Neville Meade

Neville Meade (12 September 1948 – 13 March 2010) was a British boxer from Swansea. Born in Montserrat, he moved to Wales at the age of nine. He rose to prominence when he won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand. He turned professional in 1974 and won the Welsh Heavyweight title in 1976 and then followed this with the British title in 1981. He retired in 1983 after a failed defence of his British title.

Meade was known for his big-hitting style of fighting with very few of his bouts going the distance. Of his 20 professional wins, 18 came via knockout. Despite this ability, Meade lacked motivation in training and during the middle of his career, with his weight reaching above 17 stone, he suffered a lack of form that saw him lose seven out of nine fights. He took on a new trainer, Jimmy Bromfield, in 1979 and this saw a change in his fortune which led to Meade taking the British Heavyweight title.

Boxing career

Amateur career Born and initially raised in Montserrat, Meade moved to the United Kingdom at the age of nine and grew up in Swansea, Wales. After leaving education he served in the Royal Air Force Regiment in Catterick. Meade boxed for the RAF representing the airforce in inter-service competitions and in amateur tournaments. In 1973 he reached the final of the heavyweight division of the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) National Championship held at Wembley Arena in London, but lost to Garfield McEwan. The next year, still representing the RAF, Meade again reached the heavyweight final, and on this occasion won, taking the English amateur title. By winning the England amateur title, Meade was afforded the opportunity of representing England in the 1974 Commonwealth games, held in Christchurch, New Zealand. Meade was given a bye through the preliminaries, and then beat Canada's Carroll Morgan on points in the Quarter finals. After beating Samoa's Vai Samu on points in the semi-final, Meade faced Nigerian Fatai Ayinla in the final. A month later, on 14 October, Meade faced Roger Barlow in an eight-round bout in Swansea. Meade stopped Barlow via technical knockout in the third giving him his first professional win. Meade spent a year away from professional fighting, making his comeback for a defence of his Welsh title against David Pearce in early 1980. The ten round fight, held at Caerphilly, lasted until the second, with Meade winning via a controversial stoppage.

Professional boxing record

Loss

TKO 9 22/09/1983

Win

KO 6 21/02/1982

Loss

PTS 10 03/11/1981

Win

KO 1 12/10/1981

Win

TKO 3 26/03/1981

Win

TKO 5 08/12/1980

Win

TKO 2 01/10/1980

Win

TKO 2 22/01/1980

Loss

TKO 4 19/01/1979

Loss

TKO 5 15/05/1978

Loss

KO 3 31/03/1978

Win

TKO 3 08/12/1977

Loss

KO 4 04/06/1977

Loss

PTS 10 25/12/1976

Win

TKO 7 02/12/1976

Loss

TKO 6 26/10/1976

Loss

TKO 7 11/08/1976

Win

TKO 9 26/05/1976

Win

TKO 4 29/03/1976

Loss

PTS 8 12/03/1976

Win

TKO 3 04/11/1975

Win

PTS 8 24/09/1975

Win

TKO 5 17/09/1975

Win

TKO 3 06/08/1975

Win

TKO 6 02/07/1975

Draw

PTS 8 05/06/1975

Loss

TKO 6 29/04/1975

Loss

TKO 4 17/02/1975

Win

TKO 5 18/11/1974

Win

PTS 4 21/10/1974

Win

KO 1 21/10/1974

Win

TKO 1 21/10/1974

Win

TKO 3 14/10/1974

Loss

PTS 6 09/09/1974