''For the Doctor Who character, see

Horror of Fang Rock ''Horror of Fang Rock'' is the first serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 September 1977. The serial is set on the fict ...

'' Vincent Gregory "Vince" Hawkins (15 April 1923 – 27 November 2008) was a British middleweight

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 became British champion in 1946.

Career

A reserve firefighter on the railways from

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

, Vince Hawkins gained his early boxing experience with Eastleigh Boxing Club, where his father took him to teach him to deal with bullies at school.Adams, Melanie (2008)
Post-war boxing champion Vince Hawkins dies aged 85
, '' Southern Daily Echo'', 2 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2014 He began his professional career in January 1940, and went on to win his first 42 fights, including victories over Battling Charlie Parkin,

Paddy Roche Patrick Joseph Christopher "Paddy" Roche (born 4 January 1951) is an Irish former football goalkeeper. Born in Dublin, Roche started his career with Shelbourne with whom he won the first of his eight full international caps. During his time ...

, and

Ginger Sadd Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of lea ...

. He had his first drawn fight against Tommy Davies in March 1944. In August 1944 he beat Dave McCleave to win the Southern Area middleweight title, a fight that was also a final eliminator for the British title. He remained unbeaten until he challenged

Ernie Roderick Ernie Roderick (25 January 1914 – 5 June 1986) was a British boxer who was British champion at both welterweight and middleweight, and European champion at welterweight and was a World title challenger losing on points against Henry Armstrong ...

in May 1945 for the vacant British title; Hawkins lost on points. He won his next six fights before challenging Roderick again for the British title in October 1946 at the Royal Albert Hall; The fight went the full 15 rounds, with Hawkins winning on points to take the title. He celebrated the victory with an open-top trailer tour of his home town. Hawkins suffered his second defeat in May 1947 to Gustave Degouve in Paris. After beating Jimmy Bray and Agustin Mendicute he fought

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ea ...

in September 1947. Turpin inflicted the third defeat of Hawkins career after a cut eye cause a sixth round stoppage. In January 1948 Hawkins challenged for the vacant British Empire middleweight title against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

champion Bos Murphy; Murphy took a points decision to win the title. After losing to

Randolph Turpin Randolph Adolphus Turpin (7 June 1928 – 17 May 1966), better known as Randy Turpin, was a British boxer in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1951 he became world middleweight champion when he defeated Sugar Ray Robinson. He was inducted into the Intern ...

in March 1948, he fought Dick Turpin again, this time in front of 40,000 people at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. With the lifting of the

colour bar Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Internati ...

allowing Turpin to challenge for the title, Hawkins' British title was at stake as well as the Commonwealth title; Turpin won the fight on points. In January 1949 Hawkins announced his retirement after a loss to

Cyrille Delannoit Cyrille Delannoit (alternatively Cyriel Delannoit; Geraardsbergen, 13 March 1926 – 9 February 1998) was a Belgian boxer. He was also known by his nickname Tarzan. In 1948, he became European boxing champion in the middleweight class.

in Belgium. He did, however, fight four more times, losing his last three, before retiring in 1950. He married Marian Lucas in 1953, and went on to work as a prison officer at Winchester for 30 years. Hawkins died on 27 November 2008 at the Abbeygate care home in Winchester, aged 85, after suffering for Alzheimer's disease for some time.Death notice
, '' Southern Daily Echo", 4 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2015

References

External links

Career record
at boxrec.com
Career record
at boxinghistory.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Vince 1923 births 2008 deaths Middleweight boxers People from Eastleigh English male boxers Sportspeople from Hampshire