Joe Erskine

Erskine, Joe
Data
Birth Name	Joseph Erskine
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	British
birthday	January 26, 1934
place of birth	Butetown, Wales
Date of death	February 2, 1990
Place of death	Cardiff , Wales
style	Left-hand boom
Combat Statistics
Struggles	54
Victories	45
Knockout victories	13
Defeats	8th
draw	1
Profile in the BoxRec database

Joe Erskine (born January 26, 1934 in Butetown near Cardiff , Wales , † February 2, 1990 in Cardiff, Wales) was a British (Welsh) boxer .

Career

Amateur career

Although Joe Erskine became a professional boxer at the age of 20, he also had some successes in the amateur field. Towards the end of 1953 he was one of the best heavyweight boxers in England. Although he did not win a championship title in England, he was in the British national relay in 1953. He was used in several international battles. On September 26, 1953 he was defeated in Frankfurt am Main against Karl Kistner from the Federal Republic of Germany on points, on October 28, 1953 he defeated the French Bernard Navarre in London and on November 27, 1953 in Dublin the Irish Jim Robinson on points.

Profile career

Joe Erskine began his professional career on March 9, 1954 with a knockout victory in the 2nd round in Hanley , Staffordshire over Al Prince. During his subsequent career he was never a tough puncher who could knock out his opponents by the dozen, but he was an excellent technician, equipped with a lot of clarity and calm. With these attributes, he managed to remain undefeated in 30 fights in a row. He scored victories over the European ranked boxers Uber Bacilieri from Italy , Marcel Limage from Belgium and Günther Nürnberg from Germany . In those years he also beat his compatriots Peter Bates , Dick Richardson and Henry Cooper , who were among the best British heavyweight boxers.

On August 27, 1956 he fought in Cardiff against Johnny Williams for the British heavyweight championship and won this fight over 15 rounds on points. With the intention of boxing his way up the world rankings, Joe Erskine accepted the dangerous Niño Valdés from Cuba as his next opponent. He was punished bitterly for it on February 19, 1957 in London, because Valdés knocked him hard in the first round after 2:03 minutes of fighting time. That was his first loss as a professional in his 31st fight.

Well recovered, Joe Erskine went after a won build-up fight against Peter Bates on September 17, 1957 in London against Henry Cooper in the fight for the British and Empire heavyweight championships. He managed to put Henry Cooper in his place again and win this fight on points. On November 25, 1957, he then defended the British Empire Heavyweight Title against Joe Bygraves from West India over 15 rounds on points.

On February 21, 1958 he fought in Gothenburg against ex-world champion Ingemar Johansson from Sweden for the European heavyweight title. In a rousing fight, Joe Erskine only had to recognize Ingemar Johansson's superiority in the 13th round and be taken out of the fight.

In his next fight, on June 3, 1958 in London, Joe Erskine lost both of his titles, British and Empire heavyweight champion, to Brian London by a defeat by tech. KO in the 8th round. Joe Erskine was by no means giving up. On the contrary, in 1959 he achieved remarkable victories over the US-American Willie Pastrano , who would later become world light heavyweight champion , and Dick Richardson , whom he surely scored on June 24, 1959 in London.

In 1959, 1961 and 1962 there were three fights against the strengthened Henry Cooper, each of which was for the British Championship and the British Empire Heavyweight Title. These fights took place in London and Nottingham , and in each of these fights Henry Cooper won by technical knockout. The encounters were always fiercely fought, which is shown by the fact that they went up to round 12, round 5 and round 9.

On October 13, 1963 Joe Erskine lost in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund against the German champion Karl Mildenberger over 10 rounds on points. He then ended his career in 1964 after losing points to fellow countryman Billy Walker on October 27, 1964.

Championship fights from Joe Erskine

• August 27, 1956, victory over Johnny Williams in the fight for the British heavyweight championship,
• 17th September 1957, points victory against Henry Cooper in the fight for the British and Empire heavyweight championships,
• 25th November 1957, points victory over Joe Bygraves in the fight for the Empire heavyweight championship,
• February 21st 1958, TKO defeat against Ingemar Johansson , Sweden in the fight for the European Championship,
• 3rd June 1958, TKO defeat against Brian London , in the fight for the British and Empire heavyweight championships,
• 17th November 1959, TKO loss to Henry Cooper in the fight for the British and Empire heavyweight championships,
• 21st March 1961, TKO loss to Henry Cooper in the fight for the British and Empire heavyweight championships,
• 2nd April 1962, TKO loss to Henry Cooper in the fight for the British and Empire heavyweight championships

literature

• Box Sport trade journal from 1953 to 1965

Web links

• Joe Erskine in the BoxRec database
• amateur boxing
• britishboxing