Johnny Curley

Johnny Curley (9 November 1897 – 31 December 1982) was an English boxer who was British featherweight champion between 1925 and 1927.

Johnny Curley
Statistics
Weight(s)Featherweight, lightweight
NationalityBritish
Born(1897-11-09)9 November 1897
Died31 December 1982(1982-12-31) (aged 85)
Boxing record
Total fights171
Wins122
Wins by KO47
Losses31
Draws17

Career

From Lambeth, London, Curley made his professional debut in November 1913. By March 1925 he had fought over 100 times, winning more than 80 contests, including victories over Al Foreman, Ernie Izzard, Battling van Dijk, Billy Hindley, and Bugler Harry Lake.[1][2]

In March 1925 he beat George McKenzie on points over 20 rounds at the National Sporting Club to take the British featherweight title.[3] He failed to win any of his next five fights, losing twice to Johnny Cuthbert,[4][5] and a no contest decision against Phil Bond after both continued fighting after the end of the twelfth round.[6] In October 1925 he was beaten on points by Jack Kid Berg.[7]

In January 1926 he stopped Lake in the fourteenth round, and in March made the first defence of his British title against Harry Corbett (the first fight to be reported on live by BBC radio),[8] taking a points decision.[9] In June he stopped van Dijk in the fifth round,[10] but lost by disqualification (for hitting low) a week later against French champion Edouard Mascart.[11] In July he stopped Tommy Noble in the fifth round, and after losing to Cuthbert in September made a second successful title defence in November, with a points win over Hindley to win the Lonsdale Belt outright.[12][13] He finished the year with wins over Jack "Kid Froggy" Hyams and Young Johnny Brown.[14]

Curley made a third defence of the title in January 1927, losing a points decision to Cuthbert.[15] He won seven of nine fights in the remainder of the year, and travelled to Australia in 1928, where he won all four of his fights, including a points win over Australian champion Tommy Barber.[16] Back in England, he beat Auguste Gyde on points in July, but by the end of the year his fortunes dipped.

From 1929 until his retirement on medical advice in 1931 he won only six of 34 fights. During this period he also refereed bouts.[17] He returned in 1937 for one fight, a defeat at the hands of Al Church.

References
  1. "Boxing". Portsmouth Evening News. 14 August 1923. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "Easy Win for Curley". Dundee Courier. 23 October 1923. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Johnny Curley Outpoints George McKenzie". Hull Daily Mail. 31 March 1925. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Feather-Weight Champion Beaten". Western Daily Press. 5 May 1925. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Johnny Curley...". Dundee Courier. 6 July 1925. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Boxing Scene: Spectators Invade Ring After Stopped Fight". Western Morning News. 15 September 1925. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Johnny Curley Defeated". Western Daily Press. 30 October 1925. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. Briggs, Asa (1995) The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: The Birth of Broadcasting 1896–1927, Ocford University Press, ISBN 978-0192129260, p. 242
  9. Morton, James (2000) East End Gangland, Little, Brown & Company, ISBN 978-0316853248
  10. "Johnny Curley...". Dundee Courier. 14 June 1926. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Johnny Curley Disqualified". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 23 June 1926. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Cuthbert Defeats Curley". Western Daily Press. 24 September 1926. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Boxing". Gloucester Citizen. 2 November 1926. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "Johnny Curley Defeats Kid Froggy". Western Daily Press. 6 December 1926. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. "New Champion: Feather-Weight Title Won by Cuthbert". Western Morning News. 25 January 1927. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. "Sporting Items". Hull Daily Mail. 9 January 1928. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "Johnny Curley...". Derby Daily Telegraph. 9 February 1929. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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