Peter Keenan (boxer)

Peter Keenan
Data
Birth Name	Peter Keenan
Weight class	Bantamweight
nationality	British
birthday	August 8, 1928
Date of death	July 27, 2000
style	Left-hand boom
size	1.66 meters
Combat Statistics
Struggles	66
Victories	54
Knockout victories	23
Defeats	11
draw	1

Peter Keenan ( August 8, 1928 - July 27, 2000 ) was a British boxer . He was European bantamweight professional boxer champion .

Career

Career as an amateur boxer

Peter Keenan was Scottish and lived in Glasgow . As an amateur boxer he started for the ABC Anderston . His greatest success in his short amateur time he celebrated in 1948 when he finished 2nd in the British championship (ABA Championships) in flyweight . He came in the semifinals to a victory over J. Simpson and lost in the final battle against Henry Carpenter, who also represented Great Britain at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

Career as a professional boxer

Peter Keenan had his first fight as a professional boxer on September 17, 1948 in Glasgow. In the flyweight he defeated his Scottish compatriot Al Hutt by knockout in the first round. He then remained victorious in 30 more fights by October 31, 1951. Notable and important victories for his career were his points victory over the Belgian Jean Sneyers on January 18, 1950 in Kensington, UK and his point victory over the French ex-European flyweight champion Maurice Sandeyron on May 10, 1950 in Glasgow. On May 9, 1951, Peter Keenan won in Glasgow with a knockout victory in the 6th round over Danny O'Sullivan the British bantamweight championship. He defended this title on June 27, 1951 in Glasgow with a technical knockout victory in the 12th round over Bobby Boland.

On September 5, 1951, Peter Keenan defeated the Spanish defending champion Luis Romero (boxer) after 15 rounds on points in an open-air event in Firhill Park in Glasgow in the fight for the European Championship (EBU) . This fight was attended by 30,000 spectators and was thrilled by the way in which the fast Keenan outscored the apparently superior southpaw Romero. Keenan was thus the European bantamweight champion. On October 31, 1951, he fought in Paisley, UK, in a non-title match against Maurice Sandeyron and almost had a nasty surprise. He went down three times in the 5th round on blows from Sandeyron and only survived this round with a lot of luck. In the end he received a "tie" from the jury.

In the world rankings of the renowned boxing journal "The Ring", he was in 2nd place behind the Australian Jimmy Carruthers at the end of November 1951, ahead of Luis Romero, Maurice Sandeyron and Jean Sneyers. World champion was Vic Toweel from South Africa. Peter Keenan then boxed against Vic Toweel on January 26, 1952 for the world title and the Commonwealth (British Empire) bantamweight title. He lost this fight but clearly on points in front of 27,000 spectators in the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg.

On May 21, 1952, Peter Keenan lost the European bantamweight title to Jean Sneyers in Firhill Park in Glasgow. But he had a lot of bad luck because he slipped on the damp ring floor in the 5th lap and suffered a knee injury. He wanted to pull himself up on the ring ropes and continue the fight, but was counted out by the Swedish referee Arthur Koch. On June 17, 1953, he was in Glasgow with a points victory over his old rival Maurice Sandeyron again European bantamweight champion. The title was vacant because Jean Sneyers had given it down due to weight problems. But he lost this title and that of the British bantamweight champion again on October 3, 1953 in Belfast by a point defeat after 15 rounds against the Northern Irishman John Kelly (boxer) . On September 21, 1954 he was able to successfully take revenge against John Kelly in Paisley, UK, in the fight for the British bantamweight championship title. He beat Kelly in the 6th round KO On March 28, 1955 Peter Keenan won in Sydney again the Commonwealth (British Empire) title by a points victory over Bobby Sinn from Australia.

On September 14, 1955, he defended this title in Glasgow with a sensational knockout victory in the 14th round over the South African Jake Tuli , who was already regarded by all boxing experts as the future world champion. On November 17, 1958, he delivered the reigning world champion Alphonse Halimi from France in a fight in which it was not about a title, a tough battle and lost after 10 rounds only on points. On January 10, 1959, Peter Keenan defended the Commonwealth (British Empire) title and the British bantamweight championship against the Northern Irishman Freddie Gilroy . He lost this fight and with it his two titles by technical knockout in the 11th round. He then ended his long career, which lasted over ten years.

Explanations

EBU = European Boxing Union
BBBofC = British Boxing Board of Control
ABA = Amateur Boxing Association
ABC = amateur boxing club
Left-hander = the leading hand is the left hand, the punching hand is the right hand, with the right-hander it is the other way round
Flyweight, weight class up to 51 kg body weight (amateur area)
UK = United Kingdom (United Kingdom)

literature

Box Sport magazine

The Ring trade journal

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Keenan, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British boxer
DATE OF BIRTH	August 8, 1928
DATE OF DEATH	July 27, 2000