Featherweight boxers
Boxers from Glasgow
Bridgeton–Calton–Dalmarnock
People from Anderston