John Brown (29 November 1909 – 15 March 1971), better known as Jackie Brown, was a

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

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 ...

world champion. He held the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, IBU and British flyweight titles. He would be stripped of both his NBA and IBU titles while still having not been beaten at flyweight since the beginning of his reigns. The NBA stripped him on July 6, 1934 when he was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison for assault. while he was stripped of his IBU title for not giving

Valentin Angelmann Valentin is a male given name meaning "strong, healthy, power, rule". It comes from the Latin name ''Valentinus'', as in Saint Valentin. Commonly found in Argentina, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, Scandinavia, Ukraine, Latin A ...

another chance after a draw in a title bout against him. His British flyweight title would be the only title he lost in the ring when he was defeated on September 9, 1935 to

Benny Lynch Benjamin Lynch (2 April 1913 – 6 August 1946), known as Our Benny, was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and h ...

thus taking all claims he laid to being a flyweight champion.

Professional career

Born John Brown in

Collyhurst Collyhurst is an inner city area of Manchester, England, northeast of the Manchester city centre, city centre on Rochdale Road (A664) and A62 road, Oldham Road (A62), bounded by Smedley, Manchester, Smedley, Harpurhey and Monsall tram stop, Mo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, he had his first professional fight on 18 May 1925, at the age of sixteen, defeating Harry Gainey on points over six rounds. In October 1929, he won the vacant British flyweight title, knocking out Bert Kirby in three rounds. The

BBBofC The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

subsequently recognised Brown as the World Champion, succeeding the later

Johnny Hill Johnny Hill (14 December 1905 – 27 September 1929) was a Scottish boxer who was British flyweight champion from May 1927, European champion from March 1928, and World champion from August 1928, until his death at the age of 23. He was the fir ...

, and received confirmation from the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York ...

that they were willing to allow him to defend the title in the US. In March 1930, he defended the British title against Kirby, and was knocked out in the third round. In February 1931, he met Kirby for the third time, winning back the title with fifteen-round points decision. In May 1931, he won the European flyweight title, beating

Lucian Popescu Lucian Popescu (12 January 1912 in Bucharest – 9 December 1982) was a Romanian boxer who won European titles in three different classes. Nicknamed ''Chocolate Boy'' ("băiatul de ciocolată"), he is considered to be the best Romanian boxer betw ...

, of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on points. In the next two months he defended this title twice, winning on points against Emile Degand, of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and Vincenzo Savo, of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In October 1931, Brown married Mary Chapman. In September 1932, he defended both his titles against Jim Maharg, winning on a disqualification in the eighth, for a low blow.

Legal issues

In October 1933, Jackie Brown ran over and killed Margaret Thornley with his car. He did not receive any punishment whatsoever for taking her life. The very next year, Brown actually found himself in trouble with the law when he was convicted of assault by occasioning bodily harm for biting a piece out of the ear of Louis Tarchman in a Manchester street after Tarchman had called him a "cheese champion". Brown served four months of imprisonment with hard labour in August 1934. In September 1935, he was fined £10 and had his driving licence endorsed after being caught speeding; At the trial it emerged that he had over 20 previous convictions for driving offences, some of them serious.

World titles

In October 1932, he fought Victor 'Young' Perez, of

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

for the World flyweight championship, beating him in thirteen rounds when Perez' corner threw in the towel. Brown was recognized as world

champion by the

National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded i ...

of America. In June and September 1933, he defended his World and European titles against

, of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, winning both defences on points. In December 1933, he defended his British, European and World titles against Chris ‘Ginger’ Foran of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, winning on points. In June 1934, he defended his World and European titles against Angelmann, for the third time, this time, after his previous two wins drawing on points. In 1935, Brown was stripped of his European title for not giving Angelmann a return bout. On 29 July 1935, Brown won two fights on the same night, stopping Jackie Quinn in the second round of twelve, and Sid Rose in the third of six. In September 1935, he defended his British and World flyweight titles against the talented Scottish fighter,

. He lost his titles when the referee stopped the contest in the second round.

Later career at Bantamweight

Following the loss of his titles, Brown continued fighting as a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

. Having won the Northern Area title in October 1936, in May 1937 he fought holder

Johnny King Johnny Cecil King (born 2 July 1942) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He was a winger with the St. George Dragons for the last seven years of their eleven consecutive premiership-winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was ...

for the British bantamweight title, losing by a knockout in the thirteenth round. This was his last challenge for a national or international title, but he continued fighting until July 1939. He then retired, but made a one-fight comeback in February 1948, when he scored a points victory over Billy Stevens over eight rounds.

Professional boxing record

References

Sources

* Maurice Golesworthy, Encyclopaedia of Boxing (Eighth Edition) (1988), Robert Hale Limited,

External links

*
Biography
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jackie 1909 births 1971 deaths English male boxers World boxing champions World flyweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions People from Collyhurst Flyweight boxers 20th-century English sportsmen