Ernie Roderick (25 January 1914 – 5 June 1986) was a British

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom *Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe eel, ...

who was British champion at both

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

and middleweight, and European champion at welterweight and was a World title challenger losing on points against

Henry Armstrong Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 24, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisi ...

who

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profe ...

recognised as the second greatest pound for pound boxer of all time.

Career

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Ernie Roderick took up boxing as a schoolboy and began his professional boxing career in 1931. Defeated only once in his first two years as a pro, Roderick travelled to Australia in 1933, where he drew with Bobby Blay and suffered defeats to

Bobby Delaney Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...

and

Young Pluto Joseph William Dudley Brown (10 July 1872 in Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony – 3 March 1931 at Mosman Park, Western Australia) was a South African-born featherweight boxer, better known as Young Pluto, later Joe Pluto, who lived in Australia for m ...

. Back in the UK, he lost seven fights in 1934, but he returned to form in 1935, winning seventeen and drawing one fight in an unbeaten run which included victories over

Len "Tiger" Smith Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *L ...

and

Pat Butler Pat Butler (16 May 1913 – 7 March 2001) was a British boxer who won the British welterweight title in 1934. Career Born in Rothley, Leicestershire, Butler was a grocer's assistant before he began his professional career at the age of 18 with ...

. His run of form continued between 1936 and 1938, beating

Jake Kilrain John Joseph Killion (February 9, 1859 – December 22, 1937), more commonly known as Jake Kilrain, was a famous American bare-knuckle fighter and glove boxer of the 1880s. Early life Kilrain found employment as a teenager in Somerville, Mas ...

twice among many others. In March 1939 he faced Kilrain for the British welterweight title, winning via a seventh-round knockout. He fought

for the World welterweight title in May 1939, losing on points. He defended the British title successfully in July 1940 against

Norman Snow Norman Snow (March 29, 1950 – November 28, 2022https://www.arkansasonline.com/obituaries/2022/dec/11/norman-snow-jr-2022-12-11/) was an American actor who is best known for his role as Xur in the science fiction film ''The Last Starfighter'' (1 ...

. In September 1940 Roderick joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. The following year beat

Jack Kid Berg Judah Bergman, known as Jack Kid Berg or Jackie Kid Berg (28 June 1909 – 22 April 1991), was an English boxer born in the East End of London, who became the World Light Welterweight Champion in 1930. Biography Judah Bergman was born in Ro ...

on points at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. He made his second successful defence of his British title in September 1941 against

Arthur Danahar Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

. In May 1945 he fought

Vince Hawkins ''For the Doctor Who character, see Horror of Fang Rock'' Vincent Gregory "Vince" Hawkins (15 April 1923 – 27 November 2008) was a British middleweight Boxing, boxer who became British champion in 1946. Career A reserve firefighter on the rail ...

for the British middleweight title vacated by

Jock McAvoy Joseph Patrick Bamford (20 November 1908 – 20 November 1971), better known by his ring name Jock McAvoy, was a British boxer who fought from 1927 to 1945. He held the British Empire Middleweight Championship from 1933 to 1939, and took the ...

; Roderick won on points to hold two British titles simultaneously. In June 1946 he fought

Omar Kouidri ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

for the vacant European welterweight title, winning on points over 15 rounds. He defended his British middleweight title in a rematch with Hawkins in October 1946, this time losing a points decision. In February 1947 he lost his European title to

Robert Villemain Robert Villemain (January 10, 1924 in Paris, France - September 4, 1984 in Montfermeil, France ) was a French boxer. Villemain defeated Hall of Famers Kid Gavilán and Jake LaMotta during his career. He lost his Pennsylvania middleweight ...

in Paris. He successfully defended his British welterweight title twice later that year, against Gwyn Williams and

Eric Boon Eric Boon (28 December 1919 – 19 January 1981) was a champion British lightweight boxer. Born in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, 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 ...

. He lost the title in November 1948 to Henry Hall on points, ending a nine-year reign as champion. Roderick formally protested the decision, but to no avail. He fought Eddie Thomas in September 1949 in a final eliminator to challenge for the title once again, but lost a points decision. He fought only once more, a defeat to Cliff Curvis in February 1950, before retiring from the sport.

References

External links

Career record
at boxrec.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Roderick, Ernie 1914 births 1986 deaths Boxers from Liverpool Welterweight boxers Middleweight boxers English male boxers