Bruce Woodcock

Bruce Woodcock
Data
Birth Name	Bruce Woodcock
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	British
birthday	January 18, 1921
place of birth	Doncaster , England
Date of death	December 21, 1997
Place of death	Doncaster , England
style	Left-hand boom
Combat Statistics
Struggles	39
Victories	35
Knockout victories	31
Defeats	4th
draw	0

Bruce Woodcock (born January 18, 1921 in Doncaster , England , † December 21, 1997 there ) was a British boxer . He was European professional champion from 1946 to 1950 in light heavy and heavyweight .

Career

Amateur career

Bruce Woodcock began boxing as a teenager and in 1939, at the age of 18, became the English light heavyweight champion by winning the ABA Championships over A. Ford. He therefore also started at the European Amateur Championship in Dublin . There he defeated the German master Heinz Koppers from Hanover on points in the light heavyweight division in the first round . In the semifinals he lost to Franciscek Szymura from Poland on points and in the fight for third place, which was still being boxed at the time, he lost to the experienced Lajos Szigeti from Hungary .

Profile career

Bruce Woodcock started his professional career on January 26, 1942 at the Royal Albert Hall in London with a points win over Fred Clark. His trainer was Tom Hurst. In his seventh fight he won the British championship of the northern region in Manchester in the light heavyweight division by defeating Jack Robinson. As a result of the Second World War , he could only pursue his profession in the United Kingdom . But there were far fewer events at that time than in peacetime. For this reason Bruce Woodcock was able to contest a total of only 20 fights from January 26, 1942 to May 8, 1945, all of which he won, mostly briefly.

On July 17, 1945 Bruce Woodcock fought in London against Jack London for the British Empire Heavyweight Title and the British Heavyweight Championship. He won this fight in the 6th round by knockout. Bruce Woodcock started in the United States for the first time on May 17, 1946. In the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York City he defeated the well-known Tami Mauriello by techn. KO in the 5th round. On April 4, 1946, he then won in London against the ex-world light heavyweight champion Freddie Mills just on points.

On July 29, 1946 Bruce Woodcock won the fight for the European Heavyweight Championship by knockout in the 6th round over the French Paul Albert Renet . He had only fought eight fights in his professional career and won only two of them. Renet was therefore an easy victim for Bruce Woodcock.

His next opponent was of a completely different caliber: Gus Lesnevich from the USA . This ranked very high in the world rankings of the light heavyweights and lost to Bruce Woodcock on September 17, 1946 in London by knockout in the 8th round.

On March 17, 1947 Bruce Woodcock successfully defended the European heavyweight title. In Manchester he won over the tough Frenchman Stefan Olek , who weighed only 84.5 kg, after 15 rounds on points. With a victory over the US ranked boxer Joe Baksi , Bruce Woodcock wanted to win the right to a world championship fight in heavyweight on April 15, 1947 in London. But things turned out very differently, because Baksi sent him onto the boards in the 1st round and had to go down twice in the 2nd round. Bruce Woodcock suffered a double broken jaw in one of these downfalls. He fought on anyway and he even seemed to gain the upper hand over Baksi in the fifth round. However, this fought back and Bruce Woodcock had to be taken out of the fight in the 7th round.

This was followed by a long break until September 21, 1948. On this day Bruce Woodcock defeated the world number three heavyweight Lee Oma , USA, in London by knockout in the 4th round and he also won on June 12, 1946 in London against Lee Savold , another US world numbered boxer, by disqualification.

On March 26, 1949 Bruce Woodcock won against Johnny Ralph in the fight for the British Empire Heavyweight Title by knockout in the 3rd round. On June 2, 1949, there was a legendary fight against Freddie Mills in the White City Stadium in London. This fight was about four championships. The British Heavyweight Championship, the European Light Heavyweight Championship, the European Heavyweight Championship and the British Empire Heavyweight Title. Bruce Woodcock won this fight after changing course by knockout in the 14th round.

On June 6, 1950 Bruce Woodcock fought in London in revenge against Lee Savold for the world heavyweight title, which was only recognized by the British Boxing Board of Control. Bruce Woodcock lost this fight to tech. KO in the 4th round. His last fight as a professional he finally denied on November 14, 1950 against the young aspiring Jack Gardner . It was about the British Heavyweight Championship and the British Empire Heavyweight Title. Bruce Woodcock lost these two titles to Gardner by a knockout loss in the 14th round.

Bruce Woodcock championship fights

• 25th September 1942, knockout winner in the 3rd round over Jack Robinson in the fight for the British championship of the Northern Region in the light heavyweight division,
• 17th July 1945, knockout winner in the 6th round over Jack London in the fight for the British heavyweight championship and the British Empire Heavyweight Title,
• 29th July 1946, knockout winner in the 6th round over Paul Albert Renet , France , in the fight for the European heavyweight championship,
• March 17, 1947, points winner over Stefan Olek , France, in the fight for the European heavyweight championship,
• March 26th 1949, knockout winner in the 3rd round over Johnny Reid in the fight for the British Empire Heavyweight Title,
• June 2, 1949, knockout winner in the 14th round over Freddie Mills in the fight for the British heavyweight championship, for the European championship in light and heavyweight and for the British Empire Heavyweight Title,
• June 6, 1950, knockout loss to Lee Savold , USA, in the fight for the world championship according to the version of the British Boxing Board of Control,
• November 14, 1950, knockout loss to Jack Gardner in the fight for the British heavyweight title and the British Empire Heavyweight title

Web links

• Bruce Woodcock's fight record