Joe Bygraves

Joe Bygraves

Statistics
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Nationality	British
Born	(1931-05-25)25 May 1931 Kingston, Jamaica
Died	16 January 2012(2012-01-16) (aged 80)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	72
Wins	42
Wins by KO	22
Losses	28
Draws	2
No contests	0

Joe Bygraves (26 May 1931 – 16 January 2012) was a British heavyweight boxer. Bygraves turned professional in 1953, and after an impressive early career he successfully challenged Kitione Lave for the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight belt in 1956. Bygraves defended the title on three occasions, knocking-out Henry Cooper and holding Dick Richardson to a draw before losing the championship to Joe Erskine. Bygraves immigrated to Britain as a youth but did not take British citizenship until the end of his fighting career in 1967.

Boxing career

Bygraves was born into a large family of 11 siblings, in Kingston, Jamaica in 1931.^[1] He immigrated to Britain at the age of 15 and settled in Liverpool. He began his amateur career at the age of 17 first as a light heavyweight and then moving up to the heavyweight division.^[1] He was successful at both weights, winning amateur county titles.^[1]

Bygraves turned professional in 1953, managed by Johnny Campbell,^[2] his first paid encounter was against Don Maxwell on 12 February. The fight lasted just 65 seconds, Bygraves winning by knockout. Bygraves won the next five fights, six and eight round encounters, mainly on points decisions, but he was stopped for the first time in his professional career by Joe Crickmar in a novice heavyweight competition. Despite the loss Bygraves' career continued to impress and by the end of 1954 he had accumulated 24 wins to only 4 loses. His final fight of 1954 was a loss by points decision to Polly Smith, a fighter he had beaten just two months prior.

Bygraves began 1955 in the same way he ended 1954, with a loss. After several months away from the ring, Bygraves returned to face rising British fighter Henry Cooper. The eight round scheduled fight went the distance, with Cooper given the decision.^[3] Bygraves followed this with a string of four wins, including a victory over Tongan Kitione Lave, and his first fight outside the United Kingdom, a technical knockout of Hugo Salfeld in Germany. Bygraves then travelled to Italy, for a string of three fights. He lost the first to European Boxing Champion Franco Cavicchi when he was disqualified in the eighth round, but then took two victories when he beat Aldo Pellegrini in Milan and Uber Bacilieri in Bologna.

On 24 February 1956, Bygraves travelled to Sweden to face the then unbeaten Ingemar Johansson. The eight round contest ended in a points decision for Johansson.^[4] Two months later, Bygraves was back in a British ring, facing ex-British heavyweight champion Jack Gardner, whom he stopped in the second round. A second successive win, this time against Marcel Limage in Cardiff, gave Bygraves a shot at the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight title. Despite living in Britain for near ten years, Bygraves was not allowed to fight for the British titles as he was not born there. His opponent for the title fight was Kitione Lave, who he had beaten the previous year. Held at the Empire Pool in London on 26 June 1956, the match was scheduled for 15 rounds, the first time Bygraves had contested a fight of this length. The bout went the distance, with the judges declaring Bygraves the victor, and new Commonwealth champion.

Bygraves lost his next fight to American Wayne Bethea, and this was followed by a win over another ex-British Heavyweight champion, Johnny Williams. His first title defence was on 19 February 1957, against Henry Cooper. The fight is regarded as one of Bygraves best of his career, stopping Cooper via technical knockout in the ninth round.^[1] Just three months later, Bygraves defended the Commonwealth belt again, on this occasion the challenger was Welshman Dick Richardson. The fight ended in a draw, and as holder Bygraves retained his title.^[5] His third and final defence of his Commonwealth title again came from Wales, this time against Joe Erskine. As with the Richardson fight, the bout went the full fifteen rounds, but on this occasion the decision went to Erskine, stripping Bygraves of his title.

After the Erskine fight, Bygraves struggled for success, and in more and more fights he ended as the loser. He still faced some notable fighters included loses to Americans Willie Pastrano and Zora Folley, and another failed attempt at Ingemar Johansson. One of his last wins was over Olympic gold medalist Franco De Piccoli in 1963, and in 1965 he failed to beat Canadian heavyweight champion George Chuvalo at the Albert Hall in London. His last recorded professional bout was against Hector Eduardo Corletti on 20 March 1967.

