Lyn Philp Explained

Lyn Philp
Realname:Lynley V Philp
Weight:Bantamweight
Nationality: New Zealand
Birth Place:Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Birth Date:27 January 1924
Style:Orthodox
Total:10
Wins:6
Losses:4
Draws:0
No Contests:0
Ko:2

Lyn Philp (1924-1981) was a New Zealand professional boxer, and New Zealand's Bantamweight Champion from 1947 - 1954.

With his punching power, speed and elusive style, Philp soon became the #1 contender for the bantamweight belt. In 1960 he was ranked third best bantamweight in New Zealand history.[2]

Biography

During World War II, Philp was drafted into the New Zealand Army, serving with distinction in the Middle East and Japan in World War II.[3]

Amateur career

In the spring of 1942, the United States First Marine Division sailed for Wellington, prior to opening a counteroffensive against the advancing Japanese forces. The marines were matched to fight local boxers on the preliminaries to the Strickland-Mullett heavyweight title fight. In the local team there appeared two Wellington fighters who were to turn professional after the war, Jack McCann and Lyn Philp. Both had wins over US Marines, and 15-year-old Bobby Goslin, drawn to meet P. Gonsalves, less than a minute later they were picking a semi-conscious Marine up off the deck! Goslin who would represent New Zealand at the 1948 Olympics. Philp, incidentally, fought Goslin three times, winning once and losing twice. Philp while serving with J Force[4] in Japan after the war, he would win a tournament in Kure,[5] beating an Australian in the final.[6] Kure is at the southern end of Japan's main island Honshū. The allocated area of occupation included the Hiroshima Prefecture.

Professional career

He started his pro-career as a bantamweight joining the training stable of the legendary Dick Dunn. His first professional fight was a win against Ronnie Hawes on 21 April 1947 at Wellington Town Hall.[7]

At Hastings New Zealand on 6 August 1947, and his second professional fight he met Tot Hoggarth the bantamweight champion in the first of three meetings between the pair, being defeated in round twelve. In his rematch with Tot Hoggarth, on 6 October 1947 at Petone New Zealand he won by KO, setting the stage for the final showdown and the battle for the belt.

The Philp-Hoggarth battle took place on 21 February 1948 at the Petone Recreation Ground New Zealand. For the third and final time they would meet to decide the champion. Hoggarth was stopped by knock-out, Philp winning the New Zealand bantamweight title and the belt. He retained the belt until his eventual retirement from the ring on 6 June 1954, when he vacated the title.

In 1954 he stepped up to featherweight fighting Johnny Hanks for the vacant featherweight title, losing by KO in round eight.

World Title Fight

He was matched for a world title bout against World Champion Jimmy Carruthers.[8] For reasons unclear the fight never went ahead.

Career record

align=center colspan=76 Wins (2 knockouts, 4 decisions), 4 Losses (3 knockouts, 1 decision), 0 Draws http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=9314&cat=boxer
ResultOpponentTypeRd., TimeDateLocationNotes
LOST Johnny HanksKO 8 14 June 1954 Town Hall, Auckland
LOST Bob GoslinPTS 10 1 June 1953 Opera House, Wanganui
Win Theo Green JnrPTS 10 29 December 1949 Town Hall, Lower Hutt
Win Theo Green JnrPTS 10 3 December 1949 Municipal Theatre, Napier
LOST Keith FrancisKO 4 13 June 1949 Civic Theatre, Christchurch
Win Archie CahillPTS 10 24 December 1948 Petone Recreation Ground, Petone
Win Tot HoggarthKO 10 21 February 1948 Petone Recreation Ground, Petone
Win Tot HoggarthKO 9 6 October 1947 Palace Theatre, Petone
LOST Tot HoggarthKO 12 6 August 1947 Municipal Theatre, Hastings
Win Ronnie HawesPTS 10 21 April 1947 Wellington Town Hall

Personal life

After retiring from the ring Lyn Philp opened a boxing gym where he became a trainer and coach.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lyn Philp. Rankings BoxRec. 25 May 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20121009163631/http://boxrec.com/ratings.php?country=NZ&sex=m&division=bantamweight&status=E&SUBMIT=Go. 9 October 2012. live.
  2. O'BRIEN, Brian F. - KIWIS WITH GLOVES ON. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1960.
  3. Web site: Lyn Philp. J Force. 27 May 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20100513152645/http://riv.co.nz/jf/index.htm. 13 May 2010. dead.
  4. Web site: The Occupiers. Penguin Publishers. 27 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160201083502/http://www.mch.govt.nz/what-we-do/our-projects/completed/occupiers-new-zealand-veterans-remember-post-war-japan. 1 February 2016. dead.
  5. Web site: Hiroshima. City of Kure. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090622171602/http://www.city.kure.hiroshima.jp/english/index.html. 22 June 2009.
  6. One Hundred Years of Boxing in New Zealand by Klein.R.B.
  7. Web site: Lyn Philp. BoxRec. 11 January 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20120926145530/http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=144404&cat=boxer. 26 September 2012. live.
  8. Web site: The Mercury Newspaper. Thursday, 15 January 1953.