[Commemorative Boxing silk] Fred Welsh, Pontypridd versus Johnny Summers, London for the Lightweight Championship of England, £2200 and National Sporting Club belt, Nov. 8th 1909

Silk scarf, centred with a portrait of Fred Welsh, above the motto “Cymru am byth”, details below, national emblems to each corner, and all within a red, blue and white rope border.

900 by 900mm (35½ by 35½ inches).
NB. this item is Unframed - framed image shown in room setting is for reference only

Freddie Welsh [1886 – 1927] moved from Wales to America and became World lightweight champion in 1917.
The fight on the 8th November, gave Welsh his chance to face Johnny Summers, for the British and European Lightweight Championship. The Summers fight took part at the National Sporting Club in Covent Garden, with a purse of £2,200 and the Lonsdale Belt at stake.

Welsh took control in the first round and never let Summers into the fight. One reporter counted 200 successful blows to Summer’s head during the match, and he was bleeding as early as the third round. During the fight, some members of the crowd jeered Welsh's use of the kidney punch, which although not outlawed at the time was seen as unsporting; he was also cautioned by the referee for the use of his head in the fifth. The fight went the distance, with Welsh winning on points; in taking the Lonsdale Belt he was the pride of Wales and America, but many in the boxing fraternity of England saw in Welsh a cynical, cold and cruel fighter.

Johnny Summers [1882-1946] was an English boxer from Middlesbrough.

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