Benny Lynch Scotlands Greatest

Benny Lynch is generally considered one of the finest boxers below lightweight in the pre-Second World War era, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest fighters ever to come out of Great Britain. Standing only at 5'5'', Lynch was born in the deprived immigrant area of the Gorbals in Glasgow, Scotland in 1913, and turned pro in 1931 at 18 years old.

His early boxing experiences were played out in travelling booths which were a popular form of entertainment at the time throughout the West of Scotland. It was on this circuit which he developed his boxing skills.

Lynch had a distinctive style and was very much before his time, he jumped in with his shots and jumps back out using his speed, aggresion and accuracy. Lynch also possessed awesome punching power . His shots were vey compact and precise, especially his right hand and he had a decent jab. He slipped punches with very slight head movements, and tries to throw punches whatever angle he's at. He did this with relative ease and made it look very natural.

"Our Benny" as he was known in Glasgow was a man of the people and developed into one of the biggest attractions in the history of the division, and was fiercely popular in his home country. On 16th May 1934 he won the Scottish flyweight title with a 15-round decision over Jim Campbell in Glasgow. A rematch with Campbell a month later ended with the same result. He continued this prolific form and went 20-0-1 in 1934 and into 1935.

In March 1935, he drew with British and European flyweight king Jackie Brown, which set up a showdown with Brown six months later with Brown's titles at stake for the rematch. Brown was also recognised in Europe at the time as the legitimate world champion.

The bout took place on 8th September 1935 in Manchester, England. It was a major road trip for Scottish boxing fans, but they employed every means possible to get there for the event and they were not to be disappointed, as Lynch scored six knockdowns en route to a second-round stoppage. Scotland's first ever world boxing champion returned to Glasgow to be met by a joyous crowd of hundreds of thousands of people who lined his triumphal route from Central Station to his home in the south side of the city. The City of Glasgow Corporation denied him a formal welcome, but the people of Glasgow turned out to pay tribute the likes of which had never been seen before and would never be seen again: one of them who had denied all the odds to rise to the very top of his profession.

He had seven non-title fights in 1936, winning all but one which was put down to a lack of application on his part.

There was dispute, at least on one side of the Atlantic, as to who was the best flyweight boxer in the world. Lynch, however, wasted little time in settling the matter when he out-pointed Philipino Small Montana in London for to established himself as the undisputed world flyweight boxing champion.

From 1932-36, he lost just two fights; both of them were points losses to Jim Warnock from Northern Ireland, in 1936 and again in 1937. Lynch won a Lonsdale belt outright by defeating Pat Palmer in eight rounds and Peter Kane in 13 rounds.

The Kane fight was particularly punishing for both pugilists. Kane, who would dominate the division after the premature departure of Lynch, gave the champ a formidable test of skill and stamina. By this time, however, Lynch was also beginning to lose a career-long battle with the scales.

By 1938, Benny's unconventional lifestyle meant that he could no longer make the weight for the division. He drew with Kane in a non-title bout in March. Two months later for a flyweight title defence with American Jackie Jurich, Lynch weighed in at 118.5, a half a pound over the bantamweight limit. Although the fight took place, Lynch was stripped of the title before it had even started - an unexpected event which lost him considerable affection with his formerly strongly loyal support.

It was made even sadder by the fact that, despite his weight problems, Lynch produced a creditable performance and stopped the American in the 12th round. For himself, his trainer and his fans it was a particularly bittersweet moment which Lynch himself never seemed to recover from.

His sad life of alcohol and lifestyle problems persisted. He lost a 12-round decision to Kayo Morgan on the 28th September 1938, and a week later was knocked out for the first and last time in his career by a contender who would never have been able to share a ring with him just a year earlier, Aurel Toma, in Round 3.

At the age of 25 - when a fighter should be approaching the prime of his career and seeking the rewards of all his efforts Lynch had his final fight in the ring.

Benny Lynch had health problems the rest of his life as he battled with the disease we now recognise as alcoholism. He suffered an agonisingly lonely end to a life which had shone so brightly for such a short time.

He was born in the Gorbals on April 2, 1913, and turned professional in 1931. His fondness for drink ended his career in 1938.

On August 5, 1946, he was taken to the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, with respiratory problems. He died the next day of malnutrition at the age of 33.

This is some footage of his fight with Small Montana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dc-j0nG6UE

What a fabulous article. Hats off, prettyboy.

Great fighter with a very modern style. By all accounts the Kane / Lynch affairs were terrific, though I've never seen them and, sadly, have only one of his fights on DVD.

I know you Glaswegians have a terrific rivalry with the Edinburgh folks, but I dare say many would vote for Kenny Buchanan as Scotland's finest, ( I would, too, ) but nonetheless Lynch was a true ATG.

