Joe Louis
'My face looked like a dug up road', were the words Tommy Farr was to use
when describing how he looked after taking the legendary Joe Louis the
full distance of 15 rounds in their heavyweight title clash. To this day
Welshmen still talk of the great fight Tommy put up against the Brown
Bomber, and will forever remember.
First
fight at 12
Tommy Farr, like so many of his fellow countrymen, was
born into poverty leading to the inevitable job of working down the
coalmines, before his teens. In those days of appalling conditions in the
mines and poor pay no-one liked working there but Tommy particularly
disliked it. Boxing was his means of escape, a decision he was to later
describe as 'the lesser of two evils'. So he followed the route that Jimmy
Wilde & Jim Driscoll had taken before him; he joined the boxing
booths. At the tender age of 12, already having left school, he engaged in
his first official fight - a six round points win over Jack Lord set Tommy on
his way.
Welsh
title win
Tommy didn't set the world alight in his early career.
He decided to try his luck in London, this did not work out for him either
having only one fight, against Eddie Steel, which he lost. On his return
to Wales at last fortune smiled upon him, putting together seven straight
wins he then took the Welsh Light-Heavyweight title with a points win against
Randy Jones. Another six wins (making it 14 straight) led to the first of
3 meetings with Eddie Phillips, all of which Tommy lost. The last of these
3 meetings was for the British Light Heavyweight title which was lost over
15 rounds. After this fight Tommy was to reach a turning point in his
career.
British & Empire Champion
During a string of 18 fights without defeat Tommy Farr beat
ex-World Light Heavyweight Champion Tommy Loughran and Bob Olin, another
former light heavyweight champion. Even with his growing reputation Tommy
was not expected to defeat Ben Foord in a challenge for the British &
Empire titles in March 1937. The fight wasn't a classic but Farr's
crouching style and consistent scoring with the left hand secured the
titles. After a somewhat mixed beginning to his career Tommy was now
British & Empire Heavyweight Champion and ready to mix it with the
best the world had to offer.
Stepping
up to World class
The next opponent for Farr was Max Baer the great
former World Heavyweight
Champion. Understandably, Tommy was the underdog;
Max Baer was going to beat him and beat him easily - or so Max thought.
Tommy turned the odds upside down with a great display of boxing, while
for the most part Max Baer played to the crowd. Mistakenly, Max thought
that he could finish Tommy Farr whenever he so chose. When the time came
that Max thought he would now put an end to the Welshman's challenge he
found himself in a real fight. By now Tommy had established a commanding
points lead and was not about to give it up. Max moved in for the kill;
Tommy jabbed him - Max threw big right hands; Tommy jabbed him - Max tried
to box; Tommy jabbed him. Tommy was fighting a great fight dancing,
crouching, bobbing and weaving, jabbing and when Max did manage to get in
some good punches Tommy fought back An absolutely tremendous performance
saw Tommy Farr take the points verdict in his best win yet. With another
superlative performance Walter Neusel was dispatched in only 3 rounds
leading up to the epic battle with the great Joe Louis.
Louis
taken full distance
Making his first defence of the World Heavyweight
title, which he had taken from James J. Braddock, the
Brown Bomber was
expected to deal with Tommy Farr more than comfortably. Louis himself saw
the fight as nothing more than a warm
up for stronger opponents who would
undoubtedly challenge him. No-one outside of Wales gave Tommy the
slightest chance of winning. America was looking forward to a convincing
and early finish to the fight. Tommy Farr had not read the script ! Before
a crowd of 32,000 in New York, Tommy Farr gave the Brown Bomber the fight
- and fright - of his life. Back in Wales it is said that almost
every house in the land was listening to the fight on the radio that
night. At the bell battle commenced with Tommy unexpectedly taking the
fight to the champion. Louis was strong, powerful and a fearsome puncher,
surely these were not the tactics for Tommy to adopt ? While respecting
the champion Tommy bore forward continuously and for 15 rounds war was
waged between the two great men. The fight was close with Louis cutting
Tommy up badly in an enthralling battle. At the end Louis was declared the
winner and still Heavyweight Champion of the World. Tommy Farr had lost
but had won the respect of the world and earned a place in boxing history.
He was still only 23 years old but had been involved in more than 200
fights, including boxing booth bouts, when he faced Louis.
There is a popular story told in Wales,
that when Louis noticed the scars on Farr's back at the weigh
in, (which were a result of Tommy's days in the coal mines)
and asked him how he had got them, Tommy is said to have
replied, " Oh, they're nothing, I got those from fighting with
tigers !"
Tommy Farr was celebrated throughout Britain, a
charismatic and popular figure, he later returned to America for 4 more fights all
of which he lost on points. Upon his return to Britain he was stripped of
the British title for not defending it when requested to do so by the
British Boxing Board. Tommy fought four more bouts, all wins, before retiring in
1940.
Ten
year retirement
Although Tommy Farr was a wealthy man when he retired in 1940,
he
was facing bankruptcy when he made a comeback ten years later, at 36
years of age. He regained the Welsh Heavyweight title but finally ended
his career, 3 days short of his 39th birthday, when Don Cockell beat
him in 7 rounds in Nottingham. After his defeat Tommy took the
ring microphone and sang the Welsh national anthem - a fitting finale
to his career.
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