Sammy McCarthy
‘Nicest man in British boxing’ who was jailed three times for armed robbery
SAMMY McCarthy, the former British featherweight champion of the 1950s who has died aged 88, was — due to a genial personality, affable demeanour and highly courteous manner — often described as the nicest man in boxing.
An amateur teenage prodigy from London’s East End, the “angel with gloves on”, as one newspaper dubbed him, became a celebrity in an era when competition in the sport was fierce.
During his brief pomp, Mc
Carthy’s wedding photograph appeared on the front page of a national newspaper, while his 1957 retirement announcement came on television’s This Is Your Life.
But McCarthy’s refined manners tended to disguise the fact that he was one of the sport’s great enigmas.
Having hit financial troubles once the spotlight of fame had faded, he turned to crime and ended up serving three terms in prison — of three, six and 14 years — for armed bank robbery.
Born one of a costermonger’s 10 children in Stepney on September 5, 1931, McCarthy was inspired to take up boxing by the success of an older brother, despite being — on his own admission — frightened of the sport.
Having taken up boxing on returning from wartime evacuation in 1945, ‘Smilin’’ Sammy McCarthy — who reckoned that pushing a wheelbarrow packed with fruit and vegetables while working for his father helped to build his strength — proved a rare talent with a dazzling left-hand.
The biggest prizes tended to elude him, however, and when he turned professional aged 19, a trade magazine called him “surely one of the most brilliant post-war amateurs never to win a senior [amateur] crown”.
He nevertheless advanced swiftly through the paid ranks, remaining unbeaten for 28 fights, only to suffer successive defeats to the Nigerian future world champion Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey, the French former European title-holder Raymond Famechon and the reigning European champion, Jean Sneyers, of Belgium.
But McCarthy overcame these setbacks to capture the 126lb British featherweight crown by stopping Blackpool’s Ronnie Clayton in eight rounds at White City in June 1954. Four more wins followed before he lost his title to the Empire champion Billy ‘Spider’ Kelly in January 1955.
Moving up to lightweight, McCarthy lost again to Sneyers, as well as to the future British, Commonwealth and European champion Dave Charnley, before being stopped in 13 rounds attempting to take the British title from Joe Lucy at Wembley in June 1956.
McCarthy won his next four contests before being outpointed by the Frenchman Guy Gracia at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1957, a defeat that persuaded him to hang up the gloves. He finished with 44 wins from 53 contests, with one draw.
McCarthy announced his retirement live on national television — the first boxer to be the subject of This Is Your Life.
He went on to manage the 1956 Olympic flyweight champion Terry Spinks, who remained a lifelong friend, and eventually became a publican before life took a grim turn.
“I robbed banks and I stole a lot of money,” he told one startled interviewer. “I was caught and put in prison for years.”
Divorced from his wife, he nevertheless emerged from jail a model citizen.
A hugely popular figure in the London Ex-Boxers’ Association, he regularly visited ailing members as well as former East End citizens marooned in care homes or hospitals, and continued to be a familiar and welcome face at London boxing shows
Sammy McCarthy died on February 10.