Hubert Toms (28 December 1894 – 4 March 1953), better known as Joe Symonds, Young Joe Symonds, or Young Symonds, was a British

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1910 to 1924. He held the IBU world and

National Sporting Club The National Sporting Club was a club founded in London in 1891, which did more to establish the sport of boxing in Great Britain than any other organisation. Origins The club was founded on 5 March 1891 as a private club. Its premises were at ...

’s British

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 ...

titles in 1915, as well as the

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

flyweight title in 1914.

Career

Born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in 1894, Joe Symonds made his professional debut in October 1910 with a points win over Nipper Riley. By November 1912, he had built up a record of 20 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses against inexperienced opponents. In December 1912, he beat his first opponent with any real professional experience when Young Joseph's Nipper (who had 38 wins to his name) retired in the ninth round. He went on to beat Bill Kyne, but lost via disqualification in March 1913 to future World champion Percy Jones, who beat him again in both June and September of that year. Between October 1913 and April 1914, Symonds was unbeaten, including a drawn fight against former World champion Bill Ladbury. In May 1914, he faced Jones again, taking his European flyweight title after Jones retired in the eighteenth round. In November, he faced

Jimmy Wilde William James Wilde (12 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He simultaneously held the National Sporting Clubs British flyweight title and the World Flyweight championship from 1916 to 1923. ...

in an eliminator for the British flyweight title, losing on points. He beat Ladbury twice in 1915, and in October faced Tancy Lee at the National Sporting Club for the British and IBU World flyweight titles; he stopped Lee in the eighteenth round to take both titles. He defended them both against Wilde in February 1916; Symonds retired in the twelfth round. Symonds moved up to

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 ...

, and in September 1916 drew with Louis Ruddick in a British title eliminator. In June 1917, he challenged for Joe Fox's British title, losing after being stopped in the eighteenth round. When Fox vacated the title in 1918, Symonds got another chance to win it when he faced Tommy Noble, but lost on points. In 1920, Symonds travelled to Australia, where he stayed until returning in September 1921, having 14 fights there including a win over former Australian bantamweight champion Vince Blackburn. After losing five times in six fights he returned to England, and went on to lose three of his next four fights, including a British title eliminator against Billy Eynon. In 1922, he travelled to the United States where he fought Tommy Gerrard. He continued to box until October 1924, his final fight ending in a seventh round knockout at the hands of former European and British Empire champion Bugler Harry Lake. Symonds went on to become a boxing referee.

References

External links

Career record
at boxinghistory.org.uk * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Symonds, Joe 1894 births 1953 deaths Sportspeople from Plymouth, Devon English male boxers Flyweight boxers Bantamweight boxers 20th-century English sportsmen