Miles Templeton Boxing historian
THE British heavyweight scene during the 1920s and 1930s was greatly enlivened by the presence of many notable boxers from what was then known as our empire. One of the main inspirations for this was, of course, the First World War. In order to achieve victory during four years of armed struggle, it was necessary to muster as many troops as possible, and great swathes came across from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and Africa. With them came some very worthy boxers and when on leave they could earn some extra pay by taking on the cream of British talent at the very many small halls that existed, particularly in London. Some of them stayed on after the war and others, upon returning home, encouraged their fistic compatriots to make the trip to Britain in order to progress up the boxing ladder.
The British heavyweight scene was dominated during the 1920s by Phil Scott, the fighting fireman, and he eventually fought unsuccessfully against Jack Sharkey in a final eliminator for the world title at Miami Beach in February 1930. Ten years earlier, as he started to make a name for himself, Phil had to contend with many colonial invaders. The first of these, Albert Lloyd of Australia, flattened him in three rounds at The Ring, Blackfriars in late 1922. Lloyd took part in 29 contests during a three-year period in the early ‘20s and he won about half of them, becoming a great favourite with the fans. Earlier that year he had boxed the Canadian, Soldier Horace Jones, in a 20-rounder, also at the Blackfriars hall, and he beat his fellow colonial after 10 rounds of hard fighting. The bout was terminated when Jones, well ahead on points, hit Lloyd when he was down and was promptly disqualified. Lloyd went on to box Bombardier Billy Wells, Ted Moore, Jack Bloomfield, Frank Moody and Jack Stanley, all of whom were either champions or challengers for the British title.