[8.7] BENNY LYNCH 119-88(34)-14-17 [Flyweight]: Boxing News online - BBC online -
On This Day: The heartbreaking tale of Benny Lynch ends at just 33 years old: Born in the Gorbals, the slum tenements on the south bank of the Clyde in Glasgow, 5st Benny Lynch joined a local boys’ boxing club, then graduated to the more famous LMS Rovers Club. But Benny wanted the glamour of the paid ring, so when a boxing booth appeared on a bit of waste ground in the neighbourhood, young Lynch asked for a job. He got paid five shillings from booth owner, and became a regular performer. Local trainer Sam Wilson was so impressed with him he got him work in the small halls around Glasgow. Lynch crammed in 48 fights in his first three years.
He won the Scottish flyweight title and boxed a draw with world champion Jackie Brown. Six months later, aged 22, he floored Manchester’s Brown eight times before referee Moss Deyong stopped the fight in two sensational rounds. Lynch was flyweight champion of the Britain, Europe and the world. He was feted everywhere he went, started drinking heavily and the three months of celebrating his world title win sowed the seeds of his ultimate downfall.
Lynch continued to win overweight matches, though losing twice to Belfast southpaw Jimmy Warnock. When it came to defending his world title, though, Lynch trained with his old zeal. He knocked out Battersea’s Pat Palmer in eight rounds, then outpointed Filipino title claimant Small Montana over 15 to unify for the first time in 10 years. His hedonistic lifestyle resulted in an embarrassing defeat less than two months later, when he was floored several times by former British bantamweight title challenger Len Hampston. He was saved the indignity of a knockout when his chief trainer jumped in the ring, resulting in his disqualification.
In a return three weeks later, he got into shape and stopped Hampston in 10. His last great hurrah was against young Liverpool knockout sensation Peter Kane, in front of 40,000 fans at Shawfield Park, Glasgow in October 1937. Lynch floored his 19-year-old challenger in the first round, only for blacksmith Kane to get up and force the action for the next 12 rounds, before Lynch applied the finisher in the 13th. No-one then could have imagined that Lynch’s career would be over after just six more contests. His life spiralled out of control, and he put on weight. When he defended against American Jackie Jurich, he couldn’t even make the bantamweight limit, let alone the flyweight one, and therefore forfeited his world title on the scales.
The fight went ahead, and he pounded Jurich to 12th round defeat. He finished on two defeats, the first on points to Toledo, Ohio, American prospect KO Morgan, who two fights later would challenge Sixto Escobar for the world bantamweight title in Puerto Rico. The bout was originally made at 8st 6lbs (118lbs) but later raised to 8st 10lbs (122lbs). On the day, Morgan weighed in at 8st 8lbs 6oz but Lynch came in at a whopping 9st 1lb 14oz! (128lbs), and was able to make the weight tell in a close contest.
Boxing headlined Lynch’s last contest with Romanian bantamweight Aurel Toma ‘Benny Lynch’s Tragic Finish’. Lynch this time weighed in at 9st 5 1/4lbs (131lbs) to Toma’s 8st 7lbs (119lbs). It was a lightweight against a bantamweight, but Boxing reported: ’He was fat and soft, like a tubby little old man … he was sluggish and flat-footed … the farcical proceedings continued in the second round … In the third and last round, Lynch took a left to the stomach, simply gazed upwards at the arc lights overhead, whereupon Toma stepped in and cracked him on the point of the jaw. Lynch came forward as stiff as a poker, to fall flat on his face to be counted out. It was an unhappy and tragic finish, which gave one that deeply hurtful feeling experienced when something you have prized and cherished has been dashed to the ground and smashed to smithereens never again to hold for you anything but a memory. Tragic, indeed’.
After this knockout defeat, the only one of his career, at the age of 25, Lynch bummed his way round Glasgow, selling his house and pawning his trophies. He was back where he begun – with nothing. It was still a surprise, though, when, less than eight years later, the boxing world learned that Benny had been picked up in the street in a debilitated physical state, and died in hospital, aged just 33.
As a postscript to his extraordinary yet tragic life, Boxing News of July 12, 1950 featured a presentation to Lynch’s two sons, 12-year-old Bobby and 14-year-old John, by correspondent Thomas McCue, of the belt awarded by The Ring magazine to holders of world boxing titles. Editor Gilbert Odd had asked The Ring’s editor, Nat Fleischer, to present a belt to Lynch’s family, as his premature death and the intervention of the Second World War had meant that the champion never received the coveted belt himself. The boys’ letter of thanks to the paper finished: ‘We express our gratitude to you for this, the only memento we have of our late father, of whom we are very proud’.
