Champion boxer’s tributes to his old coach Peter
NEVILLE BROWN SAYS PETER TOUCHED MANY IN A POSITIVE WAY
A BURTON coach who boxing champion Neville Brown says helped him become a top fighter has died from coronavirus.
Brown was British middleweight champion between 1993 and 1998, and also fought for Commonwealth, European, and World titles. He has told of his sadness at the death of coach Peter Holmes.
Brown learned his trade at the Burton Amateur Boxing Club, in Bradmore Road, under the watchful eye of Peter, who died aged, 80 on Tuesday, February 9.
Peter was in Brown’s corner during his winning British Amateur Schoolboys Championship days and was someone he shared a lot of good and bad times with, said Brown.
As well as Brown, Commonwealth champion Frazer Clarke was also a product of the Burton Amateur Boxing Club system.
Brown, 54, said: “Peter was a very quiet character – but would test us to the maximum and was a tough disciplinarian.
“During the early part of my career, I went everywhere with him and even if I was on the receiving end of a bad result, he would call me into the gym the next day to work on aspects that needed improving.
“The gym was great for me and it allowed to build my own character and Peter played a huge part in that.
“He touched the lives of many like me and was very good at monitoring my performance and would analyse it in great detail.
“He was a very good mentor and the things he taught me helped a lot growing up and kept me on the right path and away from trouble.
“Him and his brother Bernard, ran the club like a family environment and he will be missed massively.”
Peter’s daughter Christine Holmes said that people always thought her dad had a tough demeanour but away from the boxing ring, he was in fact the opposite. At home he was “as soft as butter” and really enjoyed helping others, she said.
The 57-year-old said: “My dad was very helpful and used his own experiences of a young man who would get into trouble to make sure the youth of Burton did not have the same fate.
“He was very close with my daughter Catherine and we will both really miss him. He treated everyone equally and really turned the boxing club into a family club where even I would go as a young girl and help make sandwiches for the events that were held.
“He loved boxing and was a weight-lifter and amateur boxer himself during his younger days.
“My dad’s funeral will take place in Bretby crematorium, on Friday, March 5, and the boxing fraternity will be watching via a web call and it’s unfortunate they will not be able to take part.
Richard Joyce, who took over from Peter as head coach of the Burton gym in the late 90s said: “Peter and his brother Bernard Holmes started Burton Amateur Boxing Club in the early 70s which was at the Plough pub in Stapenhill.
“They all worked hard and turned it into a small gymnasium and after Pete’s brother passed away the gym moved around Burton to numerous places before having a new gym built at Bradmore Road.
“In the early days the club started having success from regional champions to national champions, which still carries on today. Peter was a great coach and in the gym a tough task master if you was willing to learn he was right behind you and he would always try and get the best out of you.
“Kids from different backgrounds have all used the gym over the years and they were all welcomed into the gym by
Peter and the coaches and they all gelled together and got on well.
“After Peter took a back seat from coaching in the late 90’s he was still there as matchmaker and secretary and was still sorting everything else out with his good friend Tommy Bickle who has also been at the club since the beginning.
“They put on fantastic dinner shows on in Burton mainly at the Burton channel and the Allied social club which were always sold out.
“As everyone walked into the gym they would always be greeted by Peter in the office, he will be sorely missed by everyone at the club,” he added.
The gym allowed to build my own character and Peter played a huge part in that
Neville Brown