Lyn Philp (1924-1981) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

professional boxer, and New Zealand's

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 ...

Champion from 1947 - 1954. *Ranked fourth best bantamweight New Zealand all-time greats. With his punching power, speed and elusive style, Philp soon became the #1 contender for the bantamweight belt. In 1960 he was ranked third best bantamweight in New Zealand history.

Biography

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Philp was drafted into the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

, serving with distinction in the

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and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Amateur career

In the spring of 1942, the United States First Marine Division sailed for Wellington, prior to opening a counteroffensive against the advancing Japanese forces. The marines were matched to fight local boxers on the preliminaries to the Strickland-Mullett heavyweight title fight. In the local team there appeared two Wellington fighters who were to turn professional after the war, Jack McCann and Lyn Philp. Both had wins over US Marines, and 15-year-old Bobby Goslin, drawn to meet P. Gonsalves, less than a minute later they were picking a semi-conscious Marine up off the deck! Goslin who would represent New Zealand at the 1948 Olympics. Philp, incidentally, fought Goslin three times, winning once and losing twice. Philp while serving with

J Force J Force (sometimes referred to as "Jayforce") was the name given to the New Zealand forces that were allocated to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) which occupied Japan following the end of the Second World War. The force was deploy ...

in Japan after the war, he would win a tournament in Kure, beating an Australian in the final. Kure is at the southern end of Japan's main island Honshū. The allocated area of occupation included the Hiroshima Prefecture.

Professional career

He started his pro-career as a bantamweight joining the training stable of the legendary Dick Dunn. His first professional fight was a win against Ronnie Hawes on 21 April 1947 at Wellington Town Hall. At Hastings New Zealand on 6 August 1947, and his second professional fight he met Tot Hoggarth the bantamweight champion in the first of three meetings between the pair, being defeated in round twelve. In his rematch with Tot Hoggarth, on 6 October 1947 at Petone New Zealand he won by KO, setting the stage for the final showdown and the battle for the belt. The Philp-Hoggarth battle took place on 21 February 1948 at the Petone Recreation Ground New Zealand. For the third and final time they would meet to decide the champion. Hoggarth was stopped by knock-out, Philp winning the New Zealand

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 ...

title and the belt. He retained the belt until his eventual retirement from the ring on 6 June 1954, when he vacated the title. In 1954 he stepped up to featherweight fighting Johnny Hanks for the vacant featherweight title, losing by KO in round eight.

World Title Fight

He was matched for a world title bout against World Champion Jimmy Carruthers. For reasons unclear the fight never went ahead.

Career record

Personal life

After retiring from the ring Lyn Philp opened a boxing gym where he became a trainer and coach.

References

External links

*
New Zealand boxing matches - 1941 - 1950New Zealand J Force
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philp, Lyn 1924 births 1981 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Sportspeople from Lower Hutt New Zealand male boxers Bantamweight boxers New Zealand professional boxing champions New Zealand Army soldiers New Zealand military personnel of World War II