“Old Timer”
Glasgow’s Charlie Kerr has many claims to amateur and pro boxing fame in Scotland but surely none stranger than the fact that he is the only Scottish boxing champion to be given a live sheep in lieu of a ring purse! Even more ironically Charlie, a tough product of Glasgow’s southside admits “I was scared of the sheep and was considerably relieved when a guy outside the hall in Dunbartonshire bought my newly acquired four legged friend for a few pounds”.
However there is nothing woolly about the catalogue of achievements of Charlie Kerr. Born in 1920 in the Hutcheson town area in Glasgow’s southside.
For example, Charlie’s successful amateur career saw him beat fellow Glaswegian John Shaugnessy for the amateur bantamweight title in 1940; A title he won again in 1944 during a period of wartime service with the Black Watch Regiment. On that occasion in 1944, Charlie defeated another Glaswegian, George McDonald.
At that stage of his career Charlie’s fortunes were guided by a local man, George Smith but on demob from the Black Watch, where he had acquired valuable experience in athletic fitness and conditioning techniques, as an Army P.T.I. Charlie decided to turn pro by throwing in his lot with Pat Collins. This was the same Pat Collins who managed (Anderston) Glasgow’s ring great Jackie Paterson to World, British and Empire championships. Soon Kerr was sparring hundreds of rounds with southpaw great Paterson, an experience he describes thus, “My time at Jackie Paterson’s was an education in ringcraft and boxing skill that I never forgot”. Proof came early in Charlie’s pro career when he defeated reigning Scottish 8 stone 6lbs champion Teddy O’Neill, (who would hold the Scottish title for eleven years between 1937 and 1948) over 8 rounds in a no title joust on September 25th 1946. This was too the same Teddy O’Neill who had gone 12 hard rounds with Benny Lynch’s Romanian conqueror, Aurel Toma at Leith’s Eldorada Stadium in January 1939 (Toma won on points).
Beating O’Neill this early in his career was an impressive performance by Charlie Kerr. Of O’Neill, Charlie recalls “with Teddy you had to work hard every minute as O’Neill attacked non-stop making an eight round fight seem like fifteen”. The win over champ O’Neill also compensated, to some extent, for Charlie’s defeat 13 days before by Airdrie based Scottish flyweight champion Jackie Bryce in a 12 round final eliminator for the Scottish Bantamweight title at Leith’s Eldorado Stadium. However Charlie Kerr eventually ended Teddy O’Neill’s long 12 year reign as Scottish bantamweight kingpin (a record for the division) on April 21st 1948 by outfighting Dumbarton pride O’Neill over 15 tough rounds at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall.
The ring victory Charlie Kerr cherishes most of all took place at Kirkcaldy Ice Rink in 1947 when Charlie met a Hawaii based Japanese/American stablemate of future World flyweight champion Dado Marin called Terasako Maruo. Recalls Charlie Kerr “Maruo had beaten every British boxer he had ever met, including British bantamweight champion, Stan Hawthorn, but what a tough guy. I beat him but I was never the same fighter ever again so much did my victory over Maruo take out of me”
Similarly, in his next three bouts after outpointing Teddy O’Neill for the Scottish title, Charlie Kerr was outpointed by Ronnie Burr at Birmingham on June 28th 1948, knocked out in four rounds by Welsh champion Norman Lewis on September 2nd 1948 and forced to retire against rock hard Southhampton ex-trawlerman Ron Draper in the 8th round at Smethwick.
This loss of form was hardly an ideal preparation for Charlie Kerr when he was called to defend his Scottish crown at Paisley Ice Rink on March 10th 1949, against the same Edinburgh tough guy whom Glasgow ring legend refused point blank to grant a return bout to, Eddie “Napoleon” Carson.
A former altar boy, who fought like a devil inside the ropes, Carson had once dropped off a beam in an Edinburgh building site at two hours notice and beat Charlie’s old mentor Jackie Paterson. However, it is a mark of respect that Carson held for Charlie Kerr’s own ring skills and ability that the normally tearaway Carson was so cautious in the opening rounds the Paisley crowd started to slow handclap after four rounds of mutual ring pacifism between Carson and Kerr.
However things livened up between the fifth and ninth rounds when Carson finally dropped Charlie for a count with a southpaw left to the jaw. The end came in the IIth round but Charlie Kerr was cheered for going out like the champion he was. At that point, the involvement of Charlie Kerr in boxing could have ended but Charlie, as noted earlier, was determined to use the man management and sports fitness skills gained during his stint as a P.T.I, in the Black Watch within Scottish boxing circles.
Charlie Kerr went to the famed LMS Rovers club in Glasgow where he inherited from Glasgow coach, Andy Grant, the promising talents of a Maryhill youngster called John “Cowboy” McCormack whom Kerr guided towards Scottish and British ABA titles and an Olympic bronze medal at the 1956 Melbourne games. Charlie was also in the Maryhill “Cowboy’s” corner when he beat Terry Downes for the British and Empire middleweight titles in London by disqualification in September 1959.
It was at international level that Kerr would prove, time and time again, his value as a ring cornerman and motivator with Scotland’s international boxers.
For example, Charlie worked with the great Ken Buchanan in Moscow in the 1963 European Championships. Similarly, 1954 Vancouver Empire Games flyweight gold medal winner Dick Currie heaped praise on Charlie Kerr when the latter took a Scottish squad in which Dalmarnock ace Currie boxed to Poland in 1953.
Thirty years later Charlie Kerr was still dispensing high quality ring corner advice when Arden, Gasgow butcher, Donnie Hood won and defended the WBC international bantamweight championship in Glasgow between 1990 and 1991. Donnie Hood thought the world of Charlie Kerr as a dispenser of ring wisdom, as did Dick Currie and John “Cowboy” McCormack.
Charlie Kerr is not just a worthy inductee to the hall of fame but a great human being too, liked and respected wherever Scottish boxing people come together.
