Belsize Boxing Club

“The Belsize Boxing Club: the Toffs' Institution that Transformed Boxing” contains the most comprehensive analysis of the evolution of amateur boxing, ever published. This 640 page history of the Belsize Boxing Club - for eight decades, the oldest amateur boxing club in the world – is fully illustrated, and contains never-before published records of the contests and exhibitions of late nineteenth and early twentieth century icons of amateur boxing.

 

It describes the development of the amateur sport following the demise of prize fighting - to its social acceptability by the New Victorians, who introduced the amateur sports of rowing, athletics, cricket and boxing. The Belsize BC, founded on 31st August 1882, pioneered pro-am exhibitions, often featuring professional luminaries of the day, such as Bombardier Billy Wells, and amateur novices and open competitions. It soon became the most influential boxing club in the world.

 

The club's members were Oxbridge and London University graduates, served in the armed forces, and in many cases went on to become leaders in their fields. Club Captain Peggy Bettinson later co-founded the National Sporting Club. Rufus Isaacs joined the club in the 1880s, and went on to become Lord Chief Justice of England and Viceroy of India! J.W.H.T. Douglas, 1905 ABA middleweight champion, won the middleweight boxing gold medal at the London Olympics of 1908. Val Barker, 1891 ABA heavyweight champion, is remembered now for giving his name to the Val Barker Trophy, awarded to the most stylish boxer at the Olympic Games.

 

“The Belsize Boxing Club: the Toffs' Institution that Transformed Boxing”, published by The Ludo Press Ltd is available by emailing the author, Kevin Batchelor, below . It costs £25, plus £5 p. & p. It has 640 pages - 167,000 words - and is well illustrated. It has an index consisting of 3,500 entries. The back page features 30 club characters, and commendations from undisputed former world welterweight champion John H. Stracey and two former icons of national boxing journalism - Srikumar Sen of the Times, and Colin Hart of the Sun.  Each copy is cellophane wrapped, though the author will unseal it if anyone wanted a signed copy.