Alex Daley @thealexdaley Historian & author
CERTAIN UK towns produce more than their share of British titlists, but for others the wait can be a long one. In June 1917, Charlie Hardcastle became Barnsley’s first British champion, but he lost the title in his first defence that November, and it was 19 years before another Barnsley boxer even fought for a national crown. That was Chuck Parker, who in April 1936 lost to Dave McCleave for the vacant British welterweight title. It was over 30 years before anyone else from the South Yorkshire town got a shot at British honours.
Shaun Doyle, an all-action battler nicknamed “The Blond Bombshell”, was that fighter. Born in January 1945, Shaun left school at 15 to become a miner at North Gawber Colliery and learnt to box in a gym at the back of Barnsley’s Junction Inn pub. After just five amateur National Coal Board contests, Shaun turned pro under Peter Bates, an ex-heavyweight who’d beaten Henry Cooper in 1956. He made his pro debut as a late substitute at the Liverpool Stadium on September 12, 1963. Despite his lack of experience and a five-pound weight disadvantage, Doyle demolished his opponent, Tommy Waterworth, inside a round. A duly impressed Boxing News reporter called Shaun “a first-class crowd-pleaser”.