“Outstanding Service”
Charlie Hill – Featherweight (born 20th June 20 1930)
When top Scottish boxing coach and 1962 Commonwealth games Featherweight Gold medal winner, John McDermott received the M.B.E. for services to boxing in 2006 he dedicated this honour to Cambuslang’s former British 9 stone champion, Charlie Hill who had been John McDermott’s earliest ring mentor back in 1948.
For, aged ten in 1948, John had started to learn the boxing basics from the then 18 year old Charlie Hill at Cambuslang’s Halfway Miners Amateur Boxing Club. John said in a recent interview “I idolised Charlie Hill, not every good boxer is a good ring teacher, but Charlie was, stressing the importance of a good stiff left jab and boxing skills.”
Although billed as being from Cambuslang, Charlie Hill (like his ring protege, John McDermott) actually hailed from the hamlet of Flemington situated only one mile from Cambuslang. Famous Scottish sporting sons of Flemington included Celtic’s 1965 Scottish Cup winning goalkeeper, John Fallon and Rangers and Scotland winger Davie Wilson.
Born in the depression year of 1930 Charlie Hill’s father Tam, was a steel worker in the nearby Hallside steelworks where he toiled to provide for his wife Mary, his son Charlie and daughter Margaret. Thanks to a reference from his future boxing proteges (John McDermott) father, Robert, who worked in a Glasgow shipyard, Charlie Hill obtained an apprenticeship aged 14, as a shipyard electrician in 1944. Meanwhile, at both the Halfway Miners Club in Cambuslang and the Scottish National Club in Bridgeton, Hill became a very successful bantamweight and featherweight boxer beating outstanding amateur boxers like Bertie Scott and Jim Murie from the Glasgow transport club while grabbing Western and Scottish titles and Scottish International vests. In this connection, Greenock’s Arthur Donnachie, who would later defeat Charlie Hill’s professional nemesis, Edinburgh’s Bobby Neill in 1957 was beaten on several occasions by Hill. Similarly, John McDermott, who had followed his mentor to the Scottish National Club, recalled “Charlie was a tremendous body puncher and had a great left jab and right cross.”
The Scottish National Club in Bridgeton was also the power base of the founding members of the Gilmour boxing dynasty, Jim and his manager son, Tommy Gilmour Senior, “The Starmaker”. No surprise then when Charlie Hill finally forsook his amateur vest in 1953 to join the pro ranks that he signed with “The Starmaker” making his paid ring debut with a six round points win at Glasgow’s Firhill Park in June 1953 over one Art Belec.
A controversial third round disqualification loss at Liverpool Stadium against Andy Monahan in his second fight was quickly shrugged off by Hill who gained revenge later that same year by knocking Monahan out inside two rounds. A victory which was part of an unbeaten two year run between 1953 and 1955 which saw the Cambuslang billed boxer beat quality ring opponents such as future top cornerman Freddie King while boxing all over Britain in places like Belfast, the Kelvin Hall, Edinburgh and Newcastle. It was a victory sequence studded with stoppage and knockout wins-courtesy of Hill’s noted body punching skills.
Equally, Charlie Hill closed out 1954 by outpointing Clydebank’s Chic Brogan for the Scottish Featherweight title at Paisley in December of that year. In 1955 Cambuslang clouter, Hill closed out a similarly successful year by outpointing tough Spaniard Jose Rubio in Belfast on 27th December.
However, as his ring protege, John McDermott told me “Charlie wasn’t just a boxer -he was as happy-go-lucky outside the ring as he was serious and intense during fights.” Charlie idolised the American singer, Billy Eckstine, we even went to see Eckstine perform in Glasgow and we subsequently wore “Billy Eckstine” style shirts.” again, the dawning of 1956 saw Charlie Hill matched with ferocious Irish Champion, Billy “Spider” Kelly for the latter’s British Featherweight Title and Lonsdale belt in the intimidating cauldron of emotion that was Belfast’s King’s Hall. When Charlie Hill was adjudged to have beaten Kelly and become the fourth Scot to win a British Featherweight Title after 15 rounds, all hell broke loose in the Belfast venue and one of British Boxing’s worst post-fight riots ensued.
But 1956 was also to end traumatically for the newly crowned British 9 stone champion for in December of that year Hill was matched in a non-title bout at London’s Harringay Arena with his nemesis from Edinburgh, Bobby Neill. Neill’s ferocious punching saw Charlie Hill stopped in this non-title joust in the first round and eyebrows were raised when Hill lost his very next fight-also by fifth round stoppage in Belfast against Joe Quinn. But, the pessimists were to be confounded in October 1957 when Charlie Hill saw off a title challenge by Bobby Neill’s Irish conqueror, Jimmy Brown at Nottingham. Despite being decked twice-in the second and tenth rounds, Charlie Hill stormed back to knock Brown out in the tenth round, so retaining his Lonsdale belt. A win that led to the Cambuslang man being matched with West Indian Percy Lewis, for the vacant Commonwealth Featherweight crown. This too was at the same Nottingham Arena where Charlie had his finest championship hour against Irishman, Jimmy Brown but, unfortunately, it was Hill who was stopped in the tenth round this time around.
The following year of 1958 was much happier for the Cambuslang Champion, he gained revenge over former conqueror, Joe Quinn, at Paisley in a non-title clash at and once again, defeated his old foe from Clydebank, Chic Brogan, in what would prove to be Hill’s last successful British title defence with Brogan retiring in the ninth round with a cut injury in Paisley. However, Edinburgh’s London based, Bobby Neill was banging on the Championship door and so, on 13th April 1959 Charlie Hill lost his British title being blasted nine times to the canvas by the rampantly confident Neill (who became Edinburgh’s third British Featherweight Champion following in the ring steps of “Tancy” Lee and George McKenzie).
It was Charlie Hill’s last fight although John McDermott M.B.E. points out that Hill had been plagued with weightmaking problems for some time before the Neill Championship debacle in April 1959. Meanwhile, even in matrimony Charlie Hill could not escape boxing for he wed Betty Stevenson, daughter of Dennistoun, Glasgow, club boxing coach, Jim Stevenson and the devoted couple had a son, Charles Hill junior. Subsequent to his ring retiral Charlie Hill and his family emigrated to Australia’s gold coast where they have lived in Brisbane for over 40 years. With a record of 31 wins in 36 bouts Charlie Hill deserves to be remembered as an All Action British Championship Class Boxer.
Compiled by Brian Donald
