Harry Reeve

Harry Reeve
Statistics
Real name Harry Isaacs
Rated at Middleweight, light heavyweight
Nationality British
Born (1893-01-07)7 January 1893
St. George's, London, England
Died 10 December 1958(1958-12-10) (aged 65)
Boxing record
Total fights 150
Wins 79
Wins by KO 23
Losses 50
Draws 20

Harry Isaacs (7 January 1893 – 10 December 1958), better known as Harry Reeve, was British middleweight and light heavyweight boxer who was British light heavyweight champion in 1916.

Career

Born in St. George's, London and based in Plaistow, Essex, the Jewish Isaacs fought under the name Harry Reeve and made his professional debut in 1910. Undefeated from his first 18 fights, he suffered his first loss in January 1912, to Harry Rudge, starting a run of nine fights where he won only two and lost five. He hit another winning streak in mid-1912, and despite a mixed record in 1913 he got a shot at the vacant British middleweight title in February 1914 against Pat O'Keefe; O'Keefe won a points decision after 20 rounds.[1]

Reeve moved up to light-heavyweight and beat then-British heavyweight champion Joe Beckett in December 1914 in a non-title bout. A run of eight straight wins in 1915 and 1916 led to a fight for Dick Smith's British light-heavyweight title in October 1916; Reeve won on points over 20 rounds to take the title.[2][3] He relinquished the title before defending it.

Reeve served in the 7th Middlesex Regiment/Military Police during World War I, reaching the rank of lance corporal,[4] and during the Étaples Mutiny of 1917 fired the shot that killed Corporal W. B. Wood.[5] During his service in the war he suffered a leg wound that hampered his subsequent career.[6]

After the war, Reeve returned to boxing, losing to Beckett in January 1919 after a fifth round stoppage. He continued to fight until 1934, his post-war career including losses to Bombardier Billy Wells,[7] Eddie McGoorty, Mike McTigue, Gus Platts,[8] and Phil Scott,[9] draws with Scott (at the Royal Albert Hall in 1924) and Reggie Meen, and several fights against Senegalese fighter Battling Siki.[10][11] He finished with a record of 79 wins from 150 professional fights.

Reeve married Ethel Sophia Stone in 1912. They had twelve children.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "O Keefe Champion". Daily Mirror. 24 February 1914. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ "Boxing". Gloucester Journal. 4 November 1916. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  3. ↑ "News item". Daily Record. 31 October 1916. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  4. ↑ "Sergt. Major Dick Smith v. Lance-Corpl. Harry Reeve". Newcastle Journal. 31 October 1916. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  5. ↑ Harris, Clive & Whippy, Julian (2008) The Greater Game: Sporting Icons Who Fell in the Great War, Pen & Sword Military, ISBN 978-1844157624, p. 141
  6. ↑ "McGoorty Defeats Harry Reeve", The Referee, 21 May 1919, p. 13. Retrieved 4 October 2014 (via Trove)
  7. ↑ "Bombardier Wells Knocks Out Reeve". Derby Daily Telegraph. 27 January 1920. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  8. ↑ "O'Kelly v. Gus Platts". Hull Daily Mail. 27 January 1927. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  9. ↑ "Two Wins for Phil Scott". Dundee Courier. 17 June 1927. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  10. ↑ "Harry Reeve v. E. McGoorty". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 13 May 1919. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ Runstedtler, Theresa (2012) Jack Johnson, Rebel Sojourner: Boxing in the Shadow of the Global Color Line, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520271609, p. 237
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