Johnny Caldwell

Johnny Caldwell
Data
Birth Name	John Caldwell
Weight class	Flyweight , bantamweight
nationality	British
birthday	May 7, 1938
place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Date of death	July 10, 2009
style	Left-hand boom
size	1.62 meters
Combat Statistics
Struggles	35
Victories	29
Knockout victories	14th
Defeats	5
draw	1

Johnny Caldwell (born May 7, 1938 in Belfast , Northern Ireland , United Kingdom , † July 10, 2009 ) was a British boxer . He was world champion in professional boxers and as an amateur medalist at the 1956 Olympic Games.

Career

Career as an amateur boxer

Johnny Caldwell started boxing as a teenager in his hometown of Belfast. He became a member of the Immaculata Club Belfast . His trainer was Jack McCusker. As an adult, at a height of 1.62 meters, he first boxed in flyweight , the weight class up to 51 kg body weight, later he switched to the bantamweight . In 1956 he became Irish junior champion and Irish senior flyweight champion. He also started internationally as an amateur boxer for Ireland and not for Great Britain. In May 1956 he was a member of the Irish team that fought against the United States in an international match in Chicago. He won it in the flyweight over Peter Melendez on points.

The end of 1956 Johnny Caldwell became the Olympic Games in Melbourne posted. He started there in flyweight and came to a knockout victory in the 3rd round over Yaishwe Best, Burma, and to a point win over Warner Batchelor from Australia. So he was in the semifinals, where he met Mircea Dobrescu from Romania, the vice-European champion from 1955. He lost this fight on points and won an Olympic bronze medal .

Johnny Caldwell remained an amateur. In January 1957 he was in the Irish team that boxed against England in London. He lost it in the flyweight against Derek Lloyd on points. In April 1957 he boxed in Dublin and Belfast in international matches against the Italian Salvatore Manca and won each time on points. In May 1957 he also took part in the European Championship of amateur boxers in Prague. But there he lost his first fight (round of 16) against Manfred Homberg from the Federal Republic of Germany just by points (2: 3 judges' votes). Homberg later also became European Champion, and Johnny Caldwell finished in 9th place.

In December 1957 he fought in Dublin for the last time in the Irish boxing relay, which denied an international match against England. In the flyweight he came to a point victory over Eugene O'Callaghan.

In total, he won 234 fights as an amateur and lost only six times.

Career as a professional boxer

In 1958 Johnny Caldwell switched to professional boxers. To do this, he went to Glasgow and trained there. Sammy Doherty became his manager. He played his first fight on February 5, 1958 in Glasgow and defeated the Englishman Billy Downer by knockout in the second round. He won 25 fights in a row as a professional. It wasn't until January 18, 1962 that he suffered his first defeat.

As a result, he climbed continuously up the world rankings. He also defeated a number of well-known and well-known opponents. On February 9, 1959, he beat in Streatham, UK, the Spaniard Young Martin , the ex-European flyweight champion, by knockout in the 3rd round. In his next fight he beat on February 23, 1960 in Wembley, UK, in a non-title fight the Finnish European flyweight champion Risto Luukkonen after 10 rounds on points. On May 21, 1960 he came in Wembley to a points victory over the French flyweight champion René Libeer .

On October 8, 1960, Johnny Caldwell won in Belfast by a knockout victory in the 3rd round over Frankie Jones the British flyweight championship. That was the first title he won as a professional boxer. On May 30, 1961, he boxed in Wembley, UK, as a challenger against the Frenchman Alphonse Halimi for the world bantamweight title. He won this fight after 15 rounds on points. On October 10, 1961, Johnny Caldwell and Alphonse Halimi met at Wembley for revenge, in which Johnny Caldwell successfully defended the world title with a points win after 15 rounds. On January 18, 1962, Johnny Caldwell defended the world title in São Paulo, Brazil, against Éder Jofre . It was his first fight as a professional outside of the British Isles. He lost this fight and with it the world title through techn. Knockout in the 10th round. That was also his first defeat as a professional boxer.

A legendary fight broke out in Belfast on October 20, 1962. Johnny Caldwell and Freddie Gilroy , one from the south of Belfast and the other from the north of Belfast, fought for the British championship title and the Commonwealth (British Empire) title in the bantamweight division. Johnny Caldwell lost this fight by a technical knockout in the 9th round because he was unable to continue boxing due to a badly bleeding eyebrow injury (cut). On March 5, 1964, Johnny Caldwell in Belfast then won these two titles by a technical knockout victory in the 7th round over George Bowes. On March 22, 1965 he defended this in Nottingham against Alan Rudkin from Liverpool and lost by technical knockout in the 10th round. On October 12, 1965 Johnny Caldwell denied in Brighton against Monty Laud his last fight as a professional boxer, which he lost on points.

Explanations

Left arm = the lead hand is the left hand and the punch hand is the right hand
EBU = European Boxing Union
UK = United Kingdom

literature

Box Sport magazine

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Caldwell, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Caldwell, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British or Irish boxer
DATE OF BIRTH	May 7, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH	Belfast , Northern Ireland
DATE OF DEATH	July 10, 2009