Donald John Cockell (22 September 1928 – 18 July 1983) was an English boxer who competed from 1946 to 1956. One of the most well known boxers from the UK during the era, Cockell held the British and European light heavyweight titles, and later moved up in weight to become the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. He is most famous for fighting Rocky Marciano for the world heavyweight championship.
Over the course of Cockell's career he defeated a number of the top heavyweights of the time, including Roland La Starza, Harry Matthews (three times), Tommy Farr, Freddie Beshore, Johnny Arthur, Johnny Williams and Uber Bacilieri. In his earlier incarnation as a Light Heavyweight he defeated top contenders such as Nick Barone, Albert Yvel, Lloyd Marshall and Albert Finch, holding regional titles in both weight incarnations.
Early life His full name was Donald John Cockell and he was born on 22 September 1928 in Balham, London, the son of Mary Cockell, a domestic servant from Battersea. He never knew his father. He was a blacksmith by trade, and as a result developed a strong physique. He began boxing in fairground booths and soon rose through the amateur ranks until he was ready to turn professional in 1946.
Professional career
Light-heavywight Cockell had his first professional fight on 26 June 1946 against Trevor Lowder and won it by a knockout in the fifth round. He won 24 of his first 26 fights (suffering his first two losses to Jock Taylor). From there continued to build up an impressive fighting record marred by the occasional defeat.
In 1950 Cockell entered a brief tournament to crown a new British light-heavyweight champion, recently vacated due to the retirement of Freddie Mills. Cockell defeated Jimmy Carroll in an eliminator match (avenging a previous loss to him in the process) before facing Mark Hart on 17 October at Harringay Arena. Cockell won the BBBofC title after scoring a knockout in the fourteenth round.
Cockell fought and won two more fights against future Hall of Famer Lloyd Marshal, before challenging the Frenchman Albert Yvel for his European light-heavyweight title. The bout took place on 27 March 1951 at Earls Court, London, and Cockell won the title by scoring a technical knockout in the sixth round.
Cockell had two more wins before defending his British and European titles against Albert Finch, who had previously been British welterweight champion. The bout was held on 16 October 1951, at Harringay Arena, and Cockell won by a knockout in the seventh round.
Cockell decisively lost his next fight against the American heavyweight Jimmy Slade. Fighting at Harringay Arena, Cockell was knocked down twice in the first round, once in the second, and twice more in the fourth. The referee then stopped the fight. Cockell followed this defeat with a points win against Italian light-heavyweight Renato Tontini, despite being knocked down twice in the second round.
Cockell then fought against Randolph Turpin, who the year before, had become one of the few to defeat Sugar Ray Robinson, becoming world middleweight champion as a result before losing his title in the rematch. Cockell was defending his British title, and both fighters were contesting the vacant Commonwealth light-heavyweight title. The bout was at the White City Stadium on 10 June 1952. Cockell was knocked down three times during the fight and lost on a technical knockout in the eleventh round. One of the reasons for the defeat was the difficulty that Cockell had in making the weight for light-heavyweight fights. He therefore decided to fight subsequently as a heavyweight.
Heavyweight Cockell found success at heavyweight, and in his next three heavyweight fights, all were won by technical knockouts. The third one was against the Welshman, Tommy Farr, who had been an excellent heavyweight, fighting against the great Joe Louis, but who was now at the end of his career, and although experienced, had aged quite a bit.
The fight against Farr was a final eliminator for the British heavyweight title, and so put Cockell in line for a title challenge against the holder Johnny Williams. The bout for the British and Commonwealth titles was held at Harringay Arena on 12 May 1953, and Cockell won on points over fifteen rounds.
Cockell then had two more wins before defending his Commonwealth title against Johnny Arthur in Johannesburg, South Africa. He won the fight on points after fifteen rounds.
In 1954, Cockell moved rapidly up the heavyweight rankings by scoring four wins against top rated American fighters. He first defeated heavyweight challenger Roland La Starza on points at Earls Court Arena, then won three close successive victories over the highly rated Harry (Kid) Matthews, the second fight was held at the White City Stadium, and the first and third at Sicks' Stadium, Seattle.
These victories put him in line for a title fight against undefeated heavyweight world champion Rocky Marciano. This was the first British world title bid since Tommy Farr had fought Joe Louis in 1937.
