Scotland’s fighters won the lion’s share of the nation’s medals at the Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games) in Cardiff in 1958. The sprinters and field athletes failed to win any gold on the track, while swimmer Ian Black secured a gold in the pool with diver Peter Heatly winning the high diving springboard medal. Weightlifter Phil Caira took another gold for Scotland and so too did the celebrated Dick McTaggart, who had won the Olympic gold in 1956. Yet one Scottish boxer has largely been neglected: a sporting hero who is still fit and actively teaching boxing skills.

On a Friday evening - 25 July 1958 – red-headed Jackie Brown from Edinburgh won a gold in the flyweight contest by beating Tommy Bache from Liverpool. Jackie was a dandy fighter, lithe and athletic, who most observers reckon danced through his bouts. Small and compact, he packed a lethal punch which claimed a number of impressive victims.

The Daily Record’s boxing correspondent Peter Wilson, describing the final bout, said: “Before the fight was more than half a minute old Bache was down on the seat of his pants from a vicious right cross to his jaw. Brown, who had met Bache earlier in the season and had floored him four times, obviously had the answer to the southpaw … and by the end of the second round Bache was smothering in blood from a nose whose course was distinctly ‘off true’.”

His wife, Margaret, couldn’t go down to Cardiff at first. She was a 19-year-old typist making ends meet for the couple in Edinburgh.  “I remember the Daily Record eventually took me down. It was a perishing journey, overnight by train. There was no heating on the train but the reporter gave me his jacket – which was very kind. We had a cup of hot tea at a railway buffet in the middle of the night as we changed trains.”

Margaret’s arrival was a great surprise and boost for Jackie. Jackie had been forced to leave his job four weeks earlier to concentrate on his boxing and he couldn’t afford to have Margaret by his side. But the ever-enterprising Record, keen to get a front-page splash, paid the fares. It was great fillip for Scottish boxing. Jackie was Dick McTaggart’s sparring partner and the tight-knit Scottish team of featured Bob Kane, Robert Dickson Scott and William Bannon, a popular light heavyweight with matinee idol looks, all bringing home medals

After he beat Bache, Margaret and Jackie were pictured on the Record’s front page, kissing and embracing. The celebrations went on until Jackie and Margaret returned to their tiny flat in Lyne Street in Abbeyhill, where he was carried shoulder high as the whole street turned out to greet their boxing hero.

Jackie Brown was born on 7 March 1935 in Grange Court in Causewayside, Edinburgh, one of eight children, and he attended Sciennes primary school before attending James Clark’s secondary school. His father, George, was a shipwright and brought up his boys to train hard and play hard. But times in shipping were hard and he took a job in Edinburgh Tramways.

“I used to try it at school but it was strange. I used to say to myself: ‘I’m not very good at this,’ but I just pushed on. When I went to James Clark’s you started really thinking about it and which club you would go in.”

Jackie joined the Gilmerton boxing club but he was soon attracted to one of Edinburgh’s elite boxing establishments, Leith Victoria. He became Scottish champion in 1955 and again in 1956. “That was me as an amateur for the rest of my career and when I turned professional I went through to Glasgow with Tommy Gilmour.”

The Empire Games gold in 1958 was the spring board for Jackie’s professional career as a fly-weight which took him through to two major showdowns with Walter McGowan, another of Scotland’s boxing greats. The bouts against McGowan were intriguing – and gripped sports fans across Scotland at the time. The first fight was in October 1961 which Jackie won easily with the return in May 1963. But there was plenty of other action in the ring for Jackie.

In June 1960, the veteran Evening News columnist, John Gibson, then a young sports reporter recorded Jackie’s ten-round win at Firhill Park in Glasgow. It was the same evening and venue that Chic Calderwood won the British Empire light-heavyweight championship.

Gibson said: “The most happy fella at Firhill last night? Unquestionably jaunty Jackie Brown, Edinburgh’s 25-year-old larrupping fly-weight-turned-bantam for the evening. This was the cautious, crafty, crew-cropped Jackie’s finest half-hour as a professional, for in what was his 13th paid fight, he pulled off a victory that is sure to make a lot of people – big people – sit up and take notice.”

Jackie’s victim was Mario d’Agata, the pride of Italy and one-time world bantam-weight holder. The deaf and dumb fighter at 34-year-old had seen better days but Jackie proved he was a new force in the land. It was brave stuff. One paper reported: “In the last session they stood toe to toe in the centre of the ring and slugged it out almost for the full three minutes. At the finished referee Wilson raised Brown’s hand and the young Scot did a joy jig, dancing round the ring with hands about his head.”

