Alf Russell

The oldest of three sons of a South Yorkshire butcher, Alf Russell was the Northern Counties flyweight champion in 1935 and 1936, and bantamweight champion in 1938. Russell reached the ABA flyweight final in 1936 but lost to the defending champion Gaston Fayaud of France in what was regarded as the “bout of the tournament”. Russell then represented Great Britain in the match against the United States at Wembley and beat Joe Wall. After the match, Russell was offered a large sum of money to turn professional but remained in the amateur ranks. He then went to Berlin for the Olympic Games where he was unfortunately beaten in his opening contest by Norway’s Asbjørn Berg-Hansen who, coincidentally, had beaten Russell when a British boxing team made their first official visit to Norway the previous year.

Alf’s two younger brothers were also boxers. Arthur won the 1938 ABA flyweight title, and was runner-up to South Africa’s David McKay the following year. His other brother Raymond lost two fingers off his right hand while working in his father’s butcher’s shop when he was 18, but a year later managed to fight for the Northern Counties bantamweight title.