PETER FALLON, 1928-2017
Birkenhead’s Fallon – a 100-bout veteran – came tantalisingly close to capturing a British title
WITH his crowdpleasing style, boxing ability and decent dig, Birkenhead’s Peter Fallon was a fan favourite at the Liverpool Stadium in the 1940s and ’50s. Fallon, who died aged 89 on July 28, was once ranked number-one British title contender by Boxing News, at lightweight and then at welter. He got just one tilt at a British crown, however. Had he boxed in a less competitive era, a national title might have been his.
Born July 8, 1928, Peter spent his early teens at Len Martin’s gym, where he learnt his trade sparring with pros. At 15, he signed professional articles with Martin, erroneously giving his age as 16 to get a licence.
He turned pro with no amateur experience in 1943, drew one and lost two of his first three bouts and then won the next 13. By age 19 he had amassed an impressive record, including wins over Welsh lightweight champ Warren Kendall and top men like Claude Dennington, Dan Mcallister and Jock Bonas.
In September 1947, Fallon boxed at Anfield on the Ronnie Clayton vs Al Phillips British and European feather title bill, outpointing Jarrow’s Ben Duffy over eight. In April ’48, Peter outpointed Bert Hornby of Bolton for the North Central Area title but was stripped soon after for being under the championship age. Nevertheless, 16 months later he beat Hornby to recapture the crown.
After beating Harry Hughes, the Scottish lightweight champ, in May 1948, Peter was offered a substitute job at Harringay Arena. He made his London debut there, four days after facing Hughes, against the tough Frenchman Andre Gonnet. A huge underdog, Fallon finished a worthy points winner.
There followed some defeats to top-class men, including Canada’s Solly Cantor and French champ Andre Famechon, but Peter also outpointed future British welter champ Cliff Curvis and Scotland’s Johnny Smith, in a British lightweight title eliminator. In April 1950, Fallon lost a final title eliminator to Bermondsey’s Tommy Mcgovern.
After moving up to welter, Peter won Central Area honours in March 1952, with a sixth-round KO of Huddersfield’s Joe Corcoran. Then in February ’53 he outscored former champ and fellow Merseysider Wally Thom in a British welter title final eliminator. Fallon was set to challenge champ Cliff Curvis (whom he’d beaten), but when Cliff surprisingly retired he was instead re-matched with Thom for the vacant crown.
They met at Liverpool Stadium in September 1954. Peter had injured a chest cartilage in training and was cut over his left eye in round two, but stayed the full 15 rounds to lose the decision. He retired five fights later.
As BN’S venerable old-timer’s scribe Ron Olver observed: “Not many fighters have made the grade as leading contender for British titles at two weights and Peter appears to have had more than his fair share of bad verdicts and bad luck... A career of 11 years, in the region of 100 contests with only around 20 defeats, is success by any standards.”
After boxing, Peter worked as a marine engineering fitter and later at an Ellesmere Port car plant. He was a muchrespected member of the Merseyside Former Boxers’ Association.