JOE ERSKINE

by Ralph Oates

There is no doubt that Joe Erskine’s name belongs with the best boxers that Wales have produced over the years. During his career he fought many top flight fighters winning the British and Commonwealth titles along the way.

Erskine, who was born in Cardiff on the 26th January 1934, proved to be a good amateur winning the Amateur Boxing Association heavyweight title in 1953. The Welshman started his professional career on the 9th March 1954 at the Victoria Hall, Staffordshire. The contest was scheduled for 6 rounds, but was brought to a finish in the 2nd session when Erskine knocked out his opponent Alf Price. That year Erskine proved to be extremely busy with him fighting a further 14 times, winning on 13 occasions with 1 draw. That was impressive.

1955 proved to be another year where upon Erskine entered the ring frequently. He fought 11 times notching up win after win. His success was awarded when he was matched with Henry Cooper in an eliminator for the British heavyweight crown. This was the first of five meetings which Erskine would have with Cooper over the years. The fight took place on the 15th November 1955 at the Harringay Arena in London where upon Erskine won a 10 round points decision. It was more than apparent that

Erskine had a great deal of potential. In his third fight after the Cooper victory he met fellow Welshman Dick Richardson on the 7th May 1956 at the Maindy Stadium, Cardiff and boxed his way to a 10 round points decision.

The big moment came for Erskine on the 27th August 1956 when he met yet another fellow Welshman in the shape of Johnny Williams a former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion for the vacant British heavyweight title. The crown had been relinquished by Don Cockell. T he venue for the Erskine-Williams bout being the Maindy Stadium, Cardiff. Erskine pleased his many fans when he fought his way to a 15 round points decision to claim the title. Everything was going great for Erskine he was now undefeated in 30 bouts which included 1 draw. Then on the 19th February 1957 disaster struck; the disaster came courtesy of Cuban born Nino Valdes who had a reputation for being a dangerous opponent. The man was a wrecking ball who took no prisoners. Erskine crashed to defeat when Valdes knocked him out in the opening session in a scheduled 10 at Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London.

Erskine had to put this defeat behind him and put the broken pieces of his career back together again.

The rebuild started on the 28th May 1957 at the Doncaster Racecourse against Peter Bates whom he outpointed over 12 rounds. In his next outing on the 17th September 1957, he met Henry Cooper for the second time and retained his British heavyweight title by the way of a 15 round points decision, the venue being the Harringay Arena, London. On the 25th November 1957 he challenged Jamaican born Joe Bygraves for the Commonwealth heavyweight crown, the Welshman’s bid proved successful when he won a 15 round points decision at the Granby Hall, Leicester.

The next step for Erskine was for him to challenge for the European heavyweight title which was held by Sweden’s hard hitting Ingemar Johansson. Anyone who followed boxing knew that this was no easy task for the Cardiff fighter. The bout took place at Masshallen, Gothenburg on the 21st February 1958. The Welshman went down to defeat when was stopped in round 13 of 15. (Johansson would go on in the fullness of time to win the undisputed world heavyweight championship).

On the 3rd June 1958 Erskine defended his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles against Brian London. This looked like a chance for him to get his name back in the win column but London took the titles when he knocked out Erskine in round 8 of 15. The venue for the contest being the White City Stadium, White City, London. Erskine won his next bout after the London defeat outpointing Frenchman Max Brianto over 10 rounds at the Sophia Gardens Pavilion, Cardiff on the 12th November 1958. Then Erskine stepped in with talented American Willie Pastrano on the 24th February 1959 at the Wembley Stadium. This looked tricky since the fighter from the USA was known for his boxing skills, so a win for the Welshman could not be taken for granted. On the night Erskine performed well to outpoint Pastrano over 10 rounds. (Pastrano went on to win the undisputed world light-heavyweight title).

On the 24th June 1959 Erskine met Dick Richardson for the second time. The encounter took place at the Coney Beach Arena, Porthcawl, at the end of the 10 round bout Erskine emerged the victor on points. ( Richardson would go on to win the European heavyweight title).

On the 17th November 1959 Erskine challenged for his old British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. The defending champion was Henry Cooper who had defeated Brian London for the respective titles. This was the third meeting between the two. The contest took place at Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London. Cooper was at the top of his game and gained revenge for his previous two defeats against Erskine when he stopped him in round 12 of 15. After putting two wins together Erskine was back in the ring with Cooper on the 21st March 1961 at the Empire Pool, Wembley. The contest was scheduled for 15 but concluded in the 5th round when the Welshman was stopped by Cooper.

On the 2nd October 1961 Erskine travelled to Canada to meet the very tough George Chuvalo. When viewing the chances of the Welshman coming home to the UK with a victory you would have to say his chances were not good of him doing so. Chuvalo was one hard man. However, boxing is full of surprises and one occurred in Toronto, Ontario, when Chuvalo was disqualified in round 5 of 10 giving the Welshman the victory. In his next assignment Erskine met Henry Cooper for the fifth and final time at the Ice Rink in Nottingham in a contest which took place on the 2nd April 1962. Cooper was defending his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles which he retained when he stopped Erskine in round 9 of 15. After this defeat the Welshman participated in a further 4 bouts which he won in impressive style. Then on the 12th October 1963 Erskine met Karl Mildenberger of Germany at the Westfallenhalle, Dortmund Nordrhein-Westfalen. Erskine had it all to do, he was fighting a talented boxer on his home turf, the likelihood of a win was remote to say the least. Erskine boxed well but at the end of an entertaining 10 rounds Mildenberger was awarded the decision on points . (Mildenberger went on to win the European heavyweight crown).

On the 3rd March 1964 Erskine met Jack Bodell at the Grandby Halls in Leicester and won on points over the duration of 10 rounds. (Bodell went on to become a British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight title holder). Another victory followed on the 21st April 1964 when Erskine pulled on the gloves once more and outpointed Johnny Prescott over 10 rounds in a contest which took place at the Embassy Sportsdrome in Birmingham. However, the successful run came to an end on the 27th October 1964 at the Empire Pool, Wembley when Erskine fought the very popular Billy Walker who emerged the points winner after a 10 round battle.

This was the end of the road for Erskine who later retired from boxing. The Welshman had participated in a total of 54 professional contests; winning 45, drawing 1, with 8 defeats. Many who witnessed Joe Erskine in action would agree that he was a joy to watch and truly contributed a great deal to the sport.

Sadly, Joe passed away on the 18th February 1990.

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