The dance became a trademark. To coin a Beatles hit of the time, Jackie was getting better all the time. Training and sparring hard in Edinburgh, he was ready for the next stage.

In February 1962, Jackie won the vacant British fly-weight championship in Birmingham beating the local favourite Brian Cartwright. Tuesday, 27 February  was, without doubt, one of Jackie’s greatest day. At 1.30am. Margaret gave birth to Jackie’s first child, his daughter, Jacqueline, then at 10.20pm, Jackie became only the seventh Scots to win a Lonsdale Belt. He fought at an incredible weight of just 7st 13 and1/2lbs.

James Sanderson of the Daily Express, reported: “After he had careered around the ring, doing an uninhibited dance of triumph, he fore off his gloves and climbed through the red ropes down to my seat at the ringside to telephone his wife in hospital. And the new champion, a small lump over his left eye and sweat streaking his face told his wife: ‘I’ve won .. I’ve won. What a wonderful day this has been.’


On Monday 10 December 1963, Jackie Brown added the Empire crown to his British fly-weight when he outpointed Nigeria’s Orizu Obilasu at the National Sporting Club in London. It was a tough start for Jackie. The Scot was knocked to the ground after a cracking left hook to his chin. He was still on the floor at the count of 6, and at nine he managed to get back on his feet. He regained his composure and went on to score point after point, his immaculate left hand was the weapon which won this fight. The Daily Record called him “the Phantom Dancer” and in the 11 round Jackie was dancing around the ring while Obilasu missed him six times with wild punches.

And even today, in his 70s, the ‘Phantom Dancer’ is still remarkably light on his toes. Rocking and rolling at every opportunity.

Jackie was also granted a chance of a world title fight against the Italian Salvatore Burruni in March 1964. But the fight was postponed – denying Jackie a chance of the world title – when an Italian doctor examining Jackie before the fight diagnosed an ear infection. The bout was called off – although Jackie maintains to this day. “There was nothing wrong with my ear.”  His wife, Margaret, is more forgiving: “Jack had a mastoid operation in 1955 and his ear often suppurated and perhaps this was mistaken as an infection.”

Jackie had thrashed McGowan in their first meeting. But the bout with McGowan, from Burnbank, for the British and Empire title fight in Paisley in May 1963 was against an emerging and flamboyant star now dubbed the “Wonder Boy” by the press.  The return with McGowan was, according to the Evening Dispatch, “Scotland’s Fight of the Year”. The contest at Paisley Ice Rink created a huge buzz among boxing fans and there was a great deal of punters’ money riding on the outcome too. Some said it was the most talked about fight in Scotland for ten years.

Until this point, Jackie had 27 professional fights, winning 22 including the Scottish fly-weight championship, the British title and the Empire title. He had recorded outstanding wins against Mario d’Agata and Johnny Morrisey, although he lost in Britain to Derek Lloyd and Freddie Gillroy and abroad to Piero Rollo and Risto Luukonen. McGowan has nine fights since turning pro in August 1961, having lost only to Jackie.

 Indeed promoter Peter Keenan banned both Jackie and Walter from driving their cars. It seemed that some Scotland’s professional boxers had a penchant for fast sports cars, although Jackie was never attracted by flash motors.

“I am talking no chances of either fighter being involved in a car crash. I can name at least three top-class Scottish boxers who have been involved in accidents over the past year and I don’t want Brown or McGowan adding to the list.” Keenan added. “This fight is costing me a lot of money and I don’t want any unnecessary trouble.”

It was a pure Edinburgh versus Glasgow contest as Jackie’s brother, Stanley, recalls. The Glasgow punters loved McGowan, who came from Burnbank in Hamilton.
“When Jackie first boxed Walter McGowan and he beat him out the park. There is no doubt in my mind that Jackie was a far better athlete in terms of his boxing style. Walter was good, but Jackie was much more canny and educated boxer.”

Jackie nods: “I was always moving around, weaving and bobbing. I relied on my technique and athleticism more than most.” Stanley, nine years younger than Jackie, speaks with some authority about his brother and remains one of his staunchest fans. He was promising amateur boxer himself, who was brave enough to spar with Jackie, although it was during a ‘brotherly’ scrap in the ring that Jackie landed a punch which temporarily halted Stan’s fighting career. Years later, both recall the moment but there appears to be no lingering animosity.


