The British Bulldog has died at the age of 87. Nice Obituary in The Guardian here - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...ondon-obituary
RIP CHAMP
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The British Bulldog has died at the age of 87. Nice Obituary in The Guardian here - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...ondon-obituary
RIP CHAMP
Rival to Henry Cooper and faced Ali. Tough British heavyweight who gave some great nights to boxing.
RIP Brian London.
Brian London dead: British boxer who fought Muhammad Ali dies ages 87
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British boxer Brian London, who challenged Muhammad Ali for his world title, has died aged 87.
London, who fought Ali just months after England won the World Cup in 1966, fought 58 times over the course of his 15-year professional fight.
He retired in 1970 following a stoppage defeat by Joe Bugner which took his record to 37-20-1.
Born in Hartlepool in 1934, London moved to Blackpool when he was 16 and took on the nickname the Blackpool Rock.
He won his first dozen fights as a professional before losing to Henry Cooper who also challenged Ali later in his career.
Current Blackpool boxer Brian Rose was among those to pay tribute.
“My thoughts and wishes go out to his family as well," he told the Blackpool Gazette . "It must be so sad for them because he will have made a massive impact in their lives. He was so well liked in the town and he was still out and about.
"I remember seeing him not so long ago walking around the park. He just never stopped.
“It’s a shame Blackpool has lost him.”
London, born Brian Sydney Harper, went on to win the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles but lost his second and third fights with Cooper.
His fight with Ali, in which he was stopped in the third round, was his only challenge for a world title and he later admitted: '[Ali was] big, fast and he could punch, whereas I was smaller, fatter and couldn't punch.
"He stopped me in three rounds and that was it, I don't think I hit him. It was good money and I got well paid for it - that's all I fought for.
"Every fight I ever had I always had a go, but with Muhammad Ali I thought, 'Don't get hurt Brian', and I therefore didn't try, which was wrong, totally wrong."
London went on to open and run a nightclub in Blackpool called The 007 Club which was opened by Manchester United legend George Best and attracted stars from across sport and showbiz.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...rtan-ntp-feeds