Eric Boon (28 December 1919 – 19 January 1981) was a champion British

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

boxer. Born in

Chatteris Chatteris () is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England, situated in the Fens between Huntingdon, March and Ely. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency. The parish o ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, he was known by the nicknames Boy Boon and the Fen Tiger. Of a total of 119 fights, he won 92 ( KO 62), lost 21 (KO 13) and drew 5. He beat Dave Crowley on 15 December 1938 to become British Lightweight Champion, a title he held for three years until 12 August 1944. His match against Arthur Danahar from the

Harringay Arena Harringay Arena was a sporting and events venue on Green Lanes (London), Green Lanes in Harringay, North London, England. Built in 1936, it lasted as a venue until 1958. Construction Harringay Arena was built and owned by Brigadier-General Al ...

was the first televised boxing match, broadcast on BBC television and shown live in several cinemas on 23 February 1939. ''Boon v Danaher'' was the first occasion that the BBC had been permitted to televise a boxing match but also the first time a transmission had been shown live to a paying audience in cinemas (the Marble Arch Pavilion and the Tatler News Theatre). This was achieved on Baird projection equipment using a 16-inch projection tube running at 45,000 volts, producing light levels comparable to that of normal films. Each projection unit contained two projection tubes, one acting as a backup in case the first one failed. This preceded the first televised heavyweight

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

match ( Max Baer vs Lou Nova, from

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

) which was held on 1 June 1939. Boon married Wendy Elliot in 1940 and, following his retirement from the sport, played a number of small roles in British films such as '' Champagne Charlie'' and '' Carry On Sergeant''. He died from a heart attack on 19 January 1981 in Soham, Cambridgeshire.
retrieved 04 December 2024

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boon, Eric English male boxers Lightweight boxers 1919 births 1981 deaths 20th-century English sportsmen

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