Sid Smith

Sid Smith (2 February 1889 – 28 April 1948) was an English professional boxer who competed from 1907 to 1919. He was the first officially recognised BBBofC British flyweight champion, holding the title from 1912 to 1913, and was also recognized by the International Boxing Union as the world flyweight champion in 1913.

Professional career Born in Bermondsey, London, of Jewish heritage, Smith learned to box as a boy at the Oxford Medical Mission in Bermondsey.

He had his first professional fight on 1 February 1907, a day before his eighteenth birthday, beating Jack Brooks on points over six rounds.

He was not known to be hard hitter but was fast, and displayed outstanding footwork.

Smith held an early claim to the championship of England, beating Stoker Bill Hoskyne over 20 2-minute rounds in September 1911, at The Ring, Blackfriars, London on points, and beating Louis Ruddick on points in October 1911 at Liverpool Stadium.

Taking the British Empire flyweight title, December, 1911 On 4 December 1911, he was matched with Joe Wilson, at the National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, winning the Club's newly introduced English (later British) title in the flyweight division and the first Lonsdale Belt. Wilson stepped in with two weeks notice to replace Sam Kellar, the originally scheduled boxer. Smith was down four times in the twenty round bout for short counts, but was still reported to have won handily. In a rare American bout on 24 February 1912, Smith fought a six-round draw by newspaper decision of the Philadelphia Item against talented Jewish boxer Louisiana in Philadelphia. In a fast bout, both boxers exhibited exceptional ringcraft, and footwork. Many boxing reporters, as well as Smith's manager W.E. Ames and Smith himself, hoped for a match with American boxer and reigning world bantamweight champion Johnny Coulon for a world championship, but Coulon's handlers were not interested. At the time, America did not have a flyweight boxing division, allowing Smith to compete against America's top bantams, including Coulon.

On 19 September 1912, he made the first defence of his British flyweight title against Curley Walker at the Ring in Southwark, England, winning on points in a twenty-round bout.

On 2 June 1913, he defended his titles against Bill Ladbury at Blackfriars, London. He lost the bout after holding his titles only seven weeks, suffering a technical knockout when the fight was stopped in the eleventh round.

On 24 October 1913, unable to return to the ring for the sixth round, he lost to Charles Ledoux at the Élysée Montmartre in Paris.

He had three sons, Sid, a jockey, Harry, and Bobby.

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.