British Heavyweights and The U.S.

Until Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in November 1999 to become the undisputed champion British heavyweights were generally regarded in the United States as a joke. It was personified by Phaintin’ Phil Scott , who had tried to make a career out of rolling on the canvas, clutching his groin and shouting “foul.”

Sometimes it worked, as when the Norwegian giant Otto Von Porat was disqualified in their semi-final eliminator for the world title which Gene Tunney had vacated. But when Scott faced Jack Sharkey in the final eliminator, referee Lou Magnolia was not so easily fooled when he went down from a right which landed on the hip. He gave the Englishman every chance to recover, but then declared Sharkey the winner.

In his quest for a safe opponent for Joe Louis’s first defense, Jimmy Jacobs opted for Tommy Farr, a onetime coal miner from Tonypandy who had been boxing professionally since he was 13 years old.

The Welshman was strong, stubborn performer who had earned his right to a title fight with wins over Tommy Loughran, Bob Olin and Max Baer, all world champions.

Farr’s performance was so unexpectedly good, so stubborn and so brave that over the years it grew in the telling until, even 50 years after the event, there are those who claim the Welshman was robbed. The reality is that Louis won comfortably on points and Farr, an amiable and attractive personality who had no delusions about himself, never claimed otherwise.

The first post-war British heavyweight with world title aspirations was Bruce Woodcock who won the A.B.A. light-heavyweight championship before he turned professional in 1942.

After only 19 fights, all of which he won, he met and defeated Jack London to become British and Empire heavyweight champion. Twelve months later Woodcock became European champion following a six-round victory over the Frenchman Albert Renet.

In September, 1949, Woodcock was matched with Lee Savold for the world title (as recognised by the British Boxing Board of Control). A road accident caused a postponement and when the fight eventually took place in June,1950, the British champion was forced to retire with a badly cut eye in the fourth round.

The man who really upset Woodcock’s ambitions was Joe Baksi for the Yorkshireman was never quite as good after he had taken a beating from the American in 1947.

Although Don Cockell’s career as a heavyweight was a short one he paid three visits to the United States. In the first two he defeated Harry Matthews and on the third visit gave a brave display before going down to the world champion Rocky Marciano. Ten years would pass before a British heavyweight climbed into the ring to fight for the title.

With Rocky Marciano’s retirement the IBC lost control of the heavyweight championship and was dealt a further blow when Floyd Patterson was nominated to fight Archie Moore for the vacant title.

On November 30 Patterson became the youngest man to win the title and his mentor Cus D’Amato stubbornly resisted all attempts to draw him into the IBC fold, so instead Patterson defended against non-IBC connected challengers including the former British Champion Brian London, who defied the British Board of Control to meet Patterson in Indianapolis in 1959 and was fined £1,000. London was not complaining.; he was knocked out in 11 rounds, but after paying the fine he still walked away with £20,000.

By the time Cassius Clay fought Henry Cooper in 1962, the title was held by Sonny Liston. Cooper, a likeable but somewhat fragile figure had won a Lonsdale belt outright but his overall record was a modest 27 wins and a draw in 36 fights and at 29 was considered to be past his prime.

The cut-prone Englishman was leaking from several injuries around the eyes but in the dying moments of the fourth round Clay got careless and was sent over by a left hook. He was on his feet, badly dazed, at four, but the bell rang before Cooper could hit him again.

A split had opened in Clay’s left glove a during the interval and Angelo Dundee summoned the referee Tommy Little to the corner to inspect the damage, which had mysteriously worsened in the meantime.

By the time the fifth round got underway Clay’s head had cleared and soon his slashing punches caused so much damage to Cooper’s face that it forced Mr Little to call a halt.

When they met again in 1966, Clay had changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Between November 22, 1965, when he stopped Floyd Patterson in 12 rounds in Las Vegas and November 14, 1966 when he knocked out Cleveland Williams in Houston, Ali risked the title six times, twice in England, cutting Cooper to a bloody sixth-round defeat and kayoing Brian London in the third.

Joe Bugner a Hungarian born, British raised heavyweight fought Muhammad Ali twice, the second time for the championship and also lost in a non-title fight to Joe Frazier

The big payday in the career of Richard Dunn, a scaffolder from Bradford, came when he got a crack at the world title, but although showing gameness was well beaten by Muhammad Ali in five rounds.

On March 4, 1986, Frank Bruno met Gerrie Coetzee, a white South African who had been the World Boxing Association champion. Coetzee was approaching the end of his career but the contest was sanctioned as an official eliminator for the WBA title held by Tim Witherspoon. Coetzee had grown fat and Bruno got rid of him in the first round at Wembley.

Bruno arrived in his corner an odds on favorite but the eleventh round proved disastrous. Witherspoon landed a right and Bruno fell backwards, worryingly slack jawed. Witherspoon completed the devastation.

When Bruno and Mike Tyson came together at the Las Vegas Hilton on February 25, 1989, the American had become such a devastating force that the British challenger was given no better chance than any of his predecessors. Bruno was stopped after 2 minutes 55 seconds of the 5^th round.

Bruno would later defeat Oliver McCall for the WBA championship but a new name had appeared among British heavyweights.………Lennox Lewis.

Lewis succeeded where others had failed, narrowly outpointing Evander Holyfield after a draw in their first contest.