Old Photograph Johnny Hill Scotland

Old photograph of Johnny Hill, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Born in 1905 in Brunswick Road near Leith Walk only yards from the same Sparta Amateur Boxing Club that would produce world champion Ken Buchanan, Hill won the British, European and world boxing titles in just 18 months, a record never matched to this day by any other Scottish boxer. Benny Lynch had to wait nearly two years until January 1937 to get unqualified American recognition as world flyweight champion. In contrast, Hill received the recognition from the NYSAC on 10 December 1928 just three and a half months after he had out pointed American world flyweight title claimant " Newsboy " Brown over 15 rounds at Clapton Greyhound Stadium in London, England, on 29 August 1928. This is a fact confirmed by Johnny Hill's sole surviving brother, Alf, who has a letter in his home in Strathmiglo, Fife, on New York State Athletic Commission headed newspaper dated 10 December 1928. Written by Charles J Harvey, chairman of the then all powerful body in charge of matters of American world title legitimacy, Harvey assures Johnny's father David that while there are American claimants to his son's world title they would not be recognized until they had taken part in an elimination tournament to box Johnny Hill. Similarly, most Scottish and British newspapers in August 1928 hailed Johnny Hill as Scotland's first world champion. His father David, an ex boxer with Edinburgh's West Bow Amateur Boxing Club, brought up his son to be a fanatic teetotaller, although ironically that did not save Johnny Hill from dying aged 23 from pneumonia, the same illness that killed alcoholic Benny Lynch aged 33.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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