Jackie’s wife says that Jackie didn’t know how good he was. “He lacked confidence in some ways, but he had immense ability. I went to see him fight most times until the children came along. Of course, I didn’t like it when he got hurt, but he was usually able to steer clear of trouble because of the way he danced around in the ring.”
 
The former fighter remains modest and mild-mannered, even to this day. Tommy Gilmour, his promoter said in an interview before the big McGowan fight, “If Jackie had the confidence his ability entitles him to have, he’d knock McGowan out.”

But another issue was looming before the big fight. Jackie had to make the weight and this wasn’t easy in an era before proper sports science. As John Rafferty reported in The Scotsman days before the big fight. “There is not doubt, however, that Brown is quicker than at any time in his life. He is normally sallow and drawn but now he glows with health and is sharp and keen. He has but one worry. He is having trouble getting down to the fly-weight limit of 8 stones. He is taking the weight off slowly with exercises and dieting and has not doubt that he will be all right by Thursday and remain strong.”

Jackie recalls the battle. “I had to lose the weight to take on Walter McGowan. I wore a thick heavy rubber suit when I was out running and training. And for the weigh-in I had to sweat out a lot of fluid. Nowadays, this wouldn’t happen but back then we didn’t realise that if you lost fluid, then you’d eventually run out of strength.”

And this was the story of Jackie’s fight with McGowan. Jackie started well but soon began to feel a great tiredness overwhelming him. “It was in the eighth or ninth round that I wanted to stop. I just says to myself; ‘Nah’ I’ve had enough’. There were a few rounds to go and I didn’t want to do it. I had taken too much weight off and I was utterly exhausted.”

Years later McGowan said in a television interview that he too wanted to retire at the end of the 11th round because he thought Jackie was too strong for him, but his dad sent him back out into the ring. In the 12th round, a McGowan left hook floored Jackie and he sat on the canvas out of breath. His brother put it: “He sat there like a baby holding a toy.”

Walter McGowan won and went on to become one of Scotland’s most famous boxing stars, winning the world title in 1966. The irony is that McGowan beat Burruni, the Italian who had dodged a contest with Jackie two years earlier. Jackie continued by stepping up a size to bantamweight, beating Tommy Burgoyne to take the bantam-weight title in late 1964.


Jackie went on for a few more bantamweight bouts, notching up more victories.  He looks back with interest but not a single regret. “I won the Scottish, the British and then the Commonwealth. Then I won a gold medal and the Empire Games and then I turned professional with Tommy Gilmour. I fought the world champion but I got beaten. I went back in the ring and kept going.”

“I enjoyed it. It’s not like playing football when you can go on for a long time. For boxing you have to train hard to be a winner. It’s a good training for life too and I wasn’t scared of any of them. Once you’re in the ring, you just have to use every muscle and sinew to defeat your opponent. That’s what I did.”

In August 1966  he shared the bill - and the dressing room - with Muhammad Ali during his World Title Fight against Britain’s old stager Brian London. Gentleman Jackie had reached the top of his profession – although a world title eluded him.

Jackie recalls meeting Ali, then a beautiful and impressive 6ft3inchs, and 14stone 9lbs, who towered over the Scot, still around 8 stone and just over 5ft.
“I asked him: ‘Why do you take so much punishment?’ He told me that he wanted to prove that he could and this would drain his opponent’s energy and will. I just told him that I like to keep my gloves up to protect my head.”
 It was a powerful observation. Jackie laments that perhaps too many boxers were prepared to take punishment and the long-term consequences have had an impact later in life.
“I didn’t see the point in taking unnecessary punishment to prove anything. I tried to protect myself with my gloves – and by dodging all the time. I think it has saved my health.”

About 145 fights, including 43 professional fights, 33 wins and nine loses. “I was never out-pointed in my professional career,” he says. When Jackie retired from the ring in the late 1960s, he continued to train local football teams and eventually  worked in Marco’s Leisure Centre in Edinburgh, where he still teaches boxing training. He went full time into a job repairing washing machines and settled down to bringing up his family with Margaret. His son and daughters are sporting, although mainly in the sphere of tennis and squash. His daughter, Shirley was a former Scottish squash champion who now lives in Australia while Jackie’s son, Johnston, is a tennis coach now living in Australia. Jacqueline, born on that eventful day, is an occupational therapist in Edinburgh and managed to escape into the world of books and music.

“It’s was a very exciting time, although contrary to what some people think, I never made a lot of money. Boxing is a very solitary sport. You spend a lot of time facing your own weaknesses and challenges – but what it teaches you is complete respect for your opponent in the ring.”

KK

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