Tommy Davies

Thomas Glanville Davies (7 May 1920 – 16 December 1998) was a Welsh Middleweight boxer.

Davies was born in Cwmgors in 1920 to John and Edith Davies.

He was one of twelve children.

On leaving school, Davies took employment at the local coal mine, and despite his boxing career, remained in employment at the mine for his whole working life.

Davies took up boxing at the age of sixteen, though he never fought any amateur bouts.

He turned professional at eighteen, facing his first opponent, Martin Fury, on 6 June 1938.

The fight, held at the Market Hall in Carmarthen, went the full six rounds, and Davies was given a points decision by the referee.

His second fight was a loss, to Crud Rule, the brother of his trainer Archie Rule, but his remaining five fights of 1938 were all wins.

Under the management of ex-professional fighter Johnny Vaughan, Davies continued his success with five wins in 1939, all taking place in south Wales.

He mainly fought in Ammanford or Swansea.

Due to working in a reserved occupation, Davies was not conscripted into the British Forces after the outbreak of World War II.

He fought three times in 1940, a knockout win over Billy Evans, a points loss to future British and Commonwealth Champion Dick Turpin and a technical knockout over Ivor Pickens.

A newspaper report following his defeat of Pickens, who was once the Wales Welterweight Champion, proclaimed that Davies was a Welsh belt contender.

Davies fought another four fights in 1941, winning three my knockout, but losing to Billy Jones of Cwmparc on a points decision.

He began 1942 with a rematch against Jones, but the result was the same, a points loss.

He followed this loss with a string of three wins, knockouts over Billy "Kid" Andrews and Trevor Burt, and then a disqualification decision over Jimmy Moore in Davies' first fight outside Wales, at the Stadium in Liverpool.

On 3 August 1942 Davies faced Battersea boxer Dave McCleave, who the previous year had won the British South Area light heavyweight title and as an amateur won the Empire Games welterweight gold medal.

McCleave won on a points decision.

Davies then won a string of five victories before closing the year with a draw against Fulham based Harry Watson and a points loss to Frank Duffy at the Stadium in Liverpool.

Davies was Wales middleweight champion from 1943 until his retirement in 1949.

He successfully defended his title on four occasions.

From 1943 Davies was offered more and more fights in England.

He faced Gilbert Messenger in Malvern, then Pat O'Connor at the Queensbury Club in Soho, London.

He then took on and won three fights in June 1943; beating Jock McCusker at the Drill Hall, Bridgend, Trevor Burt at the Cardiff Arms Park and Lefty Satan Flynn at Willenhall in the Midlands.

This led to a contest with Ernie Roderick, the British Welterweight Champion, in a non-title fight.

Although Davies lost on points, he put up a credible fight.

The win over Flynn and his performance against Roderick, lifted Davies' boxing profile.

Vaughan and Rule recognised this, and the possible Wales welterweight title, which had been available for Davies to challenge for some time, was brought to the front.

A contest was arranged for the Wales title between Davies and Merthyr fighter Tommy Smith, to be held on 31 July 1943 at St Helens in Swansea.

A crowd of 8,000 turned up to watch the title fight, which was a one-sided affair, the referee stopped the contest in the sixth after Smith took eight counts in that round.

Davies was now the Wales area welterweight champion, and although he would not defend it for another three years, it attracted higher calibre fights.

Davies next faced George Odwell, taking a points decision in an eight-round fight in Dudley.

He then undertook a string of six fights against fighters he had faced in the past.

Three were points wins against Lefty Flynn, at Willenhall, the Royal Albert Hall and the Queensbury Club.

Two were facing Pat O'Connor, who retired in their first meeting, but managed a draw in their second encounter.

His other fight was against Frank Duffy, in which Davies took revenge over the Liverpudlian by beating his opponent on points.

Davies was considered a serious contender for the British Middleweight title, but a string of three fights against Vince Hawkins during 1944 robbed him of his chance of a title fight.

In March 1944, a contest was arranged between Davies and Eastleigh boxer Vince Hawkins.

To that date Hawkins was unbeaten over 40 fights and was seen as a favourite to challenge for the British title.

He had steadily been working through the other contenders and on 20 March Davies and Hawkins met in Birmingham in a match that would bolster the winner's claim for a title shot.