Career
A great tactician and defensive boxer who boxed at every weight division of his day. He began boxing at the very young age of 12 and boxed till he was 36. Born in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall, Len Harvey started out as a flyweight at 12.
By the time he was 18 he was ready to fight for the British welterweight title.
He was held to a draw though by Harry Mason on 29 April 1926. His next British title shot came 2 years later on 16 May 1929.
This time at middleweight against Alex Ireland. He made six defences between 1929 and 1933.
He also fought Marcel Thil of France for the world middleweight championship.
He lost on points in a close decision. Harvey then went on to fight for the world title on 9 November 1936, but was beaten on points by John Henry Lewis. During World World War II Harvey joined the Royal Air Force.
By this time he was a national sporting idol and was given an officer rank.
By this time Harvey was a veteran of over a hundred bouts and was 35 years old. He was knocked out in two rounds, only the second time he was stopped and the first by K.O. He retired after this bout.
He had an official record of 133 fights, 111 wins, 9 draws and 13 defeats: he claimed to have had 418 fights,but they probably included booth fights. He later died in London on 28 November 1976.
Such was his legend that he was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008.