Benny Lynch was unquestionably one of the greatest world flyweight champions produced by these isles, and all these years after his tragically premature death, still one of the best of all time. This extraordinary but ultimately tragic life was featured in a Boxing News 20-part series, ‘Scotland’s Pride’, by Thomas McCue from August 1950 to February 1951. Boxing News online article 6th August 2018
The Florence Street which produced Scotland’s first ever world boxing champion no longer exists.
But the spirit of Benny Lynch remains. The tough Gorbals district of Glasgow which produced the ring’s No 1 flyweight – from 1935-38 – is gone. His achievements as a fighter look all the more amazing when placed in such a social context.
Lynch was born on 12 April 1913 and began boxing as a teenager in a bid for fame and fortune to escape the poverty and deprivation of his family background. With other aspiring fighters he learned his craft at local clubs such as LMS Rovers or in the fairground booths on Glasgow Green.
Lynch stood out. From an early age, he was an exceptional fighter, combining assured ring artistry with percussive punching power – unusual in a fighter whose body frame appeared so slight.
He excelled as an amateur and turned professional aged 18 in 1931, stopping Young McColl in round three in Glasgow.
It was the start of a career which spanned 104 bouts – most of them wins – which peaked when he won the world flyweight title in 1935 at 21.
As a raw teenager, Lynch’s potential was spotted by bookie Sammy Wilson who opened his own boxing club – the New Polytechnic – at No 49 Clyde Place.
Sammy spotted Lynch training at another local club and was impressed by his speed and accuracy.
He signed the young boxer, and their partnership would lead to the title. Training was tough, with none of today's modern gym technology.
Lynch would go on gruelling six-mile runs up Cathkin Braes. He’d spar 20 rounds a day and do special exercises to build up his scrawny neck to withstand powerful jaw punches. He even immersed his hands in brine each day – given to him by a fishmonger – to help toughen his hands.
Lynch’s professional record was impressive. In his first 30 fights he won 20 and drew 5.
In 1933 alone, he fought 17 times – unthinkable now. The following year Lynch claimed his first crown, winning the Scottish flyweight title by defeating Jim Campbell on points in a tough 15-rounder in Glasgow.
In March 1935, he fought a draw with title holder Jackie Brown in Glasgow. Their return match – in September – was the big one. Lynch travelled to Belle Vue in Manchester to challenge Brown again for his British, European and world flyweight titles.
He stopped Brown in just two rounds, scoring four knock downs in the opening round followed by a further six in round two.
Lynch returned by train to Glasgow’s Central Station to a hero’s welcome as thousands of people brought the city centre to a standstill.
His winning run continued into 1936 with nine victories including a title defence against Pat Palmer in which he won a Lonsdale Belt outright.
The bout which defined Lynch’s legend on the world stage came on 19 January 1937 when he defeated highly rated American fighter Small Montana in a 15-round points win at Wembley.
A further defining moment came eight months later when he successfully defended his crown against Peter Kane in Glasgow … knocking him out in round thirteen.
But fame dealt Lynch a cruel blow. His status as a local hero in the working class Gorbals led to money problems and alcoholism.
The latter created a constant battle with the scales as Lynch fought to make the weight.
He was stripped of his world title on 29 June 1938 when he tipped the scales six and a half pounds overweight prior to his bout with Jackie Jurich. In the ultimate irony, Lynch agreed to fight Jurich regardless … and knocked him out in 12 rounds.
It was the beginning of the end.
In his final fight – on 3 October that same year – he suffered the only knock-out of his professional career at the hands of Aurel Toma. His fighter’s licence was revoked.
His decline into alcoholism was rapid. His marriage broke up. On 8 August 1946, Lynch died in the Southern General Hospital of malnutrition and respiratory problems. He was 33.
His friends and admirers once more brought the streets of Glasgow to a standstill as his funeral cortege made its way to a cemetery in the north of the city.
Today, there is a memorial to Benny Lynch in a block of flats in the Gorbals. The plaque, while worthy, doesn’t convey the true affection and admiration which remains for arguably Scotland’s finest world boxing champion.
The legend of Benny Lynch shines bright 70 years on. BBC online article Janice Hamilton