Johnny Summers (21 January 1883 – 27 March 1946) was an English

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who competed from 1901 to 1920. He was a British and British Empire (Commonwealth)

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 th ...

champion.

Early life

Summers was born on 21 January 1883 in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, and raised in

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

Boxing career

Early career

Summers made his debut on 1 April 1901 at the Gaiety Athletic Hall,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, forcing Bob Cooper to retire from the bout in the third round.. Retrieved 22 November 2018. On 1 October 1906, Summers fought Boss Edwards for the

NSC NSC may refer to: Banking and investment * National Sort Code, an Irish bank code * Nomura Securities Co, an investment bank Computing * National Software Centre, an Irish organization * National Supercomputer Centre in Sweden * NetShow Channe ...

British featherweight title, winning the twenty round bout on points. He lost the title two months later to Spike Robson on 17 December, Summers being disqualified in the fourth round. From May 1907 to April 1908, Summers boxed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, beginning with a bout against

Harlem Tommy Murphy Harlem Tommy Murphy (April 13, 1885 – November 26, 1958) was an American boxer whose career lasted from 1903 to 1917. He was a contender in three different divisions; being ranked in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight weight classe ...

on 22 May, at the National A.C. in

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, the bout ending in a draw. Summers ended his tour of the United States with a win over

Steve Sullivan Steve Sullivan (born July 6, 1974), nicknamed "Timmins Tornado", is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played over 1000 games in the National Hockey League for the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black ...

on 30 April 1908, at the Eureka A.C. in

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. On 8 November 1909, Summers fought

Freddie Welsh Freddie Welsh (born Frederick Hall Thomas; 5 March 1886 – 29 July 1927) was a Welsh World boxing champion. The lightweight boxer was born in Pontypridd, Wales, nicknamed the "Welsh Wizard". Brought up in a tough mining community, Welsh left a ...

for the NSC British and

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European lightweight titles. This was also the first-ever contest for the

Lonsdale Belt The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, The 5th Earl of Lonsdale introduced the prize on behalf of the National S ...

. Summers, bleeding as early as the third round, lost the twenty round bout on points.

British welterweight champion

On 11 April 1912, Summers fought Young Joseph for 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. ...

British welterweight title, at the Liverpool Stadium,

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 ...

. Summers won the twenty round bout on points. He then faced Artur Evernden for the vacant NSC British welterweight title on 17 June 1912, winning the twenty round bout after forcing Evernden to retire in the thirteenth round. Summers defended the NSC title on 9 December 1912 against Sid Burns, winning the bout on points. Harding, pp. 32-33. In a rematch against Burns on 11 June 1913, Summers again emerged victorious, retaining the BBBofC British welterweight title, and winning the British Empire (Commonwealth) welterweight title. Shortly after he travelled to Australia, where he defended both titles against Artur Evernden at Barker's Pavilion,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, on 11 June 1913, Summers winning the bout on points. While still only twenty, New York Jewish boxer Harry Stone defeated Summers on 18 May 1913 in a non-title twenty round points decision at Olympic Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Though less experienced and six years younger, Stone was considered by most reporters to have outpointed Summers in nearly every round. Years later, Stone wrote Summers "was a fighter with a world-wide reputation, and he had a wallop that would stop any clowning if he landed it, but his speed was not comparable to mine". In September, Stone defeated Summers again in a twenty round points decision in Sydney. On 10 January 1914, Summers lost both titles to Tom McCormick by a points decision at the Sydney Stadium, Sydney. He got a rematch against McCormick on 14 February, but failed to win back the titles, being knocked out in the first round. Harding, p. 33.

Later career

The NSC did not officially recognise the bouts in Australia, and so upon returning home, Summers contested the vacant NSC welterweight title against

Johnny Basham John Michael Basham (1890 – 7 June 1947) was a Welsh boxer who became British and European champion at both welter and middleweight. His professional career spanned over 20 years, from 1909 to 1929, and after being stationed in Wrexham thro ...

on 14 December. Summers, the more experienced fighter, was the favourite going into the bout, but suffered a knockout to the up and coming Basham. Harding, p. 62. Summers would get one more title opportunity, against Bob Marriott for the NSC lightweight title on 23 June 1919. Summers was disqualified in the tenth round for holding.

Notable bouts

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References

Bibliography

External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Johnny 1883 births 1946 deaths English male boxers Featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers Welterweight boxers Sportspeople from Middlesbrough