Professional boxing record

42 Wins (22 knockouts, 20 decisions), 28 Losses (7 knockouts, 21 decisions), 2 Draws
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	17-2-5	Hector Eduardo Corletti	PTS	10	20 Mar 1967	London Hilton on Park Lane Hotel, Mayfair, London	48.5-49.75.
Loss	33-10-2	George Chuvalo	PTS	10	7 Dec 1965	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Loss	29-3-1	Gerhard Zech	PTS	10	6 Mar 1965	Neue Sporthalle, Hannover, Lower Saxony
Win	36-11-5	Albert Westphal	KO	1	13 Feb 1965	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg	Westphal knocked out at 1:00 of the first round.
Loss	10-2-1	Billy Walker	DQ	6	28 Jan 1964	The Olympia, Kensington, London	Bygraves disqualified for a low blow.
Loss	25-1-1	Gerhard Zech	TKO	9	8 Nov 1963	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Loss	45-4-3	Santo Amonti	PTS	10	13 Sep 1963	Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Lazio
Loss	15-10-2	Ray Shiel	DQ	5	22 Aug 1963	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside	Bygraves disqualified for headbutting.
Win	25-1	Franco De Piccoli	KO	5	7 Jun 1963	Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Lazio
Loss	18-2-1	Bill Nielsen	TKO	6	21 Apr 1963	Johanneshovs Isstadion, Stockholm
Draw	43-20-5	Wim Snoek	PTS	10	8 Apr 1963	Rotterdam
Loss	33-2	Karl Mildenberger	PTS	3	30 Nov 1962	Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Loss	24-17-2	Wayne Bethea	UD	10	22 Sep 1962	The National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica	91-92, 95-98, 95-97.
Loss	22-2	Ingemar Johansson	TKO	7	9 Feb 1962	Maesshallen Sports Hall, Gothenburg	Referee stopped the bout at 2:08 of the seventh round.
Win	9-8	Alex Barrow	KO	2	4 Dec 1961	Granby Halls, Leicester, Leicestershire
Win	16-0	Gerhard Zech	TKO	4	3 Nov 1961	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Loss	62-9-3	Franco Cavicchi	PTS	10	27 Jun 1960	Bologna, Emilia-Romagna
Loss	16-1	Joe Hemphill	PTS	8	18 May 1960	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Loss	26-1	Roy Harris	UD	10	25 Aug 1959	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas
Loss	23-0	Giacomo Bozzano	PTS	10	19 Apr 1959	Velodromo Vigorelli, Milan, Lombardy
Win	5-2	Feleti Fred Kaho	TKO	7	2 Mar 1959	Farrer Street Stadium, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire
Loss	41-3-2	Zora Folley	TKO	9	24 Nov 1958	Granby Halls, Leicester, Leicestershire	Referee stopped the bout at 2:59 of the ninth round.
Loss	44-5-5	Willie Pastrano	PTS	10	21 Apr 1958	Granby Halls, Leicester, Leicestershire
Win	8-1	Joey Armstrong	TKO	3	10 Feb 1958	Leeds, Yorkshire
Loss	31-1-1	Joe Erskine	PTS	15	25 Nov 1957	Granby Halls, Leicester, Leicestershire	Commonwealth Heavyweight Title.
Win	31-8-2	Kitione Lave	PTS	10	18 Sep 1957	Pontypridd
Loss	39-6-6	Heinz Neuhaus	DQ	6	15 Jun 1957	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Draw	21-4-1	Dick Richardson	PTS	15	27 May 1957	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff	Commonwealth Heavyweight Title.
Loss	33-10-2	George Chuvalo	PTS	10	7 Dec 1965	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	14-3	Henry Cooper	KO	9	19 Feb 1957	Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London	Commonwealth Heavyweight Title.
Win	60-10-4	Johnny Williams	TKO	6	16 Nov 1956	Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Belle Vue, Manchester
Loss	11-4-2	Wayne Bethea	TKO	5	24 Sep 1956	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City	Bygraves did not come out for the sixth round.
Win	29-6-2	Kitione Lave	PTS	15	26 Jun 1956	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	Commonwealth Heavyweight Title.
Win	34-9-1	Marcel Limage	RTD	8	7 May 1956	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	28-5	Jack Gardner	TKO	2	24 Apr 1956	Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London
Loss	12-0	Ingemar Johansson	PTS	8	24 Feb 1956	Masshallen, Gothenburg
Win	17-11-6	Uber Bacilieri	PTS	10	23 Jan 1956	Bologna, Emilia-Romagna
Win	19-5	Aldo Pellegrini	KO	1	17 Dec 1955	Palasport di San Siro, Milan, Lombardy
