Tommy McGovern

Thomas Henry McGovern (5 February 1924 – 1 February 1989) was a British boxer who was British lightweight champion between 1951 and 1952 and fought for the European title.

Career

Amateur career

Born in Lambeth, London, and based in Bermondsey where he worked selling fish, McGovern was a successful amateur, competing internationally, was British Army lightweight champion, and in 1944 was described by Joe Louis as the finest British prospect he had seen after seeing him fight in services competitions in Italy.^[1][2][3][4]

He won the 1943 Amateur Boxing Association British lightweight title, when boxing out of the Fitzroy Lodge & Lynn ABC.^{[5] [6]}

Professional career

After consideration of his application for a professional licence was deferred from December 1946 until three months later, causing the cancellation of his planned debut fight,^[1] he started his pro career in the United States in April 1947 with a points win over Ben Melendez. He won 11 of 15 fights in North America before returning to the UK.

In August 1948 he beat

He got another shot at Thompson's British title in August 1951 when the two met at Wandsworth Stadium. This time McGovern knocked Thompson out in just 45 seconds to win the title.^[11]

In March 1952 McGovern challenged for Jorgen Johansen's European title in Copenhagen; The fight went the full 15 rounds, ending in a draw, with even the Danish press believing McGovern should have been given the verdict.^[12] A month later he lost to Hocine Khalfi,^[13] and in June beat Cliff Anderson in a final eliminator for the British Empire title.

McGovern made the first defence of his British title in July 1952 against

McGovern made his acting debut, playing himself, in the 1949 boxing themed British film, No Way Back.

In 1954 McGovern was imprisoned for six months after being found guilty of three counts of receiving stolen goods.^[19][20]

References