Abraham Vanderhout

Netherlands-born Abraham Vanderhout came to England with his parents and older brother shortly after he was born in the early 1870s. The family lived in the Spitalfields area of London where Abraham eventually worked as a market porter before becoming a self-employed fruit and vegetable salesman. He joined the Spitalfields Boxing Club and then the Sydney Boxing Club, and in the 1890s had a successful amateur career.

After losing to W. Campbell in the final of the lightweight championship at the German Gymnastic Society (GGS) in 1892, Vanderhout lost to Campbell again in the ABA lightweight finals of 1893 and 1894. He found success in 1894, however, when he won the GGS title, and followed that with successive ABA titles in 1896 and 1897, when he beat Bert Brewer and the Welshman Harry Marks respectively. One more ABA final appearance followed in 1899, when Brewer avenged his earlier defeat.

Vanderhout then embarked on a career as a boxing referee and judge, and enjoyed a long career. He officiated at many ABA Championships but there was not a bout as headline-catching as the 1933 middleweight contest between C. Barnes of the Metropolitan Police and G. H. Brindley of the Polytechnic Club. Vanderhout disqualified both men for persistent holding after previously giving them warnings. It was the first time in the history of the Championships that both fighters in the same contest were disqualified.