Mike Tyson behind the bar at your local pub? Not as ridiculous as it sounds, 85 years ago...

By Miles Templeton

Seen Mike Tyson down your local recently? At first glance this might seem like a ridiculous concept. An ex-world heavyweight champion in an English pub? In 1926 one of Tyson’s predecessors, a man from Canada, didn’t just visit an English pub, he was the landlord!

Tommy Burns held the world heavyweight for two years. After losing to Jack Johnson in Sydney on Boxing Day 1908 he retired a wealthy man, free to indulge in his interests. He dabbled as a boxing promoter in more than a few countries and was always on the look-out for a budding heavyweight champion. He maybe thought he had found one in Luther McCarty. But poor Luther died, aged 21, in a contest against Arthur Pelkey at Calgary in 1913. Tommy Burns was the unfortunate promoter. In 1920 Tommy was tempted into his final comeback in a contest with Joe Beckett, the British heavyweight champion, at Olympia, London. After losing in seven rounds Tommy hung up his gloves for good.

Six years later and Tommy is the landlord of the Forth Hotel on Pink Lane in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I grew up in this city, and Pink Lane, in the 60s and 70s, was notorious as Newcastle’s red-light district and the pub was dodgy then to say the least. Today the area has been greatly improved and the Forth Hotel is still there. I always have a pint in the place when I return, mainly because of the link the pub has to boxing’s heritage, and also because it is a great little boozer. There is nothing in the pub today to alert the casual visitor to the fact that someone so famous used to run the place. I think this is a shame.

So what on earth was Tommy doing running a pub, off the beaten track, in the industrial North? I have never quite got to the bottom of this but the question has long fascinated me. I do know that Tommy invested some of his ring earnings in property and as he had strong connections to the United Kingdom, it is not surprising that he sought to expand his property empire here. I suspect that he was not the man to be seen behind the bar every day, pulling pints, but more likely an owner who put in an occasional appearance on the proper side of the bar, hob-nobbing with the clientele.

Continue reading:

http://blog.boxinghistory.org.uk/2011/10/world-heavyweight-champion-behind-bar.html

Great article, Alex.

Burns certainly kept himself busy in retirement it seems, as he also found the time to become a minister of religion once he'd hung the gloves up. Always felt that, while he wasn't of the elite, he was maybe one of the more slightly underrated and underappreciated Heavyweight champions. Only Larry Holmes and Joe Louis can trump his eleven consecutive successful defences, and while his opposition was hardly staggering, it's still impressive that a 5'7" Heavyweight could achieve such feats.

Had a tremendous right hand for such a small man, too. The knockout of Bill Squires is chilling.

I'm running out of expletives for these articles, alex, so I'll just say a very sincere ' thank you ' to you and Miles for sharing with us once again.

Have just started Pollack's biography of Burns funnily enough, and since we have a thread about unusual things you may not have known about him apparently he was one heck of a lacrosse player in his youth.

Alex and Miles,

Another cracking article. Thank you once more.

I have no knowledge as to why Tommy Burns settled on running a pub in Newcastle but it is perhaps worth bearing in mind that the city he chose, despite hardship and poverty particularly prevalent in the 1920s, has always been a vibrant one with huge sports interest. In addition to boxing at that time, you could certainly add horse racing and football.

I was particularly interested in the references in Miles' article to Newcastle United Football Club and their home ground St James Park. Newcastle United had a massive following in the 1920s. Pure speculation on my part but perhaps some of their players - attracted by the lure of a former world champion - frequented Tommy Burns' hostelry. Whilst Tommy Burns' name alone would have pulled in customers, the added chance to mix with footballing idols would have been irresistible to many and proved Tommy's investment to be a very canny one indeed.

Newcastle United's centre forward at this time was Hughie Gallacher who was generally regarded as the finest British footballer of his generation and worshipped in the North East. He was also well known for liking his beer. Interesting to think he may have shared a pint or two with former world champion Tommy Burns as other customers belted out 'Blaydon Races' ....