On This Day: September 21st

1904: Mayo’s Joe Lydon tied for a bronze medal at the St Louis Olympics. Boxing for the USA, the Swinford man competed at both lightweight and welterweight, losing both his bouts. However, his loss in the semi finals of the welterweight class saw his claim a share of the bronze with another American, Jack Egan. There was controversy the following year when it emerged that Egan’s real name was Frank Joseph Floyd, and he was therefore stripped of his medal for boxing under an assumed name.

Lydon was an all-round sportsman and also won silver at the Games in the football tournament where he was part of the Christian Brothers College team.

1954: Belfast’s John Kelly lost his British bantamweight title to Scot Peter Keenan at the Ice Rink in Paisley. A rematch of their bout at the King’s Hall the previous year in which Kelly was victorious, the Ulster boxer was stopped in the sixth round on this occassion.

2013: Frankie Gavin defended his British and Commonwealth titles for a fourth and second time respectively. The Birmingham-born former Irish champion outpointed Manchester’s David Barnes (118-112, 118-111, 117-112) at the Copper Box Arena in London.

2013-09-21 Frankie Gavin vs David Barnes by sweetboxing14