WELL-DESERVED TROPHY
Ronnie Rowe will receive the Maurice Cullen award in May
EACH year, the Northern Area Council of the British Boxing Board of Control presents a trophy to someone who has contributed a lot to the sport over many years. Past holders of the award include Gus Robinson, Dave Garside and George Bowes. This year it is to be presented to manager and trainer Ronnie Rowe.
Ronnie is a very popular man on the North East boxing circuit and he was a decent amateur himself back in the early 1980s. For many years Ronnie was instrumental in making Birtley ABC the very strong club that it is today and, after establishing the professional gym ‘Fighting Chance’, he managed Jonlewis Dickinson to British title glory at cruiserweight. Ronnie has been in poor health recently but I know that he is battling on with the spirit of a true fighter, and his many friends wish him well.
The award is named after one of the North East’s finest, Maurice Cullen of Shotton Colliery. Maurice was British lightweight champion between 1965 and 1968 and although he sadly died in 2001, his memory lives on with this award.
Maurice came from strong fighting stock. His father, Mick Cullen, campaigned as a welterweight between 1929 and 1933. Fighting in and around the pit villages of County Durham, Mick lost only five of the 28 contests that I have been able to trace for him. Maurice’s brother Terry was also a decent welterweight throughout the 1950s and, in 1950, at the age of 20, he knocked out Stan Hawthorne in three rounds in Ryhope. Stan had fought for the British lightweight title only three years earlier.
Maurice won the National Coal Board championship in both 1956 and 1959 and, as older readers will remember, these championships were very competitive, such was the quality of amateur pitmen boxers at this time. The photograph on the facing page shows a fresh-faced Maurice in the gym alongside Kevin Jones [on left] and Pat Gorman [in centre]. Pat would have been in his mid-50s when this picture was taken, but his reputation went before him.
Pat fought over 120 times as a professional and, as well as being the Northern Area champion at bantamweight, he fought Johnny King in an official eliminator for the British title in 1931. His slick boxing skills were passed on to young Maurice in boxing’s time-honoured way – ex-professional to aspiring professional.
At the start of his career, Maurice was managed by his brother, and Terry guided him to two British title challenges, the second of which saw him become champion. His first defence was against Vic Andreetti, who sadly died recently. They fought 15 rounds at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, and the Boxing News report stated that Cullen was “such an artist in all the crafts of the game that Andreetti had great difficulty in getting near enough to do any serious damage.” Vic’s time was to come as he became the British super-lightweight titlist in 1969. He was a terrific fighter.
Arthur Boggis took over Maurice’s contract in 1966 and under him Cullen defended his British title twice and won the Lonsdale Belt outright. It took a fighter of exceptional quality to deprive him of his crown. Ken Buchanan was the man to do this, by 11th-round knockout in 1968. Maurice had been the heavy favourite going into the contest, but Ken scored four knockdowns prior to the conclusion. We all know what a talent Ken was and for my money he is the best British stylist since the war.
Maurice Cullen is still remembered in Shotton Colliery and on April 7 a memorial to him is to be unveiled in the village (at 11am). Should anyone wish to commemorate a great ex-champion then they will be made very welcome at the ceremony. The Maurice Cullen award is to be presented to Ronnie Rowe on May 24 at Chester-le-street cricket club, and the North East fight fraternity, including myself, will extend a similar welcome to anyone who wishes to come along.