Background
He was born at Glynarthen, Cardiganshire but moved to Carncelyn Farm, Penygraig, in the Rhondda Valley of South Wales at an early age.
He was born at Glynarthen, Cardiganshire but moved to Carncelyn Farm, Penygraig, in the Rhondda Valley of South Wales at an early age.
Born at Carnelyn Farm, he began boxing in a sideshow, touring with Freddie Welsh and Jim Driscoll. In 1909, he fought Charlie Wilson to become the first holder of a Lonsdale Belt at his weight. He began to suffer from rheumatism.
He died from heart failure in August 1911 in Cardiff.
After winning the local Rhondda valley heavyweight "championship", he won a National Sporting Club middleweight competition in London. Eventually, in May 1906, he fought the Irish champion Pat O"Keefe to become the first national British middleweight champion. He won over thirty fights before losing the British middleweight title to Jim Sullivan in November 1910. Although his boxing record is not very well documented he is believed to have won 41 of his 44 fights.
