Frank Crawley

A sergeant in the Tank Corps, Frank Crawley appeared in the first of three ABA middleweight finals in 1924, but lost on points to London Polytechnic’s Jack Elliott. However, before he did eventually win his first ABA title, Crawley had won the European middleweight crown by beating Denmark’s Hans Holdt on points at Stockholm in 1925. The following year Crawley beat policeman Frederick Whitbread to capture the first of two ABA titles. He retained his title in 1927 with victory over Fred Mallin, the man who would go on to win the title five years in succession. Crawley lost his title in the 1928 quarter-final to Dublin’s Jack Chase.

Having been a reserve for the 1924 Olympics, Crawley went to the 1928 Amsterdam Games as a reserve once more, but was also one of the four trainers to the Great Britain boxing team. Crawley was a four-time Army middleweight champion, and represented them in many competitions both at home and across Europe.