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Boxing Matches & Personalties at Celtic Park
Boxing may now be mostly relegated to the niche pay-per-view TV schedules but at one time it was the biggest draw in the world. TV ratings were at their highest for sport for the greatest boxing matches, and similar for radio listeners. Everywhere, boxers were feted as heroes, and were prized by the establishment figures to be seen to be pictured with them.
With the strong working class roots of the Irish, they have numbered some of the greatest boxers that have ever lived, and so they were in return heroes to the general Celtic support as well.
Celtic Park has been host to a handful of boxing matches in the past. However, the largest events are now held mostly in the largest stadiums in London or abroad, or held in city exhibition centres.
One related interesting trivia is that for the Scottish Cup final at Hampden on 19 May 2018, with Celtic going for sixth domestic trophy in a row and an historic back-to-back double for the first time, legendary American boxing announcer Michael Buffer opened the game by calling out the teams with his signature “LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE…“. Very fitting and a great note to get the game off with.
The most notable bouts held at Celtic Park are the following:
March 24th 1917
Jimmy Wilde (World Flyweight Champion) boxed an exhibition against Sid Shields at the Stadium.
June 2nd 1937
The first bout staged at Celtic Park was on 2nd June 1937 when a crowd of 20,000 saw World flyweight champion Benny Lynch lose on points to Belfast’s Jim Warnock in a non-title fight.
May 18th 1949
Some 15,000 watched a bill which was topped by Billy Thompson of England defending his European and British lightweight titles against Motherwell’s Harry Hughes. The same bill featured Jake Kilrain (Bellshill) against Willie Whyte (Glasgow) and Peter Keenan (Glasgow) against Raoul Degryse (Belgium).
Boxing Champs & Greats
Muhammed Ali
Amongst the greats to have graced Celtic have included “Gentleman” Jim Corbett and the greatest of them all Muhammed Ali.
Front row (L/R): Brian Goodwin, Lennox, Ayrton Inacio, Marco Di Sousa, McBride.
Middle Row: Clark, Chalmers, J Divers, Kennedy, Hughes.
Back row: Young, McNeill
(Ayrton Inacio and Marco Di Sousa – two Brazilians trialists)
“Think this is the time that Cassius Clay came to do an exhibition in Paisley of all places. Boxer Peter Keenan organised it.”
“Sugar” Ray Robinson
“Sugar” Ray Robinson plays drums on a recording for a Glasgow Celtic song in 1964 #boxing #history
Peter Keenan
Peter Keenan (1928-2000) was a Glasgow born favourite boxer from Partick who was beloved by all. Keenan lost his only world title fight to the South African Vic Toweel in January 1952 and had instead to be content with complete domination of the European, British and Empire bantamweight (118 lb) class. He remains the only Scot to win two Lonsdale Belts outright, each awarded for three successful defences of his titles. He is ranked with Benny Lynch, Jackie Paterson, Walter McGowan, Ken Buchanan and Jim Watt as one of the greatest to come out of Scotland.
Peter Keenan though was involved with one of the most curious link-ups ever in sporting history and a sight which few now would ever believe. Peter Keenan was of Irish Catholic descent, yet was feted by a man who otherwise wish him dead if it were not for his boxing prowess! Billy Fullarton who led the bigoted anti-Catholic “Billy Boys” gang was to become a ring whip for Peter Keenan, and amazingly on one Celtic match day he carried Peter Keenan ‘St Christopher-like’ on his shoulders across the wet turf of Celtic Park. How the Celtic support were to take to this is unfathomable.
The cynics would take it as example of opportunism from Fullarton, which it most likely was. Otherwise Billy Fullarton was an outright fascist, bigot and thug who away from Keenan was a scourge of society (and in particular of the Irish Catholic minority) and was involved with other disreputable groups (including a start-up Glasgow branch of the Klu Kulx Klan!).
However, it is the greatest proof of the wee man from Partick’s gigantic charisma that he could tame Billy Fullarton.
Benny Lynch
Homegrown talent is the most beloved, and none better than Benny Lynch who was born and raised in the Gorbals. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and the world renowned ‘Ring Magazine’ has described him as the greatest fighter that Scotland has ever produced. He was born in the Gorbals area of Glasgow and learned his fighting skills in the carnival booths that were popular in the West of Scotland during the Great Depression.
Lynch’s professional record was impressive. In his first 30 fights he won 20 and drew 5. In 1933 alone, he fought 17 times – unthinkable now. The following year Lynch claimed his first crown, winning the Scottish flyweight title by defeating Jim Campbell on points in a tough 15-rounder in Glasgow.
He fought at Celtic Park in on June 2nd 1937 when a crowd of 20,000 saw World flyweight champion Benny Lynch lose on points to Belfast’s Jim Warnock in a non-title fight. Disappointing, but a blip on an otherwise wonderful record.
He is an all-time great of the boxing world.
Programme details:
Non-Title bout, between Scottish legend BENNY LYNCH (World Flyweight Champion) and JIM WARNOCK (Belfast), held at CELTIC PARK, Glasgow, on Wednesday 2nd June 1937. This was the first proper bout held at CELTIC FC’s ground – an exhibition had been held previously by Jimmy Wilde in 1917. Undercard featured GINGER FORAN v SPIDER KELLY, JIMMY WALSH v JOE CONNELLY, Johnny Finnerty v Jacky Weir & Jim Meechan v Johnny Lafferty.
Benny Lynch fought at Celtic park in June 1937 – with McGrory in the line-up in place of Divers (only change), I suspect the link was the first boxing bout, Staged at Celtic Park on June 2 1937 when Lynch lost to Belfast’s Jim Warnock. Pic in question looks like Celtic’s 1937 Scottish Cup, Winning side, so that might be the connection.
Pat Clinton
Pat Clinton from Croy won a WBO flyweight title in 1992-1993. As an amateur, he fought in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and was beaten only by the eventual silver medal winner.
He was a well-liked and popular fellow who worked damn hard to get respect. His style was defensive and not always the most attractive to watch, so if you paid to watch it you might not be happy with what you got.
Regardless, those who do know about boxing respected him as one put it perfectly: “Pat was technically brilliant, gutsy and had an enormous self-belief…”.
He was also an outspoken Celtic fan and visited & trained at Celtic. After one victory which some say was a home crowd victory, Pat Clinton came out in an interview on radio complaining that some Rangers fans came to his bout to abuse him and was the reason for the home crowd booing on his victory at the end. He later apologised and retracted his comment, but there was more truth to what he was saying about booing Huns than some would like to publicly admit.
He was a great man and a local hero, and we are proud to be able to count him as one of our own.
1894. The father of modern boxing, ‘Gentleman’ Jim, kicks off a match at Celtic Park & gets a medal to remind him of us
2019 – Kash Farooq
1st (Asian) British-Pakistani Boxer to win The coveted Lord Lonsdale Belt Outright. From Glasgow
“It was an honour to have Neil Lennon in there,” Farooq said. “When I was a young boy I used to watch him playing for Celtic”
