Extraordinary LIVES
MY DAD was nicknamed Mr Boxing: he devoted his life to the sport, steering the careers of hundreds of youngsters. He started aged 14 with bouts for the Rotax club in London before moving with his family to Crawley, West Sussex, in 1960. A year later, his father, Arthur, founded the Crawley Amateur Boxing Club in an old Nissen hut. Dad, a police cadet, and his younger brother Peter excelled in boxing, both winning Southern Counties ABA titles. Dad had more than 200 bouts for the club and his opponents included the former world lightweight champion Ken Buchanan and five-time ABA champion and 1968 Olympian Terry Waller. However, hopes of further success were dashed when an ear ailment forced him to hang up his gloves prematurely. Moving to the other side of the ropes, he soon began to make his mark on the world of boxing. In 1965, he married his childhood sweetheart Mavis — who he called his rock — and their wedding reception was the first to be held in the town’s Civic Hall. Moving to Kent with work in 1967, he helped form the Ashford ABC
with his lifelong friend Roland Tills, a British title contender. In the 1970s, Dad coached for several years at the famous Phoenix club in Nottingham. In 1978, the family returned to Crawley, where Dad ran a curtain retail business, later branching into manufacturing blinds for the contract market nationwide. He joined his father on the committee of the boxing club. The following year, he became club chairman, a post he would hold for 36 years. Dad was a highly respected official of the Southern Counties ABA, a boxing judge and international referee. In 1985, he oversaw the club’s move from a disused library to a purpose-built, state of the art gym that’s one of the best in the South of England. Unbeknown to Dad, the committee had voted to name it the Arthur Hopcraft Gymnasium after his recently deceased father. It was opened by Olympic bronze medallist and undisputed middleweight champion of the world, Alan Minter, along with the Mayor. The club is used by the Southern Counties ABA for squad training sessions and coaching courses. My brother Rees and I followed in Dad’s footsteps inside the ropes, winning Southern Counties ABA titles and becoming referees and judges. My son Louie has stepped into the ring, the fourth generation of Hopcrafts to represent the club. Right up until the end, Dad was heavily engaged in plans for the club, always wanting the very best for its members. He has left a lasting legacy within the boxing world.