Brian London

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Statistics
Brian London
Real name	Brian Sydney Harper
Rated at	Heavyweight
Nationality	British
Birth date	June 19, 1934 (1934-06-19) (age 73)
Birth place	West Hartlepool, England.
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	58
Wins	37
Wins by KO	26
Losses	20
Draws	1
No contests	0

Brian London (real name Brian Sidney Harper, born 19 June 1934 in West Hartlepool) is a retired English heavyweight boxer.^[1] He was British and Commonwealth Heavyweight champion from 1958 to 1959, and had two world heavyweight title fights. He was one of a quartet of British boxers, with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine and Dick Richardson who dominated the British boxing scene throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

He was an orthodox fighter, who was 6ft tall and fought at about 205 lbs. His nicknames in the ring were "The British Bulldog" and "The Blackpool Rock". He was a rugged, no nonsense fighter who lacked finesse, but showed lots of courage.

1 Early career
2 British heavyweight title
3 World title fight
4 Further domestic career
5 Second world title fight
6 Latter stages of his career
7 Retirement and personal life
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links

[edit] Early career

London was born in West Hartlepool in 1934, and moved to Blackpool when he was 16 years old, where he has lived ever since.^[2] His father, Jack London, beat Freddie Mills in 1944 to win the British heavyweight title. He also had a brother, Jack junior, who fought as a light-heavyweight. London fought as an amateur before turning professional in 1955.^[3] He made a good start to his career, winning his first twelve bouts, until he came up against Henry Cooper in May 1956. Cooper stopped him with a technical knockout in the first round.^[3] Following this defeat, London continued his winning run, apart from two ten-round point defeats, against Heinz Neuhaus in Dortmund, in 1957 and against the talented American, Willie Pastrano in February 1958.^[3]

[edit] British heavyweight title

In June 1958, he fought Joe Erskine, the Welsh boxer, for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. The fight was at the White City Stadium, London, and London took the titles with an eighth-round knockout. He followed this in September with a revenge win against Willie Pastrano, by a technical knockout in the fifth round. On 12 January, 1959, London lost his titles in a fight against Henry Cooper, losing for the second time to the Londoner by a points decision after fifteen rounds.^[3]^[4]

[edit] World title fight

In May 1959 he was given the chance of a world title fight against current champion, Floyd Patterson, but he lost the bout in Indianapolis by a knockout in the eleventh. He also lost to the Cuban Nino Vlades later that year, by a technical knockout in the seventh. However, in January 1960, London bounced back when he beat the American Pete Rademacher by a knockout in the seventh.^[3] Rademacher had made history by being the only man to fight for the world heavyweight championship on his professional debut, losing to Floyd Patterson.

[edit] Further domestic career

In August 1960, London challenged Dick Richardson for his European heavyweight title, but lost the bout in Porthcawl, Wales on a technical knockout in the eighth. This result provoked a brawl, when London’s father and brother invaded the ring to protest that Richardson had used his head to open a cut on his opponent. As a result of the incident, London was fined by the British Boxing Board of Control.

In October 1961, London lost to the American, Eddie Machen by atechnical knockout in the tenth, and in April 1963, he lost to the Swede, Ingemar Johansson on points over twelve rounds.

He fought Henry Cooper for the third time in February 1964, when he challenged for his British and Commonwealth titles, as well as the vacant European title. The fight took place in Manchester, and Cooper won on points after fifteen rounds.^[3]

His next fight of note was in March 1965, against the young “Golden Boy” of British boxing, Billy Walker. London won on points after ten rounds.

[edit] Second world title fight

In August 1966, London fought for the world heavyweight title for the second time, when Muhammad Ali came to defend his tile at Wembley. Ali put in a masterful performance to knock London out in the third round.^[3]

[edit] Latter stages of his career

In March 1967, London next fought American, Jerry Quarry, in Los Angeles, losing the fight by a unanimous decision after ten rounds. In November 1967, London had, what was to be the last win in his career when he fought the talented American, Zora Folley. Foley had lost a world title fight against Muhammad Ali, earlier that year, and London beat him on points over ten rounds.^[3]

London had continued to fight when he was past his best, and in June 1968, he lost, by a technical knockout to Jack Bodell. In September 1969 he travelled to Oakland, California to fight Jerry Quarry for the second time, this time being knocked out in the second round.^[3] The bout was unusual in that the bell was inadvertently rung as London was getting up after being knocked down in the second. The fighters returned to their corners and the referee, realising that the round had not finished, made them resume. London was then knocked down again and was counted out before the end of the round.

London’s last fight was against up-and-coming young boxer, Joe Bugner, who would eventually take the British, Commonwealth and European titles from Henry Cooper. The bout was in May 1970, at Wembley, and Bugner won by a technical knockout in the fifth, signalling an end to London’s career.^[3]

[edit] Retirement and personal life

After retiring from boxing, London became a businessman in his hometown of Blackpool, owning several nightclubs, and still a ftiness fanatic running 12 miles a day. A teetotal all his life, in 2006 it was revealed that he was still only a few pounds over his fighting weight.^[2] He is married with three children.

In January 1971 English football legend, Bobby Moore was embroiled in what became a national media story when he and three other West Ham United players, Jimmy Greaves, Clyde Best and Brian Dear spent the evening at London's 007 nightclub in Blackpool, the night before an important FA Cup match against Blackpool which they went on to lose 4-0, with then West Ham manager Ron Greenwood and the national media severely criticising the players. Moore later said of the incident, "I'd met Brian London on many occasions and thought it would be nice to look him up. I suppose we all realised at the time that we were leaving ourselves vulnerable".^[5]^[6]

London has always said that fighting Muhammad Ali was the greatest honour of his life. Like so many other boxers, London continued fighting long after his prime. He was 22 wins to 3 losses early in his career but lost 17 of his last 33 fights. In judging London’s career it should be remembered that he fought some of the best fighters in the world, including four who at some stage were world champions – Ali, Patterson, Johansson and Pastrano.

My dad was Jack London and I was expected to fight as well. I was never a great fighter. I was just really, really fit.^[2]

—Brian London

In 2004, the BritishBoxing website listed London at number eight in a list of the top ten post World War II British Heavyweight boxers.^[7] He is a member of Blackpool Sportsman's Aid Society (BSAS) which raises funds for local charities and sporting needs in Blackpool.^{[citation needed]}