Merseyside For Sport - Brian McCaffrey

 

Brian McAffrey was born in Liverpool on the 4th of April 1938 and was a welterweight professional boxer who was active between 1963 and 1967 and took part in 26 professional contests. As an amateur he fought out of the Everton Star Boxing Club situated in Taylor Street between Scotland Road and Great Homer Street, Liverpool, alongside the likes of other locals Billy Seasman, Pat Dwyer and Billy Hardacre.
Making his debut on the 27th of February 1963 with a win against Dave Burland at the King George's Hall, Blackburn, he followed this up in the same year with wins against Tony Mann, Ricky Porter, Johnny Brown and Ivan Whiter, after a draw against him 2 months earlier. His seven fights the following year saw him defeat Peter McLaren, Eric Young, Norrie McCulloch, Joe Falcon (who he had drawn against 2 months earlier), Johnny Kramer and Bob Sempey. Another seven fights in 1965 saw him undefeated with five wins against Peter McLaren, twice against Peter Sharpe, Don McMillan and Ebe Mensah, with draws against Shaun Doyle and Des Rea.

Three wins in early 1967, against Ernest Musso, Fred Powney and Don Davis, saw him take to the ring against Johnny Cooke in an all-Liverpool battle at Belle Vue, Manchester for the vacant British welterweight title on the 13th of February1967, in what has been described as one of the best, and bloodiest, title fights of all time.
Those who say modern boxers are better conditioned than the fighters of yesteryear should take a look at this fight with both men still going at it 'hammer and tongs' in the 15th round of a gruelling fight. Brian, now 28 years old, had never been beaten as a professional in 23 fights and had a reputation as an Iron Man being able to take a lot of punishment and still come back. However three further losses that year saw Brian quit boxing with a record of :- Total bouts 27, won 19, lost 4, draw 4. He later opened a cafe in Liverpool.

In May 2013 at the funeral of his lifelong friend Alan Rudkin, Brian led the tributes saying, "When I met Alan he was 17. He had blond Beatles-cut hair and a baby face. He looked more like he was going to choir practice than to a fight. But he was the George Best, the Kenny Dalglish of boxing. Busy locker rooms would empty when he fought. We all wanted to see the man who practiced the noble art of self defence to perfection. A childhood illness left him with a tendency to put on weight. When he was training for a title bout he would eat salad to lose the pounds and be rationed to one cup of tea a day. His lips would crack with dehydration. He'd train all day and fight fifteen rounds at the end of it. He said because of this that as soon as he died he'd go straight to heaven. Alan Rudkin was a man’s man, a boxer’s boxer, a fighter’s fighter."

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2026/10/merseyside-for-sport-johnny-cooke.html