Booth King Matt Moran passes away aged 96
By Alex Daley
Matt Moran (real name Matt Watson), a former boxing booth owner and one of Britain's last surviving 1920s pro boxers, has died at the age of 96.
Born on 10 October 1913, Barnsley-based Matt was taught to box by former British featherweight champion (and fellow Barnsley man) Charlie Hardcastle, and honed his skills on a boxing booth ran by the great Manchester middleweight Len Johnson.
Matt recalled that his first fight took place in the open air at the Yorkshire town of Mexborough, behind the Montagu Arms pub, which was kept by former British heavyweight champion Iron Hague. Being fairly young and naïve at the time, Matt accepted a pair of pigeons in lieu of purse money. Unfortunately, they were homing pigeons and soon flew off!
Matt's first recorded pro bout, that is the first for which newspaper coverage exists, took place on 28 May 1928 (when he was just 14), before a large crowd at Mexborough's Plant Grounds. On that occasion he lost to a local lad named Young Coupe.
Moran had 60 traceable pro contests (besides countless unrecorded booth bouts), and crossed gloves with the likes of British lightweight champion Eric Boon, Scottish bantamweight champion Mickey Summers, and Irish welterweight champion Patsy Quinn.
Boxing (forerunner to Boxing News) praised Matt for his exceptional courage and toughness in his 1938 fight with Boon, in which he battled on until the bout was stopped in the seventh round, despite being floored several times (seven months later Boon won the British lightweight title).
Matt spent many summers travelling the country on various boxing booths. In later years he ran his own booth, which he named the Shamrock Gardens, and gave many aspiring boxers their start in the game.
He passed away in a Bolton nursing home on 31 May 2010. He may well have been the last surviving '20s British pro boxer.
Return to the boxing history menu