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Bruce Woodcock-The Doncaster Bomber


BoztheMadman
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Perhaps the best British heavyweight of his generation, Bruce Woodcock was also one of the hardest hitters of all the British heavyweights and boxers in general. 31 of his 35 victories came before the final bell. However, he was never a big heavyweight, even for that time, and started his career at light heavyweight. He stood just over 6 feet tall and never weighed in at more than 200 pounds for a fight. He won the British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight titles but was unfortunate in his only attempt at the world one. This is the story of Bruce Woodcock, the Doncaster Bomber.

 

Born 18 January 1920 in Doncaster, the young Bruce was raised in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster. He took up boxing at 8 and was a schoolboy champion at 12. He went to work as a railway fitter and joined their boxing club. Early on, he was trained by his father, who was a former British Army lightweight champion. In 1938/39, he won the Northern Counties light heavyweight championship and then in 1939 the ABA championship as well. He represented England at the European Amateur Championships in Dublin same year and finished fourth. In the early 1940's, he was redeployed to Manchester and there he met Tom Hurst, who became his manager. He turned professional in January 1942 and easily won by TKO 3 in his first match. On 25 September same year he became the British Northern Area light heavy champion by knocking out Jack Robinson in 3. After winning 17 fights as a light heavyweight, he had his first heavyweight fight in September 1944 and beat George Marwick, who outweighed him by 12 pounds, by TKO 3. On 17 July 1945, he became the British and Commonwealth champion by knocking out Jack London in 6 at White Hart Lane. He was now ranked third in the world rankings by The Ring, behind Tami Mauriello and Jimmy Bivins.

 

After winning four more fights, among them against Bert Gilroy by TKO2, the now 25-0 Woodcock was matched against Mauriello on 17 May 1946 in Madison Square Garden. Only one of his 25 wins had come on points, but Mauriello could punch too and most of his victories had come by knockout also. He had 68 wins and 7 losses and was vastly more experienced, despite being 3 years younger. In the fifth round, Woodcock was hit by an uppercut to the jaw and fell to the canvas. He was counted out and the fight was over at 2:16. His career and rating had taken a tumble but it was still a valuable experience. In his next fight he faced the future world lightheavy champion "Fearless" Freddie Mills and decisioned him in 12 rounds, also knocking him down in the fourth. Mills was as tough as they come, despite being naturally smaller. He then captured the vacant European title by knocking out Albert Renet in the 6th round, after knocking him down three times. He then faced another American, the reigning world light heavyweight champion Gus Lesnevich, who was smaller but very tough and sturdy. He had never been knocked out but Woodcock would accomplish this after catching him with a right to the jaw in the 8th round, after which Lesnevich fell and was counted out, for the first and only time in his life. It was a testament to the Doncaster Bomber's power, as Lesnevich was known for his toughness.

 

He defended his European title against the Polish-French Stephane Olek and went the distance for only the third time in his career, winning by decision in 15. It was also the first and only time someone held out so long against Woodcock. On 15 April 1947, he once again faced a top American in the very strong and tough Joe Baksi, who outweighed him by almost 20 pounds. It wouldn't prove to be a good night in Harringay Arena as Woodcock went down three times in the first round and twice in the second. Although he came back to win the fifth round, he was battered for the next two rounds before the ref jumped in and stopped it in the seventh. Woodcock suffered a fractured jaw and had to be hospitalised. Sportswriters and historians think this to be one of Baksi's best performances, since he didn't have Mauriello's one-punch power. Woodcock rebounded by beating the noted contender Lee Oma by KO 4. His right hand laid out Oma flat on his back. In January 1948 he faced a top American heavyweight, Lee Savold, but Savold was disqualified in round 4 due to a low punch. He then recaptured the Commonwealth title by knocking out South African Johnny Ralph in 3, in Johannesburg. On 2 June 1949 he again faced Freddie Mills, this time with the European and British titles also at stake. It was a great fight on White City Stadium, where Woodcock finally prevailed by KO 14.

 

He was now finally offered a chance to win the world title, against Savold. However, the fight was again stopped after 4 rounds, this time due to a cut on his eyebrow. It was also discovered that Woodcock had suffered a detached retina in his fight with Baksi and was now almost blind in his left eye. It was a sad news for all the fans of the slugger, but he had one more fight against Jack Gardner, on 14 November 1950, where he was stopped after 11 rounds by corner retirement. He announced his retirement after that. He planned to return in 1952 but was denied the licence by the board of control. His record is 35(31)-4-0. After retiring he became a boxing manager and later ran a pub in Edlington, called The Tumbler. He died on 21 December 1997, aged 77. He left behind a wife and two children, a son Bruce and a daughter Janet. His brother Billy was also a boxer. In October 1945, Woodcock was on the cover of The Ring magazine. Bruce Woodcock was a skilled and aggressive fighter with one hell of a punch, but he was prone to cuts and was small for a heavyweight. However, he might have even won the heavyweight world title had it not been for the terrible damage he took against Joe Baksi. Therefore one might say Baksi ruined his career.

Edited by BoztheMadman
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