Freddie Reardon

During his two year’s National Service, Freddie Reardon won the Royal Navy featherweight and lightweight titles. When he won the featherweight title in March 1950, his older brother Billy won the Army flyweight title the following week. Freddie was chosen to represent Great Britain in the two matches against the United States at Wembley and Manchester in 1951, and won both of his bouts against J. McGuinnan of Massachusetts.

Reardon won the South-East London lightweight title in 1952, and followed that by winning the London title, and then beat A. Wallace in the final to capture his only ABA title. Reardon then went to the Helsinki Olympics and reached the lightweight quarter-final where he lost by a unanimous decision to the eventual silver medallist Aleksy Antkiewicz of Poland. Unfortunately, an attack of boils prevented Reardon from defending his ABA title in 1953 and at the end of that year he turned professional.

Reardon was undefeated in his first nine paid contests and then lost four and drew one of the remaining five bouts, which resulted in him retiring in June 1956.