Going back to the original article re Floyd Patterson, Mike Gallacher reckoned he remembered his dad going to see Sugar Ray Robinson at a pub in Dundee.
Reader Peter Quinn left a message on my phone saying he, too, remembers Sugar Ray Robinson being at the Ellenbank Bar in Alexander Street, Dundee, around the mid-1960s.
A letter-writer to our morning paper The Courier in 1987 signed PKM also remembered the visit of the American.
The letter said: “I was fortunate to be in the Ellenbank Bar that night in 1964 when world champion wrestler and pub proprietor Geoge Kidd introduced Sugar Ray Robinson to Dundee boxing personalities.
“I could scarcely believe Sugar Ray then aged 44 had had such a long career, starring in the welter, middle and cruiser weight divisions.
“For that night in the Ellenbank Bar we were faced with a handsome coloured American bearing no trace of the ‘souvenirs’ of such a hard profession no broken nose, no cauliflower ears and no scar tissue above the eyes.
“Knowing the kind of men he fought in reaching the top, Robinson must truly have been an amazing boxer.”
Boxer-turned-broadcaster and author Frank Gilfeather, a good friend to the column, also confirmed that Sugar Ray Robinson visited Dundee.
“Sugar Ray, did, indeed, visit Dundee,” said Frank.
“There was a picture in either the Courier or the Tele with a number of well-known ex-boxers like Jim Brady and Bobby Boland as well as, I think, George Kidd, the wrestler. It came in the week that Sugar Ray fought the British middleweight champion Mick Leahy at Paisley Ice Rink on September 3, 1964, promoted by Peter Keenan.
“Leahy won on points in a scrappy contest against a legend who was by then 43-years-old and well past his best.
“I was there and, on the Sunday before the fight, I trained alongside Robinson at the St Cuthbert’s Church Hall in Hamilton.
“The venue was transformed into a gym to accommodate half-a-dozen of us, 50-60 invited spectators and the Press.
“I was, of course, awestruck to meet the great Sugar Ray and pose with him as Jim Munro, my trainer, recorded the event on his 8mm cine camera.
“I was only 18-years-old and was there as the chief sparring partner of Walter McGowan as part of his build-up to his bout on the Leahy-Robinson bill against Natalio Jiminez from the Dominican Republic, which the Scot won on points.
“McGowan, an outstanding fighter, became the world flyweight champion by beating the Italian Salvatore Burruni on points in London two years later. Jim Munro, joined McGowan’s father-manager Joe Gans in McGowan’s corner that memorable night as I watched the 15-round title fight in the Green’s Playhouse in Dundee, where it was beamed live.”
‘Patterson first won title against Moore’
Ben Martin (81), a retired bus driver from Fintry, is also a big boxing fan.
“Floyd Patterson didn’t win the world heavyweight title for the first time against Ingemar Johannson,” revealed Ben.
“After Rocky Marciano stepped down, and after a series of eliminators, Patterson won the vacant title against Archie Moore.
“The Johansson fight was the last of three against the Swede, with Patterson losing the first, regaining his title in the second, then retaining it in the third.”
Ben also said he used to box as a youngster as part of the Dundee Amateur Boxing Academy a club which included Bobby Boland and Billy Paterson.
Billy Docherty, of Carnoustie, followed up on his previous correspondence regarding these world heavyweight boxing title fights.
“It was only in 1962 that there was a television link with America,” he stated.
“A satellite was launched called Telstar, and there was even a pop record called Telstar which went high in the Top 20 charts.
“I still believe fights could not have been transmitted in 1962 and think the first was in 1965.
“This was the return fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston, which never got as far as the second round as Liston lay down without being punched.”
Do you have any memories to share with John? Email: jbrown@dcthomson.co.uk
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.