All TIME GREAT (Posthumous)
Undefeated World & British Flyweight Champion
110 contests, won: 82, drew: 15, lost: 13
A complete boxer, combining ring artistry with exceptional punching power, Benny Lynch of Scotland gained universal recognition as world flyweight champion when he defeated American claimant Small Montana at Wembley in 1937 after a brilliant display of box fighting. Yet within 18 months he had forfeited his crown and British and European honours by failing to make the stipulated weight in a title defence, and soon afterwards was out of boxing for good at the age of 25.
A Glasgow newspaper boy, Lynch joined a travelling boxing booth that toured the North Countries, and soon after his 18th birthday became a professional. Right from the start his positive action and precise punching made him the idol of Scottish fight fans. He became Scottish champion at 21 and in March 1935 held Jackie Brown, the world, European and British titleholder, to a 12 round draw in Glasgow. Six months later at Manchester he stopped him in two rounds – six knock downs – in the second round, four in the first – to become triple champion. Lynch won a Lonsdale belt outright by defeating Pat Palmer (in 8 rounds) and Peter Kane (in 13. after a torrid fight), but then began his long battle with the scales. When he came to defend his title against American Jackie Jurich in 1938 he was 6 _ pounds over weight and was stripped of all his honours. He vented his disappointment on Jurich, knocking him out in the 12th round, but afterwards went into rapid decline. When Lynch, was knocked out for the first and only time by Aurel Toma in October 1938, it was obvious that he was finished as a fighter. And, indeed, he never fought again. He died of malnutrition in Glasgow on August 6th 1946.
