London's other Big Ben
By Alex Daley
The date: 31 July 1908; the location: Plymouth; the combatants: a lad from Woolwich nicknamed 'The Infant' and Jack Jackson, who in his next fight became heavyweight champion of the world.
Game as they come, but hopelessly outclassed that day, Ben Taylor of Woolwich, the aforementioned 'Infant', was toyed with by Johnson for eight rounds, floored 10 times, and then brutally despatched with a fierce right to the chin. It was a once in a lifetime chance for the Woolwich man, who it is said would have reached greater heights if he had spent more time in the gym, and less in the pub.
Born at Arundel in Sussex in 1880, Ben Taylor was a man who knew what it meant to be poor. His father died while Ben was just a child and his mother, to keep the family going, relocated them to Woolwich, south London, where she worked washing dishes for the officers of the ships at the local dockyard. Tragically, when Ben was 14, his mother drowned after falling between a ship and the quay, leaving the youngster to fend for himself.
At 17 he joined a boxing booth and toured London and the Home Counties, before signing up as a fighter for 'Skipper' Jim Hulls (so called because he often wore a yachting cap), who ran boxing shows at the Woolwich Drill Hall. At over six feet tall and weighing more than 200 pounds, Ben Taylor was a veritable giant in the age that he fought, so promoting the lad and pulling in crowds proved easy for Hulls. In keeping with his gargantuan stature, Ben packed a powerful punch and had oodles of strength which, as a composite, proved quite sufficient to deal with those whom he met at the lower rungs of the fistic ladder. But Ben became over-reliant on his strength and punch, and found that sheer brute force alone was not enough against the bigger and better men he inevitably started to meet. And despite the advice of others, he continually shunned training, wrongly believing that his bulk alone would carry him to greater things.
Taylor eventually left Jim Hulls and travelled to South Africa aboard the SS Malta under the charge of former boxer Jack Hare, who earned his living as a training instructor aboard troopships. In Cape Town Ben tried to secure a fight with the local heavyweight champion, Jack Valentine, but the match never materialised. On the voyage back to Britain, Ben boxed exhibitions with Hare and sparred with soldiers, then on his return picked up where he'd left off.
Back home Taylor had no trouble finding fights, for promoters all knew that, come what may, the Woolwich man would put up a brave battle, which was just what any crowd wanted. He took on all the leading heavies, including Gunner James Moir, William (Iron) Hague, and even challenged Newcastle's Jack Palmer unsuccessfully for the British heavyweight crown. He had two fights with the legendary Sam McVea, plus one with that other all-time great, Joe Jeannete. Ben was beaten inside the distance on all three occasions, however, and retired in 1914 with a traceable record of 27 wins, 4 draws and 21 defeats - 13 of his wins coming by way of knockout.
His real name was actually Frederick Thomas Taylor. He had acquired the nickname 'Ben' from classmates at school, who likened him, because of his size, to the London landmark Big Ben. His moniker 'The Infant' came about because he started boxing whilst still a boy.
Ben was a popular figure and always showed great fighting spirit, whether winning or losing. The boxing world was left saddened and stunned when, in December 1916, Ben Taylor was found dead after enjoying a lively Boxing Day in the company of his friends. His skull had been fatally crushed. At the inquest the coroner gave a verdict of 'murder by some person or persons unknown'. To this day, the details of Ben's death remain a mystery.
Ben Taylor (Woolwich)
aka 'The Woolwich Infant'
Born: 17/09/1880, Arundel, Sussex
Died: 26/12/1916
Recorded fights
1898-1900 Learnt to box while travelling with Alf Ball's boxing booth. 1900 date unknown Jack Walsh w ko 4 Woolwich date unknown Arthur Morris w pts 4 Woolwich Oct 15 Jack Scales trial 3 NSC, London Oct 20 Harry Newmier w pts 4 Woolwich Nov 17 Corporal M'Fadden w pts 4 Woolwich Dec 1 Woolf Bendoff w ko1 Woolwich (1 min. 20 secs.) Dec 15 Cloggy Saunders w ko1 Woolwich (45 secs) 1901 Jan 14 William Dees (ABA champ) trial 3 NSC, London Feb 7 William Gill l rsf 4 Liverpool Feb 9 Arthur Bobblett w ko 1 Woolwich Feb 23 Jerry Driscoll exbn. 4 NSC, London Apr 1 George Crisp l rsf 8 Gateshead May 4 Jack Owen w rsf 3 Woolwich Dec 21 Sandy Ferguson w pts 6 Woolwich 1902 Jan 11 Jack Jackson w ko 1 Woolwich Jan 20 Arthur Morris w ko 3 Woolwich Mar 3 Sandy Ferguson l pts 10 Wonderland, London Mar 15 Alf Sears w ko 3 Woolwich May 10 Sandy Ferguson drew 6 Wonderland, London Jun 25 Jack Scales l pts 10 New Adelphi Club, London Nov 15 Corporal M'Fadden w pts 6 Woolwich Dec 8 Bill Heveron drew 6 Woolwich 1903 Mar 16 Slounch Dixon drew 13 Wonderland, London May 2 Jack Palmer l ko 12 Newcastle (British heavyweight title) May 30 Jack Mullen w ko 16 Newcastle Sep 5 Charlie Haghey l pts 20 Newcastle 1904 Feb 27 Charlie Wilson l pts 6 Wonderland, London May 30 Gunner James Moir l pts 10 NSC, London Nov 17 Walter Kelcher w pts 6 Woolwich Dec 3 Jack Scales l pts 6 Woolwich Dec 17 Jack Saunders w ko 3 Woolwich 1905 Jan 14 Corporal M'Fadden w rsf 3 Woolwich Feb 9 Sergeant Harris w ret 3 Woolwich Feb 25 Private Casling w pts 6 Woolwich Mar 11 Tricks Ballard w ko 1 Woolwich Apr 6 Slounch Dixon w pts 6 Woolwich Oct 7 Geoff Thorne l pts 6 Woolwich 1906 Feb 26 Corporal Sunshine w rsf 2 NSC, London May 12 Bill Huggins w rsf 4 Paris, France 1907 Jun 3 Sam McVea l ko 3 NSC, London Nov 9 Jack Scales l pts 6 Wonderland, London 1908 Apr 15 Sam McVea 1 rsf 11 Paris, France Jul 31 Jack Johnson l ko 8 Plymouth Dec 14 William (Iron) Hague l ko 2 NSC, London 1909 Jan 23 Joe Jeannette l ko 3 Paris, France May 28 Petty-Officer Matthew Curran drew 15 Plymouth 1910 Apr 18 Gunner Hewitt l pts 10 NSC, London Oct 10 Harry Shearing w ko 2 Holborn, London 1911 Mar 18 Jewey Smith l pts 10 Wonderland, London Jul 7 Seaman Pascall l ko 6 Plymouth Aug 12 Gunner Hewitt w ko 3 Plymouth 1912 Jan 27 Slounch Dixon w rsf 6 Poplar, London Feb 10 Harry Shearing w ko 3 Poplar, London Apr 13 Tom Cowler l rsf 5 Premierland, London 1914 Apr 20 Con O'Kelly l ko 5 Premierland, London Contests: 52 Won: 27 (13 KO's) Lost: 21 Drawn: 4 N.B. This record is from the collection of the late boxing historian and author Gilbert Odd. If reproducing this record elsewhere, please acknowledge this website and Gilbert Odd as the source.
Divisions fought in
Heavyweight
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