THE THRIVING SERVICES EBA
News from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines EBA
I WAS delighted to chat to Tony Bevel, chairman (for over 10 years) of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines EBA.
“We’ve been going for over 30 years,” Tony said. “The heyday of Royal Navy boxing was the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The Royal Navy really dominated Services boxing then. The Association was started by Gordon Mcbride, a former Navy boxer who was trained by legendary Navy coach, the late Tony Oxley. Sadly Gordon has Parkinson’s disease, but he remains our president and still takes an active interest. When we started we had about six members, maybe 10. Now there are over 200. We’re a very friendly Association. We look after our members and their families, and stand by them in difficult times. And we look after the welfare of those who have served or are still serving. Secretary is former ABA champion Paul Kelly and treasurer is Barney Barnett.”
Paul Kelly won the ABA lightwelterweight title in 1974, aged just 18. Two years later he was tipped to become a two-weight champion but was outscored in the final by Welshman Colin Jones. Reporting for BN, my good friend Terry Baker wrote: “It was a close encounter in which I thought Kelly’s better final round might have eased him home.” Jones went on to win the title again the following year and go to the Montreal Olympics in 1976. As a pro he won European, British and Commonwealth titles and boxed three times for versions of the world title. Kelly also went pro, winning nine and drawing one of 13 contests.
Membership rules are strict – members have to have represented the service proper at least at Service level. And, as it’s not a ‘local’ EBA, monthly meetings aren’t possible. “We meet once or twice a year,” Tony said, “with a reunion that takes place over a weekend. Members bring their partners and families – we always have over 100 present. Unfortunately this year’s was due to be held this month and we’ve had to cancel it because of the coronavirus. But we’ll be back next year! Our most successful member has to be Terry Marsh, who was in the Marines – British, European and world (IBF) super-lightweight champion. And we’ve got loads of former internationals – Kevin Mccormack, Wayne Green, Tommy Taylor, Brian Schumacher.”
Terry Marsh not only won the IBF title, he went through his pro career unbeaten, but had to retire as undefeated world champion on medical grounds. I dealt
with Brian Schumacher’s pro career a few weeks ago. Tommy Taylor also turned pro, won the Midlands Area light-heavyweight title, and in successive 1987 bouts in Germany went the distance with future world champions Graciano and Ralf Rocchigiani. He retired the following year after losing his Area belt to future British title challenger Roy Skeldon – having won 16 and drawn one of 25 outings. Another (honorary) member is services historian and former BN staffer Malcolm Meredith.
Like any successful EBA, RN/RM support the current scene. “We make frequent visits to the Royal Navy and Royal Marine gyms in Portsmouth,” Tony said, “and we’re sponsoring the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the new aircraftcarrier. They’ve got a boxing team and we sponsor their kit. And we’ve got two Facebook pages – and on one of them is a Roll of Honour, documenting the career of every Navy and Marines champion since 1900.” It was a pleasure talking to Tony and I’m delighted the Association is doing so well. The Services have always had a strong boxing tradition.
I recently published a query from reader John Gray, looking for news of former pro welter Sammy Mcspadden. My fellow London EBA committee member, Bob Cheeseman, contacted me to say that Sammy’s a LEBA member but has been in a care home for some time. Bob keeps in regular contact with his wife, Janet. Sammy tackled some of the best, including challenging world-rated Brian Curvis for the British and Commonwealth titles.