John McCluskey (23 January 1944 – 17 July 2015) born in

Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Hamilton ( sco, Hamiltoun; gd, Baile Hamaltan ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and no ...

, was a Scottish

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

and

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

/ bantam/

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, th ...

boxer of the 1960s and 1970s.

Boxing career

As an amateur he won the 1964 and 1965

Amateur Boxing Association England Boxing, known until 2013 as the Amateur Boxing Association of England, is the governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England. There are separate organisations for Scotland and Wales with boxing in Northern Ireland being organised on ...

British flyweight title, when boxing out of the Larkhall ABC. He represented Great Britain at flyweight in the Boxing at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

losing to eventual

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...

winner Stanislav Sorokin of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, and represented Scotland and won the

at flyweight at the 1965 European Amateur Boxing Championships, and as a professional won 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 Cardif ...

(BBBofC) British flyweight title, and Commonwealth flyweight title, and was challenger for the

European Boxing Union The European Boxing Union (EBU), formerly known as the International Boxing Union (IBU), is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the most-prestigious continental title in Europe, th ...

(EBU) flyweight title against

Fernando Atzori Fernando Atzori (1 June 1942 – 9 November 2020) was an Italian flyweight boxer who won a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics. In the final, he defeated Artur Olech of Poland, despite suffering an eye injury. After the Olympics, he turned professi ...

(twice), and Fritz Chervet, his professional fighting weight varied from , i.e.

to , i.e.

1964 Olympic results

* Round of 32: defeated Veerapan Komolsen (Thailand) by decision, 4-1 * Round of 16: lost to Stanislav Sorokin (Soviet Union) referee stopped contest

References

External links

*
Image - John McCluskey
Scottish male boxers Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Great Britain Bantamweight boxers Featherweight boxers Flyweight boxers England Boxing champions Sportspeople from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire 1944 births 2015 deaths {{Scotland-boxing-bio-stub