THE NORTH STAR
Wishing John Jarrett a happy retirement
MANY older readers of Boxing News will be very familiar with the name John Jarrett. In the North East, every boxer who has laced up a pair of gloves within the last 40 years will also know him. For those people who enjoy reading books about past greats of the game, the name will also ring a loud bell. John has spent a lifetime in the sport, and among his many other achievements he has contributed hundreds of articles to BN, published nine books and has spent 40 years as secretary of the Northern Area Council.
John was born in 1931. He first got interested in the sport as a 14-yearold when Gus Lesnevich came over to fight Freddie Mills at Harringay Arena in 1946. A recent BBC documentary on Mills showed some excellent footage of this contest and it is easy to see why it should have sparked John’s interest as a young lad. Within five years John had started writing regular letters, features and articles in the leading boxing journals of the time, and he never missed a show in Newcastle. The first two boxers that stand out in John’s memory from this time are Tommy Proffitt and Ben Duffy. Tommy is also still around – a stalwart of the Manchester EBA, a 1948 Olympian and a thoroughly nice chap. Duffy, from Jarrow, was a leading featherweight of the 1940s who boxed them all. The boxer who John really admired from this period was Hartlepool’s Teddy Gardner [inset on facing page]. John was ringside in Newcastle on the night he beat ex-world champion Terry Allen for the British and European flyweight titles in March 1952, and he was also in attendance six months later when Teddy went down gallantly against Jake Tuli for the Empire crown. These two contests still stand out in his memory as among the best he has seen.
Then-boxing News Editor Gilbert Odd was impressed by some articles that John had submitted voluntarily and which had been published. Gilbert encouraged John to send in similar articles for which he would be paid. Having purchased a second-hand typewriter from the War Department, John began hitting the keys. He hasn’t stopped since. His first paid article, on the up-and-coming Rocky Marciano, appeared in Boxing News on November 14, 1951. In it, he stated that “Rocky looks a safe bet to slug his way right into the championship.” As we all know, this prophecy was fulfilled, and some 67 years later John completed the circle by penning his ninth book, The Brockton Blockbuster, in which he told the full story of Rocky’s amazing career.
In 1978, John was asked by the chairman of the Northern Area if he would like to put his writing talents and his considerable boxing knowledge to good use by becoming the secretary of the Northern Area council. Of all the many secretaries that there have been for the very many councils in operation over the last 90 years, I can think of only one man who has come close to John for his length of service and that was Arthur Musson, Midlands Area secretary from the late 1940s until 1984. John holds the record, with 40 years unbroken service in this important and often difficult position. The Area secretary acts as the link between the licence-holders and the administrators, and there is often the need to mediate and to smooth the waves between the two sides. This is something that John has done with considerable charm and skill, and when he retired in December 2018 he went with the good wishes and the respect of all licence-holders from his Area. Such was the esteem in which he was held that £500 was contributed to his present – a new laptop. I can only hope that he has not been using that old typewriter for the last 60 years and that he can master his new computer.
John has seen many great fights, but the best he saw was between Billy Hardy and Orlando Canizales in Sunderland in 1990. Rather wonderfully, Billy, who is now an MC in the Northern Area, was a generous contributor to John’s collection. Happy retirement, John!