Sam Steward (born 1906) 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 ee ...

who was British

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champion between 1928 and 1929.

Career

Born in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, London, Sam Steward made his professional boxing debut in January 1922 with a decision over Rube Painter. After winning most of his first 24 fights he was stopped in the tenth round by

Billy Bird Billy Bird (1 January 1899 – 6 February 1951) was a British professional boxer who was active from 1920 to 1948 and boxed in the welterweight division. He fought a recorded 356 times in his 28 year-career and was regarded as one of the most a ...

in July 1924. He had a significant win in December 1925 when he stopped former British

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

champion Mike Honeyman in the seventh round. In March 1927 he beat lightweight champion of the Netherlands

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and later that year beat both Ernie Izzard and

Jack Hyams Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, inclu ...

. He started 1928 with wins over George Rose, Auguste Gyde, and another defeat of Hyams in a title eliminator, before facing

Ernie Rice John Tomasso (17 November 1896 – 1979), better known as Ernie Rice, was a British boxer who was British and European lightweight champion between 1921 and 1922. After retiring from boxing he became an actor, appearing in several films and tel ...

in September for the British lightweight title vacated by Harry Mason, with Steward's ''Sporting Life'' belt also at stake. Steward knocked Rice out in the twelfth round to become British champion. He rounded off the year with a draw against former French champion Lucien Vinez and a win over future Dutch champion Jan Scheffers. He started 1929 with two wins, including a points decision over Irish champion Billy Gilmore, but suffered a defeat at the end of January to former amateur champion Fred Webster in what was the latter's third professional fight. In May, Webster got a shot at Steward's British title at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

and again won on points to take the title in what was only his fifth pro fight. Steward was undefeated during the next two years, which included two further wins over Gyde and a draw with Johnny Curley. A fight with Rose in 1930 was agreed as an eliminator for the British title but fell through after failure between their managers to agree on a venue, leading to 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. ...

no longer considering Steward an official title contender. In September 1931 he lost a decision to Dick Stubbings. The two met again two months later, the fight this time ending in a draw. Steward lost to Jack Hudson in December and was then out of the ring for almost four years before making a comeback in October 1935 against Bert Francis, retiring in the sixth round. He beat Billy Reynolds in January 1936 before losing his final fight in March that year to Fred Bullions.

References

External links

Career record
boxinghistory.org.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steward, Sam 1906 births Year of death missing Boxers from the London Borough of Lewisham English male boxers Lightweight boxers People from Lewisham