Frankie Taylor

Frankie Taylor started boxing at a local lads’ club in his hometown of Lancaster when he was 10-years-of-age. At 17 he was the ABA bantamweight champion after beating Lewie Mackay of Edinburgh in the final. Taylor then went to the 1960 Roma Olympics, and what memorable Games they were for the youngster.

A junior reporter for the Lancaster Guardian at the time, Taylor met the 1957 European Champion Oleg Grigoryev of the Soviet Union. The Soviet fighter was given the decision by 3-2, a result which stunned the American referee who, like thousands watching, thought Taylor had won. Despite protests, the result stood. Six hours after the contest, however, the three judges who gave the fight to Grigoryev (from France, Italy, and Sweden) were relieved of their duties, while the Soviet boxer went on to win gold. Taylor celebrated his 18th birthday the day after his controversial defeat.

Some consolation for Taylor was in winning the European Amateur featherweight title at Beograd (Belgrade) in 1961. Shortly afterwards Taylor turned professional and was managed by the former British featherweight champion Bobby Neill. Between 1962-66 Taylor had 31 bouts and of his 27 wins, 22 were by a knockout. He won his first 23 fights of his pro career before losing on a disqualification for mis-use of the head against George Bowes in 1964.

In his penultimate professional fight in 1966, his first fight back after a six-month lay off with an injured hand, Taylor suffered a second-round knockout by the Brazilian Jose Caetano dos Santos. It was only Taylor’s third professional defeat, and the first time he had been knocked out in his entire career, amateur or professional. Taylor only had himself to blame, however, as he miscalculated the count.

Taylor’s last fight was a few weeks later against the former Spanish champion Luis Aisa. After that bout, Taylor’s manager Bobby Neill refused to let him fight again because his vision was affected. As a result of his retirement, Taylor concentrated on his career as a journalist with the British Sunday newspaper The People.