Mick Reid

Dublin boxer Mick Reid showed outstanding promise as a youngster and at the age of 15 was the Irish junior champion. He made his Ireland international début against England at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1957 and a few months later beat the reigning Olympic silver medallist Franco Nenci in the international against Italy at Dublin. Reid also won his first senior Irish title in 1957 when he beat Johnny Martin for the light-welterweight title. Reid was then one of just four Irishmen selected for the European Championships in Praha (Prague) but was eliminated in the light-welterweight round of 16 by the Serbian Ilija Lukic.

An engineer, Reid was a member of Dublin’s Crumlin Boxing Club before joining the National Police Force, The Garda, in 1959. That year, he won the Irish welterweight title and reached the final of the British Open Police Championships in London but was disqualified in the first round against Liverpool’s Harry Bullen. The following year Reid was controversially beaten in the Police light-middleweight final but was selected for the Roma Olympics. He beat Brazil’s Hélio Crescêncio, in a fight that started around midnight, before being eliminated by Poland’s Henryk Dampc in the next round.