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Tom Gummer

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Tom Gummer
Born
Thomas Gummer

1894
Rotherham, England
Died1982 (aged 87−88)
Rotherham, England
NationalityBritish
Statistics
Weight(s)Heavyweight, middleweight
Boxing record
Total fights24
Wins16
Wins by KO13
Losses7
Draws1

Thomas Gummer (1894–1982) was a British middleweight and heavyweight boxer who won the British middleweight title in 1920 and went on to fight for the European title.

Career

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Born in Rotherham in 1894,[1] Tom Gummer served as a Private (and later Corporal and Sergeant) in the York and Lancaster Regiment of the British Army,[2] and had his first professional fight in 1914. He won all of his fights (at least eleven) that year, and his first two of 1915, including a victory over former British heavyweight champion "Iron" Hague by knockout with three seconds of the final round remaining.[3][4] A planned fight in July 1914 against David Cohen (aka Dick Simmonds) resulted in a court case after Cohen took payment for the fight but then disappeared after seeing Gummer and becoming "nervous and frightened".[5] Gummer suffered his first defeat to Gus Platts in August 1915, at which time Gummer was a heavyweight and Platts a welterweight and over 2 stones lighter, and his second to Harry Curzon in November.[6]

In 1919 he faced both Platts and Curzon again, and won both fights.[7]

He got his first British title shot in March 1920 against Jim Sullivan after reigning champion Pat O'Keeffe retired from boxing; Gummer won after Sullivan retired in the 14th round.[8] He followed this with a win over Bandsman Jack Blake and a draw with Herbert Crossley before fighting Ercole Balzac for the European middleweight title in Paris in December 1920; Gummer was knocked out in the ninth round.[9]

He had a second shot at the European title in March 1921 against Gus Platts, a fight in which Gummer was also defending his British title; Gummer retired in the sixth round, losing his title.[10]

Gummer's final fight was against Ted Kid Lewis in February 1922 at The Dome in Brighton; Intended as a fight for Lewis's British middleweight title, it was fought as a non-title catchweight bout after Gummer failed to make the weight; Lewis knocked Gummer out in the first round.[11]

After retiring from boxing, Gummer played football for Rotherham Eastwood in the 1920s and worked as a boxing referee between the late 1920s and the 1940s.[12][13][14][15]

Tom Gummer married Myra McMahon and they had four children together.[1] He died in Rotherham in 1982.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Thomas Gummer (1894 - 1982)", ancestry.com. Retrieved 29 November 2014
  2. ^ "Tom Gummer's Decisive Win". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. 4 April 1916. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Sensational Victory: Gummer Knocks Out Hague in the Last Round". Evening Despatch. 5 July 1915. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ ""Iron" Hague v. Tom Gummer". Hull Daily Mail. 5 July 1915. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Nervous Boxer: Sheffield Contest That Did Not Come Off". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. 17 July 1914. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Boxing at Sheffield: Platts Beats Gummer in a Remarkable Contest". Birmingham Daily Post. 30 August 1915. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Tom Gummer v Gus Platts". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 28 July 1919. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Middle-weight Championship: Tom Gummer Beats Jim Sullivan in 14th Round". Lancashire Evening Post. 30 March 1920. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Balzac Wins Middle-Weight Championship". Western Daily Press. 18 December 1920. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "The World of Sport". Gloucester Citizen. 29 March 1921. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Gummer Knocked Out: Kid Lewis Wins in One Round". Dundee Courier. 18 February 1922. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "Contests at Bridlington: Win for Young Squires by Narrow Margin". Hull Daily Mail. 9 December 1929. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Sports Items". Derby Daily Telegraph. 8 November 1922. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "Eliminator Referee: Appointment for Derby Contest: Mr. Tom Gummer of Rotherham". Derby Daily Telegraph. 25 November 1938. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "Referees for Nottm. Boxing Bouts". Nottingham Evening Post. 13 February 1943. Retrieved 29 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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