Frank Gilfeather highlighted the ‘halcyon days of amateur boxing’ in Dundee in a recent article, topping it off with a wonderful photo of the Lochee Amateur Boxing Club from the early 1950s.
One name in the photo struck a chord with a reader.
“I noticed the trainer in the photo sent in by Frank Gilfeather was Frankie Parkes,” said John ‘Sinbad’ Bryceland.
“Frankie had two or three pages about his own boxing career printed in the American boxing magazine ‘The Ring’.
“It was all about his record-breaking bouts at home and abroad.”
John, of Provost Road, Dundee, continued: “He lived with his sister Sarah in Lochee High Street.
“I also wonder if the magazine is still knocking around as I remember reading it when I was a laddie.
“I enjoy reading your column as all things sporty interest me and many times names pop up I recognise.
“I just like to add my tuppence worth.”
The Ring, founded and published by Nat Fleischer, along with Dan Daniel, was first published in 1922 and, indeed, is still being published today.
It initially started by covering both boxing and wrestling but, as the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming
exclusively a boxing publication.
The magazine is currently owned by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Enterprises and is often referred to as ‘The Bible Of Boxing’.
Finally, I asked John why he is nicknamed Sinbad, and he replied: “My father gave me that nickname when I joined the Merchant Navy at 16 years old many moons ago.
“I am actually better known as Sinbad.”
* PETER Quinn confirmed boxing bouts took place at Dundee FC’s Dens Park because he attended one.
“It was around 1948/49 when my dad took me to Dens to see a boxing match,” said Peter.
“It was Terry Allen fighting local boxer Norrie Tennant.
“Allen won on points.”
“Tennant was a very good boxer. Had he been a bit bigger I’m sure he would have won a world title.”
* MUHAMMAD Ali’s fights against Joe Frazier are of interest to Peter Goodfellow, of Muirhead.
“Everyone knows about the ‘Thrilla In Manila’ but that was the third time Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier had fought,” he said.
“Where was the venue for the first bout between the pair?”
Ali and Frazier met for the first time in March 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York — a pairing billed as ‘The Fight of the Century’.
Smokin’ Joe was the champion at the time, and won that one on points, knocking Ali down at the start of the final round.
The second bout between them was also at Madison Square Garden in January 1974.
It was a non-title fight and Ali won that one on points.
Bout Three — The Thrilla in Manila — was fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City of the Philippines on October 1, 1975.
The bout is often ranked as one of the greatest fights of all-time and was the climax to the bitter rivalry between Ali and Frazier.
Eddie Futch, Frazier’s trainer, decided to stop the fight between the 14th and 15th rounds of an amazingly-brutal contest after both fighters had given everything.
Promoted by Don King, it had a tremendous media following, and was broadcast to 68 countries worldwide.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.