First home visit for Ben

ON Friday, January 4, 1957,

The Fiji Times caught up with the Fiji-born professional boxer, Ben Valentine who came to Fiji for a visit after a lapse of more than 20 years.

The world-class boxer, was active between 1935 and 1949. He boxed at middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight and took part in 87 professional contests (won: 56 lost: 26 drew: 5)

The Fiji Times described, his visit as his first home since he left Fiji, “as a comparatively young man to try his luck in the boxing arenas overseas”.

The article described Ben as the boxer “who held a moral victory over the rugged light heavyweight Freddy Mills in a fight just before Mills capture of the world light heavyweight title from American Gus Lesnevich”.

Mills was British and Empire light heavyweight champion when Valentine fought him in a non-title bout.

Describing this fight to

The Fiji Times at the time, he said:

“Mills and I fought at his home town of Bournemouth. It was a ‘warming up’ fight for his title bout with Lesnevich.

“When my manager, Jack Burns and I arrived at the hall we found that the ring was only 12 feet squaremuch smaller than the regulation size. We suspected that the purpose of this was to give an advantage to Mills who is a very strong rugged fighter and is at his best in close-fighting. But I am the aggressive type too, and so did not complain about the size of the ring. In the second round I caught Mills with a hard left to the stomach and, as he doubled up, crashed home a right to his jaw. I jumped to my corner greatly elated for I knew he was out cold. The bell however, saved Mills as the referee had reached the count of eight. His seconds dragged Mills to his corner and managed to bring him back to consciousness but he was obviously unfit to come out for the next round.

“Imagine my surprise and indignation when the referee suddenly walked over to my corner to examine a tiny cut above my eye. He calmly told me to retire because of the cut eye and awarded the fight to Mills although Mills was still lolling, half-conscious, in his corner.”

At this point, Valentine jumped from his chair and strode around the office waving his hands as he relieved once again his reaction to that decision.

It was easy to understand his disgust because that decision, he said was completely unfair and robbed him of a possible world title fight. Mills won the world title some weeks later and a man who had knocked him out just previously would be have been hard to side-step for a title fight.

Valentine said that he did everything possible to get Mills into the ring with him again but Mills, he said, refused.

Valentine has had more than 300 professional fights in Fiji, other parts of the Pacific, England and the United States.

Leading fighters he had fought included Lloyd Marshal who beat him on points in a disputed decision and Irish heavyweight champion Chris Cole who knocked out Jack Doyle in four rounds. Valentine in turn knocked out Cole.

Valentine later retired. He married and settled down in London. He was in Fiji to help Fiji boxers with a view to making arrangements to help them fight overseas.

Mills and I fought at his home town of Bournemouth. – Ben Valentine