The forerunners to the Smith brothers

The Watford quartet were the precursors to the Smith siblings

THE Smith brothers of Liverpool have each achieved a tremendous amount of success in the ring, and when all of their careers are over they will rightly be remembered as the most successful band of brothers in British ring history. It is extremely rare for four brothers to each box professionally. Bob Fielding of Wrexham was the Welsh flyweight champion in 1932 and he had three other siblings who were pretty good themselves. There are one or two other examples, but the Buxton brothers, from Watford, stand out as being among the best.

Their father, an Antiguan, served with distinction in the Great War and he settled in Watford and met and married a local woman. They had four sons and a daughter. The eldest of the brood, Joe, turned professional in the late 1930s and his career was greatly hindered by the outbreak of World War II. He retired from the game in 1949 having won just under half of his contests.

Laurie Buxton had more success. He also turned professional shortly before the advent of war, and in a 14-year career he won 62 of 133 bouts. He spent a short period boxing in the States from 1947 and he met Frankie Palermo, Tommy Bell and Charlie Fusari, among others.

The third son, Alex, was the most successful. He will be remembered as the third black fighter to win the British title after the lifting of the colour bar in 1948. The other two were Dick and Randolph Turpin. Alex won the British lightheavyweight belt in 1953 by dominating Welshman Denis Powell throughout their encounter at Nottingham Ice Rink. He eventually won on a 10th-round stoppage due to an eye injury. He defended his title twice, knocking out Albert Finch in 1954, before losing the following year to Randolph Turpin in what was the first British title bout fought between two black fighters.

At the beginning of his career, Alex had two tours of Australia where he twice took Dave Sands the full distance. He had more luck against Dave’s brother, Richie, stopping him in all three encounters. He had really learned his trade by the time he returned to the UK, and his British title success was well earned.

Towards the end of his career, Alex boxed all over Europe, where he was well known as a tough and durable man and, in today’s terms, as something of a ‘gatekeeper’. Among the many Europeans he met on their home patch were Gerhard Hecht, Gustav Scholz, Karl Mildenberger and Piero Tomasini. He retired in 1963 after a loss to Farnborough’s Bob Nicholson at the Seymour Hall in Marylebone.

The fourth brother, Allan, followed a more conventional path to fistic fame. He was the only one of them who had a good amateur career. He became the ABA welterweight champion in 1949, beating future British pro titlist and top referee, Wally Thom. Allan turned over shortly afterwards and he started off nicely with nine straight wins. He was then matched with fellow prospect Algar Smith in an eight-rounder at Harringay Arena. Smith had won the ABA lightweight title the same year that Allan achieved his success, and the match was made at 10st 2lbs (142lbs). At this weight, Allan was disadvantaged and he lost in four rounds. He never quite succeeded in relaunching his career after this defeat and he retired in 1953.

All four brothers boxed on the same bill at Watford Town Hall in October 1949. This was an extremely rare feat, so the place was packed. At the time, Watford was a regular boxing venue and the hall was a very popular place among fight fans, with shows held every other week.

Alex topped the bill against Des Jones of Tredegar. He did not let the fans down, stopping the Welshman in four rounds after having him on the canvas five times in the second. Laurie beat another Welshman, Reg Quinlan, in three, and then Joe beat Johnny Mcmurdie in a ‘battle royal’ over four rounds. Allan also won his contest, his third, when he stopped Bobby Baines in three. They are all gone now, but the Buxton brothers left behind a worthy fistic legacy.