Boxing’s Forgotten Champions: Cuthbert Taylor
In my eyes, Wales' Olympian Cuthbert Taylor is the ultimate 'Forgotten Champion', but unlike some of the others this series has highlighted, this is through no fault of his own.
Taylor was born in 1909 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, to a Welsh mother and an English father of Caribbean descent. In 1928, he became the first black boxer to represent Great Britain at the Olympics and only the fourth black Olympian to compete for Team GB altogether.
Image by Dean Moriarty from Pixabay.
In the professional ranks, Taylor held an impressive record of 151 victories, to only 69 losses and 22 draws, one of those draws coming in only the second fight of the Welshman's career against future World Champion, Jackie Brown.
Despite this strong resume, only the Welsh Title was picked up by the Bantamweight due to a 'colour bar' introduced by the British Boxing Board of Control in 1911, requiring two white parents to fight for the British Title.
Early Career
Taylor's boxing journey began with his father, Charlie, the pair fighting in booths at travelling fairs where the would have fought men of all shapes, ages and sizes, according to boxing historian Gareth Jones.
Eventually winning the Amateur Boxing Association Flyweight Title, Taylor earned himself a spot at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.
Image by Roman Grac from Pixabay.
A bye in the Round of 32, followed by a victory in the Round of 16 against Argentinian Juan José Trillo earned Taylor a place in the Quarter-Final where he fell defeat to the eventual silver medalist Frenchman Armand Apell.
It is understood that even in the Olympics a referee had officiated one of the bouts from outside of the ring as not to come into contact with a black man.
The Professional Ranks
Turning over to the pro game straight after the Olympic Games it can be understood that Taylor held quite a reputation as a fighter, making his pro debut at the National Sporting Club, in Covent Garden, the home of gloved boxing. Out of his first 15 bouts he picked up only the two losses, fighting for the Welsh Area Bantamweight Title in his 16th contest against Dan Dando.
Taylor came out on top in this contest, winning by points in the 15 round fight, before beating Dando a number of fights later to defend his Welsh Title. Around this time the Welshman was widely considered one of the top fighters in Britain, unable to fight for the BBBofC introduced colour bar.
Other key fights in Taylor's career include a pair of fight's with American World Champion Freddie Miller, the first a charity bout held in Llanelli to raise money for the 1943 Gresford Disaster, where over 260 lives were lost in North Wales.
Whilst the charity fight was under the premise of a no decision if both men were standing after six rounds, the rematch in Liverpool Stadium two months later ended in a decision win to the Champion Miller, though the belts were not on the line for Taylor once again due to his race.
Taylor eventually hung up the gloves in 1947 after a total of 242 recognised fights spanning over 19 years, at every fight weight between Bantamweight and Welterweight.
The Legacy
Still to this day the BBBofC have not issued any form of apology or acknowledgment for the career of Cuthbert Taylor, despite the numerous calls for it in Parliament by Merthyr MP Gerald Jones. Ultimately Taylor goes down as a 'Forgotten Champion' because he never got the chance to win the sorts of titles that would have garnered him country-wide recognition.
Instead, the talented Olympian has been committed to the history books as a 'what if' fighter, through no lack of ability, fortune or will, but simply the colour of the skin he was born with.