Charlie Hardcastle - a Forgotten Champion

Terrific article by British boxing historian Miles Templeton.

Charlie Hardcastle - a Forgotten Champion

Before the Second World War being a British Boxing Champion provided no guarantee of great wealth. Many champions boxed professionally whilst holding down a full time job. Many of these jobs were arduous. A fine example of this is Charlie Hardcastle of Barnsley. His trainer, Jack Goodwin, wrote that after winning the British Featherweight Title on a Monday evening in 1917 “Hardcastle went back to Barnsley and on the Wednesday the new featherweight champion was at work in the pit once more”. There was, of course, a war on and Charlie was in a reserved occupation which meant that, although he was spared from the trenches, he had to contribute to the war effort nonetheless.

From the Pit to the Gentlemen’s Club

Hardcastle was 23 when he won the title. Brought up in South Yorkshire he came up the hard way, earning a formidable reputation as a hard hitting Flyweight and Bantamweight in rings in and around Barnsley and Sheffield. He fought for the Yorkshire Flyweight Title in a 20 rounder when aged only seventeen and within two years he had become the Pitmen’s Champion at Featherweight after knocking out the tough Billy Green of Chesterfield in eleven rounds.

In those days the coalfields of Great Britain, and there were many, had a special affinity with boxing. There were a huge number of fighting miners and most pits had their unofficial ‘champion’. Charlie went way beyond this level and by 1915 he was topping the bill at the National Sporting Club in Covent Garden, at that time the most important venue in which a British boxer could perform. Charlie was hugely popular amongst the clientele at the N.S.C., which was a private club where the members were expected to wear evening dress and to remain silent whilst the bouts were in progress.

Continue reading:

http://blog.boxinghistory.org.uk/2011/09/charlie-hardcastle-forgotten-champion.html

Lovely stuff Alex just confirms what us Yorkshire men have known all along, that they breed em tough in Barnsley.

Even though I'm southern, I can't argue with you there.

I've yet to meet a soft Yorkshireman!

Alex, meet Jeff.

Great article again, mate. Very interesting stuff.

Cheers Jeff!

Though credit for this one belongs to boxing historian Miles Templeton, a bloke who really knows his stuff.

Excellent article mate cheers for posting it up.

What a superb read. Thanks for sharing, alex.