THE TRAGEDY
The story of Del Fontaine is one of trauma, murder and execution
A tale of trauma, murder and execution
IT was October 29, 1935, and Boxing News editor W. H. Millier was on his usual journey to work. On the road outside Wandsworth Prison, he paused to take in an extraordinary scene.
“There were little groups of policemen every few yards,” he wrote, “and men with sandwich-boards bore posters with the printed announcement, ‘Del Fontaine is Insane’. As I was passing, the black flag was hoisted and Del Fontaine was no more. He had fought his last fight.”
Del Fontaine was a French-canadian middleweight who had just been hanged for murder. Those who remembered him as the amiable, happy-go-lucky 27-year-old who arrived in Britain three years earlier found this hard to process.
Fontaine (real name Raymond Bousquet) was from Winnipeg and turned pro in Canada in around 1925. His early bouts were mostly quick wins and he collected the Canadian middleweight title in May 1926. Gifted with immense strength and a devastating punch, Del was a crowdpleaser. Invariably, he came out fighting and kept on fighting until either he or his opponent couldn’t fight any more.
In Canada this was fine. But then he boxed in the States for five years, where the opponents were better and often outweighed him. Although Fontaine won many US fights, he was trounced by top contenders. And because of his style, even when Del won, he usually absorbed lots of punishment. In October 1930, the great Mickey Walker stopped him in four.
In early 1932, Fontaine sailed to Britain. The poker-playing, Savile Row-suited Canadian cut a glamorous figure. Terry Harding, with whom Del stayed while fighting in Bristol, recalled: “He was a likeable chap... a good-looking fellow. He was the first bloke I ever saw use aftershave!”
Fontaine based himself in South London and trained at Fred Duffett’s gym. He was an instant fan favourite. But unfortunately there were no rules then to stop a man fighting as often as he wished, and Del packed 34 fights into his first 19 months in the UK. He did well, though, with 26 wins (20 inside time), four losses, three draws and one No Contest. From November 1933, however, Fontaine lost with alarming regularity and was taking fearful hidings.
In February 1935, Fontaine was stopped in 11 by Archie Sexton. Afterwards, Del complained of double vision, unstable walking and depression. At a hospital he was diagnosed with cerebral contusion (bruising on the brain), the symptoms of which can include problems with memory, vision, speech, hearing, thinking and managing emotions. But Fontaine was quickly back in the ring for three more bouts. On June 17, he suffered a humiliating one-round knockout at the hands of Manuel Abrew. It was Fontaine’s final fight.
Three weeks later, Del shot dead a 19-year-old waitress called Hilda Meek, and shot and wounded her mother. Although Fontaine had a wife and three children in Winnipeg, he had dated Meek for two years. It was in a jealous rage, suspecting she was seeing another man.
At his Old Bailey trial, Fontaine pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity. His lawyer said he was ‘punch drunk’ and legally insane. A doctor gave evidence to support this, and ex-world welter champ Ted Kid Lewis took to the stand to say he had seen Fontaine many times and considered him ‘punch drunk’. A prison doctor, however, said he could find no evidence of insanity in Fontaine, but could not rule out the possibility of a brain injury that might account for his actions. Del lost the case and also lost an appeal.
Before his execution, a petition with thousands of signatures was presented to the Home Secretary pleading for royal clemency. On the fateful day, outside Wandsworth Prison, hundreds gathered in support of the boxer, a van played hymns from a loudspeaker and anti-capital punishment campaigner Violet Van der Elst gave an impassioned speech.
The tragedy of Del Fontaine and his victim Hilda Meek cast an ugly shadow over British boxing for many years.