Peter Kane

PETER KANE d1991. English flyweight boxer and the 1938 World Champion. Career record 98 fights (88 wins / 7 losses). He made his professional debut in December 1934, at the age of sixteen. He fought and beat Joe Jacobs in Liverpool (where he was to have many of his fights). He then went on to record a string of forty-one consecutive wins, before challenging Benny Lynch for the World flyweight title, at the age of nineteen. The fight in October 1937 was staged at Shawfield Park Glasgow in front of a crowd of over 40,000 and was one of the finest flyweight battles of all time. Lynch retained his title by knocking Kane out in the thirteenth round. Kane had the re-match with Lynch in March 1938 and they fought out a draw over fifteen rounds in Liverpool. In September 1938, Peter Kane fought the American Jackie Jurich for the World Flyweight Title and won on points after putting his opponent down five times during the fight. As World flyweight champion, he found it increasingly difficult to get down to the weight limit, so in 1939 he announced that he was going to fight only as a bantamweight in future. At the end of that year, the NBA stripped him of his title. He continued to fight recording a string of victories with only the occasional defeat at bantamweight. In June 1943, a fight was arranged at Hampden Park Glasgow with three titles at stake. He managed to make the flyweight limit for the fight, but was knocked out in the first minute of the first round. He fought into the 1950s before retiring to become a blacksmith. He died on 23rd July 1991 at the age of 73.