Brian London "The Blackpool Rock" RIP

[Amor de Cosmos]

After Henry Cooper was Britain's leading heavyweight during my childhood (though some claim he was better than 'enry.) Both fought Ali, but Henry did a little better, BL was knocked out in the third.

After recovering Brian said he'd given Ali a real fright. When asked how, he replied “well, he thought he'd killed me.”

Nevertheless he made it to 87.

[tee rex]

A bit before my time, but a name still invoked years after he quit the ring. I never knew until now that London wasn't his real name though. As a kid I thought that was really cool - Brian London, Bobby England.

[Nocturnal Submission]

I'd heard of him but not much more than that. Reading his obit I was alerted to the Brawl in Porthcawl (Ray and Bored to thread) which I wasn't aware of and certainly puts some of the scuffles you see around boxing these days in perspective:

[jwdd27]

A bit before my time, but a name still invoked years after he quit the ring. I never knew until now that London wasn't his real name though. As a kid I thought that was really cool - Brian London, Bobby England.

Me neither, and I didn't know he inherited his ring name from his boxer father, Jack London. It was only in his RAF national service that his PT instructor discovered that Airman Harper was Jack London's son, and encouraged him to give it a go.

The American writer Jack London was really called John London - I had assumed that to be a pen name.