Thomas G. Nicholls (12 October 1931 – 31 July 2021Report by Toby Neal.) was an English

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 won the silver medal representing Great Britain in the

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, ...

division (– 57 kg) at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

Biography

Nicholls was born at

South Elmsall South Elmsall ( ) is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. South Elmsall lies to the east of Hemsworth. The town had a population in 2001 of 6,107, increasing to 6,519 at the 2011 Census. History The tow ...

, Yorkshire, in 1931, son of Jack, a miner, who moved with his family to

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated northwest of Telford and east of Shrewsbury, near the western terminus of the M54 motorway. The summit of The Wrekin lie ...

when Thomas was aged seven or eight. He won the 1951 and 1952 Amateur Boxing Association British bantamweight titles and the 1955 and 1956 featherweight titles, when boxing out of the Slough Centre ABC, when boxing out of the Royal Air Force BC and the Sankeys ABC respectively. He competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, reaching the final in 1956, where he was defeated by

Vladimir Safronov Vladimir Konstantinovich Safronov () (29 December 1934 in Ulan-Ude, Buryat-Mongol ASSR — 26 December 1979) was a Russian featherweight boxer. Safronov trained at the Armed Forces sports society in Chita, Irkutsk, Moscow. He beca ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He also competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

, where he was beaten in the second round by eventual gold medalist

Pentti Hämäläinen Pentti Olavi Hämäläinen (19 December 1929 – 11 December 1984) was a Finnish 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: Anima ...

from Finland. It was at Wellington he began training in his sport at Sankey's boxing club. He retired from professional boxing in 1957. He was living at Brandlee,

Dawley Dawley ( ) is a former mining town and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It was originally proposed be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan in 1963, however it was decided in 1968 to name the new ...

at the time of his Olympic appearances but later returned to live in Wellington. He married in 1955 June Clift, who predeceased him. They had a son, Mark, and daughter, Carol, who survived him. He died at Lightmoor View Care Home in

Telford, Shropshire Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern boundary, and near the River Severn. Th ...

in July 2021 aged 89. His funeral took place at Emstrey Crematorium,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

, on 19 August following.Death notice, ''Shropshire Star'', Friday 13 August 2021, page 20.

Olympic results

1952 (as a Bantamweight) *Lost to

(Finland) 3-0 1956 (as a Featherweight) *1st round bye *Defeated Noel Hazard (Australia) points *Defeated Shinetsu Suzuki (Japan) points *Defeated

(Finland) points *Lost to

(Soviet Union) points

Amateur accomplishments

*1951 ABA Bantamweight champion *1952 ABA Bantamweight champion *1955 European Featherweight Champion in West Berlin *1955 ABA Featherweight champion *1956 ABA Featherweight champion

References

databaseOlympics
1931 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Wellington, Shropshire Sportspeople from West Yorkshire Featherweight boxers Boxers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in boxing English male boxers Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics English Olympic competitors {{UK-Olympic-medalist-stub