Loss	38-2-2	Franco Cavicchi	DQ	8	31 Oct 1955	Palazzo dello Sport, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna
Win	25-4-2	Kitione Lave	PTS	8	19 Sep 1955	Perry Barr Stadium, Birmingham, West Midlands
Win	15-6-10	Hugo Salfeld	TKO	5	4 Sep 1955	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	17-3-1	Peter Bates	PTS	8	6 Jun 1955	Nottingham Ice Stadium, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Win	12-3	Eddie Hearn	KO	4	5 May 1955	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Loss	8-0	Henry Cooper	PTS	8	18 Apr 1955	Manor Place Baths, Walworth, London
Loss	14-12-3	Ed "Polly" Smith	PTS	8	4 Nov 1954	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	30-10	Fred Powell	PTS	8	25 Oct 1954	Carmarthen Market Hall, Carmarthen
Win	14-11-3	Ed "Polly" Smith	PTS	8	12 Oct 1954	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	20-21-1	Paddy Slavin	PTS	8	2 Oct 1954	King's Hall, Belfast
Win	3-5	Clair Redmond	KO	3	19 Aug 1954	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	6-1	Peter Bates	PTS	8	2 Jul 1954	Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Belle Vue, Manchester
Win	17-10-1	Frank Bell	PTS	8	30 Apr 1954	Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Belle Vue, Manchester
Win	20-19-1	Paddy Slavin	PTS	8	14 Apr 1954	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	6-22-2	Terry O'Connor	TKO	3	30 Mar 1954	Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London
Win	7-4	Joe Crickmar	PTS	8	18 Mar 1954	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	23-4	Terry McDonald	KO	1	12 Mar 1954	Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Belle Vue, Manchester
Loss	63-15-5	Albert Finch	PTS	8	23 Feb 1954	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	20-18-1	Paddy Slavin	PTS	8	11 Feb 1954	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	15-16-3	Simon Templar	PTS	8	18 Dec 1953	Tower Circus, Blackpool, Lancashire
Win	28-8	Fred Powell	TKO	7	10 Nov 1953	Empress Hall, Earl's Court, Kensington, London
Win	10-3-1	Cliff Purnell	KO	2	29 Oct 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	5-0	Peter Toch	TKO	3	20 Oct 1953	Streatham Ice Arena, Streatham, London, England
Win	18-7	George Stern	DQ	3	8 Oct 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Loss	9-3-1	Cliff Purnell	PTS	6	17 Sep 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	10-3	Hugh Ferns	PTS	6	3 Sep 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	2-6	Alex Roman	TKO	1	13 Aug 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Loss	5-3	Joe Crickmar	TKO	5	16 Jul 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Loss	4-2	Joe Crickmar	KO	2	9 Jun 1953	White City Stadium, White City, London	Novice Tournament.
Win	7-15	Peter McMann	TKO	1	14 May 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	12-13-1	Wally Curtis	PTS	8	23 Apr 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	16-6	Ken Wyatt	PTS	6	9 Apr 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	4-15-4	Les Johnson	PTS	6	26 Mar 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	8-1	Hugh Ferns	PTS	6	12 Mar 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	1-1	Don Maxwell	KO	1	12 Feb 1953	Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside

References

1 2 3 4 Brown, Leroy (12 February 2012). "Former boxing champion Joe Bygraves passes on". The Gleaner. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
↑ "Johnny Campbell - The man who put Birkenhead on the map". boxingbiographies.com. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
↑ Samuel, John (1 May 2011). "Sir Henry Cooper obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
↑ "Ingemar Johansson". The Telegraph. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
↑ Mee, Bob (16 July 1999). "Obituary: Dick Richardson". The Independent. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

* Biography

Professional boxing record for Joe Bygraves from BoxRec
Empire Title For Joe Bygraves 1956 British Pathe

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