Wonder how Lynch v Wilde would have gone ?

Great article, PBK. Have to admit that I usually plump for Buchanan as Scotland's greatest ever, but Lynch is never more than the width of a fag paper behind, and it's good to see him getting a mention (a first on v2, I think?) on here.

People talk about how Hamed played a key part in the 'smaller guys' of his era getting more recognition and pay days more befitting of their talents, but as you alluded to Lynch was light years ahead in that department. It's hard to imagine two Flyweights drawing a crowd of forty thousand or so in this day and age, and it seems impossible to think it could be achieved over seventy years ago. And yet, that's exactly what Lynch and Kane did.

A tragic case of what might have been, even though his career in itself was still a success. Had he been able to stay away from the demon drink, he may well have reigned supreme at 112 lb for many more years.

Gilbert Odd saw every great Flyweight from Wilde and Villa, to Perez and Kingpetch, to Chitalada and Canto, and he wrote that in his glorious prime years, Lynch may well have been the very best of the lot. Praise doesn't get much higher than that.

Posting sources is good.

He is one of a few who can question Billy Nelson's claim that Burns is one fight from becoming the greatest Scottish boxer.

Scottrf wrote:Posting sources is good.

He is one of a few who can question Billy Nelson's claim that Burns is one fight from becoming the greatest Scottish boxer.

Better not let azania know that quote was attributable to a modern trainer.

manos de piedra wrote:

Scottrf wrote:Posting sources is good.

He is one of a few who can question Billy Nelson's claim that Burns is one fight from becoming the greatest Scottish boxer.

Better not let azania know that quote was attributable to a modern trainer.

Haha !

You have a point, manos. The poor lad will go into meltdown.

HumanWindmill wrote:What a fabulous article. Hats off, prettyboy.

Great fighter with a very modern style. By all accounts the Kane / Lynch affairs were terrific, though I've never seen them and, sadly, have only one of his fights on DVD.

I know you Glaswegians have a terrific rivalry with the Edinburgh folks, but I dare say many would vote for Kenny Buchanan as Scotland's finest, ( I would, too, ) but nonetheless Lynch was a true ATG.

Wonder how Lynch v Wilde would have gone ?

Not a lot of footage of Lynch around which is a shame.

Ken Buchchanan is actually adored in Glasgow and lives in the city. This is down to his career and the fact he said if he could have had a world title fight in Scotland it would have been in Glasgow because the crowds were better in numbers and atmosphere.


Ken had a nice smooth style and a lovely left jab he also had the heart of a lion. IMO Lynch was a bit more well rounded their wasn't really anything Lynch didn't do well.

Lynch v Wilde would have been interesting two very big punchers with solid chins. Wilde blocked more punches Lynch who liked to move around a lot more. This would be key for me Wilde was more economical with his energy and would have edged a series over Lynch imo.

Scottrf wrote:Posting sources is good.

He is one of a few who can question Billy Nelson's claim that Burns is one fight from becoming the greatest Scottish boxer.

Nelson is just talking up his fighter in the hope he sells more tickets. The Scottish public don't really get behind Ricky in decent numbers. Scott Harrison and Alex Arthur were better than Ricky Burns who isn't even the best of the last decade.

Would favour Buchanan as well myself but Lynch has a marvellous career considering it was so short, like many of britains best always left with the question of 'what if' but certainly among the top 5 flyweights of all time and one of a handful with a realistic chance of beating 'The Mighty Atom' at his best.

Brilliant article PBK, bravo

Nice article prettyboykev, to be honest im not up to date with Lynch myself however as a general overview you make some good points about the man but i dont see anything in their that can over take Buchanan, but still great article, 5 stars my friend

Nice article prettyboykev, to be honest im not up to date with Lynch myself however as a general overview you make some good points about the man but i dont see anything in their that can over take Buchanan, but still great article, 5 stars my friend

Unfortunately this article highlights the issues with this and the old 606, well written pieces just don't get replies yet posting a link to a rumour about certain boxers gets 50 replies in double quick time

Atom tbh mate I never expected a lot of replies. Only posted it up because Windy commented on a documentary about Lynch I posted on the 606v2 youtube channel. I did this for college a few years ago.

prettyboykev wrote:I did this for college a few years ago.

You should sue Caledonian Newspapers and BennyLynch.co.uk for copyright theft then.

Scottrf wrote:

prettyboykev wrote:I did this for college a few years ago.

You should sue Caledonian Newspapers and BennyLynch.co.uk for copyright theft then.

Benny Lynch .co.uk is my mates website

Great atricle Kev a nice little website by your mate, i too have Buchanan my top scottish boxer but Lynch is right there in second.