Saturday, September 16, 2017

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Muhammad Ali vs Tubby Anstruther

Today the old boy remembers his success as a boxing promoter.

Tuesday

Did you see the fight between Mayweather and McGregor? While it was not as one-sided as the pundits predicted, I was painfully reminded of the night I arranged for Muhammad Ali to fight the heavyweight champion of Rutland, Tubby Anstruther.

That one didn’t go the distance either, but it did put the Empire Pool, Oakham, on the map as a venue for boxing.

What great nights they were! Henry Cooper. Alan "Boom Boom" Minter. Vanessa Redgrave.

Above all I remember Sugar Ray Michie, a tasty welterweight who later won Argyll and Bute for the Liberals. We Liberal Democrats could do with some of her fighting spirit today.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10.

Previously in Lord Bonkers' Diary

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Was Vanessa fighting Cooper and Minter at the same time? My money is on Vanessa hitting them with her hand bag. Pity it was not reported in the press, it would have made a great story.