Vernon Sollas (born 14 August 1954) is a Scottish former
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
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, businessman and music manager, who was 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 between 1975 and 1977.
Career
Sollas was from
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. His father (also called Vernon) was also a boxer; he came to Britain in 1948 from Jamaica on the well-known voyage of the ''Empire Windrush''. He was one of a number of Jamaican boxers being brought to Britain by the promoter Mortimer 'Buddy’ Martin.
The younger Vernon Sollas fought as an amateur out of the Madison ABC, and in 1972 finished runner-up to Kirkland Laing in the
ABA
ABA may refer to:
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featherweight (51kg) final.
He turned professional in 1973 and moved base to London where he was managed by former British champion
Bobby Neill
Robert Neill (10 October 1933 – 15 February 2022) was a Scottish boxer who was British Featherweight Champion between 1959 and 1960.
Early life
Neill was born in Edinburgh on 10 October 1933,Albert Amatler and Bashew Sibaca, losing only once, to George McGurk. In March 1974 he faced
Jimmy Revie
Jimmy Revie (born 8 July 1947) is a British former Boxing, boxer, who held the British featherweight title between 1969 and 1971, and unsuccessfully challenged for the European title in 1971.
Career
Born in Stockwell, London, Revie made his prof ...
in a British featherweight title eliminator 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 ...
. The fight went the full ten rounds with Revie getting the decision. He beat Sibaca again in May and in June faced British champion Evan Armstrong in a non-title fight, losing by knockout in the eighth round.
When Armstrong relinquished, Sollas was matched with Revie for the vacant title in March 1975 at the Royal Albert Hall. Sollas avenged his earlier loss, knocking Revie out in the fourth round to become British champion, at 18 years old the youngest-ever Scot to win the title.Donald, Brian (2008) Sollas ready to warn Appleby of the pitfalls of title success , ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'', 18 October 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2016
In January 1976, Sollas won the boxing writers' 'Best Young Boxer of the Year (1975)' award.
Sollas won his next five fights, all inside the distance, and in February 1976, after being named number one challenger by 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 ...
York Hall
The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure centre in Bethnal Green, London. The building opened in 1929 and it is most famous as an international boxing venue with the first nights o ...
,
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...
. Cotena stopped him in the fourteenth round to retain the title.
Sollas won his next five, including a third round stoppage of Tommy Glencross and a win over Arnold Taylor, before being stopped in February 1977 by Les Pickett. In March that year he lost the British title in his first defence, Alan Richardson stopping him in the eighth round at
Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...
Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Wolverhampton Civic Hall is a music venue in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It has been one of the most notable live music venues in the county for several decades. It is part of a complex branded as University of Wolverhampton at The ...
. Needham knocked Sollas out in the seventh round, with Sollas unconscious for almost 15 minutes before being taken to hospital.Sollas Taken to Hospital - Then He Retires , ''
Glasgow Herald
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
'', 6 July 1977, p. 20. Retrieved 16 February 2016 Sollas recovered fully but announced his retirement later that night. In 33 professional fights, Sollas won 25, 21 inside the distance.
He later became a businessman based in London, including managing rock bands.Collen, Phil, with Epting, Chris (2015) ''Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard and Beyond'', Bantam Press,