World heavyweight title fight On 16 May 1955, Cockell fought Marciano for the world heavyweight title at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, CA. Cockell was a 10–1 underdog and weighed 14 st 9 lbs against Marciano's 13 st 7 lbs, coming into the fight weighing 205 pounds to Rocky's 189. For the first three rounds the fight was fairly even, but as it progressed further Cockell began to take more and more punishment, without being able to hurt Marciano much. Cockell ended the eighth round hanging through the ropes after withstanding a huge beating. Marciano won the fight by TKO 54 seconds into round nine after Cockell had been knocked down twice, for counts of eight and seven. After the fight, Marciano stated, "He's got a lot of guts. I don't think I ever hit anyone else any more often or harder."
Many boxing fans in Britain felt that Marciano employed unfair tactics, such as hitting after the bell and low punches, but although the British Boxing Board of Control protested, Cockell himself made no complaints.
In covering the fight for Sports Illustrated, Budd Schulberg wrote in the 30 May 1955 edition, "Except for the technicality of wearing eight-ounce gloves, Don Cockell's stand against Rocky Marciano in the fading daylight hours of a cool San Francisco sunlit day was a glorious—or appalling—throwback to this pre-Marquess of Queensberry condition. This was a bare-knuckle brawl with gloves—and not a pleasant sight either—as an uncouth, merciless, uncontrolled and truly vicious fighter (the unbeaten Champion Marciano) wore down an ox-legged, resolute fat man who came into the ring with the honor of the British Empire weighing heavily—and consciously—on his massive, blubbery shoulders. He had promised his Union Jack supporters that he would not let them down, and the first words he mumbled through swollen lips after his fearful beating in nine rounds were an apology to his fellow countrymen for not having done better."
Jack Gallagher of the Oakland Tribune praised Cockell's brave effort, writing, "The fight was all Rocky's from the beginning. The Englishman showed amazing capacity for soaking up punishment."
Aftermath The title fight had taken much out of Cockell, and he lost his subsequent two fights. In September 1955 he lost to the Cuban contender Nino Valdes at the White City Stadium by a technical knockout in the third round. He weighed 15 st 6 lbs for the fight. In April 1956 he was knocked out in the second round by Kitione Lave, known as the "Tongan Terror". That was his final fight. In May 1956 he was stripped of his Commonwealth title and in July he surrendered his British title and declared his retirement.
Cockell sued the Daily Mail after the newspaper had described him as being 'overweight and flabby' for his last fight, and not giving his all. He received £7,500 damages with costs.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes81LossKitione LaveKO2 (10)24 Apr 195680Loss66–13–1Niño ValdésRTD3 (10)13 Sep 195579Loss66–12–1Rocky MarcianoTKO9 (15), 16 May 195578Win66–11–1Harry MatthewsRTD7 (10)31 Jul 195477Win65–11–1Harry MatthewsPTS101 Jun 195476Win64–11–1Roland La StarzaPTS1030 Mar 195475Win63–11–1Johnny ArthurPTS1530 Jan 195474Win62–11–1Uber BaccilieriPTS105 Oct 195373Win61–11–1Harry MatthewsSD107 Aug 195372Win60–11–1Johnny WilliamsPTS1512 May 195371Win59–11–1Tommy FarrTKO7 (12)9 Mar 195370Win58–11–1Frank BellTKO8 (10), 4 Nov 195269Win57–11–1Paddy SlavinTKO2 (10), 14 Oct 195268Loss56–11–1Randolph TurpinTKO11 (15)10 Jun 195267Win56–10–1Renato TontiniPTS1020 May 195266Loss55–10–1Jimmy SladeTKO4 (10), 4 Dec 195165Win55–9–1Albert FinchKO7 (15), 16 Oct 195164Win54–9–1Nick BaroneKO6 (10)5 Jun 195163Win53–9–1Freddie BeshorePTS1024 Apr 195162Win52–9–1Albert YvelTKO6 (15)27 Mar 195161Win51–9–1Lloyd MarshallKO1 (10), 27 Feb 195160Win50–9–1Lloyd MarshallDQ7 (10), 14 Nov 195059Win49–9–1Mark HartKO14 (15), 17 Oct 195058Win48–9–1Jimmy CarrollRTD7 (12)4 Apr 195057Win47–9–1Lloyd BarnettPTS814 Mar 195056Loss46–9–1Aaron WilsonPTS828 Feb 195055Win46–8–1Georges RogiersPTS813 Feb 195054Loss45–8–1Aaron WilsonKO6 (8)24 Jan 195053Win45–7–1André LefrancTKO5 (8)17 Jan 195052Win44–7–1Charlie ColletTKO1 (8), 20 Dec 194951Win43–7–1Don MogardPTS831 Oct 194950Win42–7–1Gabriel BigotteKO1 (8)11 Oct 194949Win41–7–1Bert GilroyPTS813 Jun 194948Loss40–7–1Jimmy CarrollDQ5 (8)11 Apr 194947Win40–6–1Paddy SlavinPTS829 Mar 194946Win39–6–1Mark HartPTS87 Feb 194945Win38–6–1Lloyd BarnettPTS831 Jan 194944Win37–6–1Doug RichardsKO5 (8)7 Dec 194843Win36–6–1Johnny BartonPTS829 Nov 194842Win35–6–1Gene FowlerPTS825 Oct 194841Loss34–6–1Johnny BartonPTS811 Oct 194840Win34–5–1Henry PalmerKO5 (6)13 Sep 194839Win33–5–1Gene FowlerPTS66 Sep 194838Loss32–5–1Johnny WilliamsTKO2 (8), 27 Jul 194837Win32–4–1Trevor BurtKO1 (6), 19 Jul 194836Win31–4–1Dave GoodwinTKO2 (8)5 Jul 194835Win30–4–1Battling Joe IgoRTD4 (8), 14 Jun 194834Win29–4–1Johnny WilliamsPTS818 May 194833Win28–4–1Koffi KitemanTKO5 (8)10 May 194832Win27–4–1Paddy RocheTKO3 (8)12 Apr 194831Win26–4–1Gene FowlerRTD3 (6), 8 Mar 194830Win25–4–1George BarrattKO1 (6)23 Feb 194829Win24–4–1Jimmy CarrollKO4 (8)17 Feb 194828Loss23–4–1Reg SpringPTS84 Feb 194827Draw23–3–1Jimmy CarrollPTS8Jan 12, 194826Win23–3Reg SpringTKO5 (8)18 Nov 194725Loss22–3Dave GoodwinRTD7 (9), 11 Aug 194724Win22–2Reg SpringPTS104 Aug 194723Win21–2Trevor BurtTKO10 (10)28 Jul 194722Win20–2Paddy RochePTS821 Jul 194721Win19–2Arthur SaddPTS67 Jul 194720Win18–2Matt HardyKO7 (8)23 Jun 194719Win17–2Ronnie CroadKO3 (6)9 Jun 194718Win16–2Harold AnthonyKO4 (8)3 May 194717Win15–2Harold AnthonyPTS1027 Jan 194616Win14–2Jimmy CarrollKO5 (10)20 Jan 194715Loss13–2Jock TaylorKO6 (6)6 Jan 194714Win13–1Battling Joe IgoTKO4 (8)16 Dec 194613Win12–1Jimmy CarrollPTS62 Dec 194612Win11–1Reg SpringPTS1025 Nov 194611Win10–1Paddy RochePTS1023 Nov 194610Win9–1Frank JohnsonKO2 (8)4 Nov 19469Win8–1Harry O'GradyPTS614 Oct 19468Loss7–1Jock TaylorPTS810 Oct 19467Win7–0Jimmy SalesKO2 (8)7 Oct 19486Win6–0Trevor LowderKO3 (8)23 Sep 19465Win5–0Harry LawrenceTKO2 (8)9 Sep 19464Win4–0Ron BakerKO3 (8)28 Aig 19463Win3–0Frank BaldwinTKO2 (8)31 Jul 19462Win2–0Sid WattsTKO1 (8)18 Jul 19461Win1–0Trevor LowderKO5 (8)26 Jun 1946
Retirement He tried various jobs including running a farm, being a publican, and running a haulage firm based at Ninfield in East Sussex. By 1975 he was working as a craftsman blacksmith in the permanent way machine shops at the London Underground Lillie Bridge Depot in Fulham.National Union of Railwaymen, The Railway Review, 21 March 1975, p.8. His last job was as an emergency maintenance man. He died of cancer on 18 July 1983 at a hospital in Tooting. He was married to Patricia Mary Cockell and had a son Patrick and Brother (David Hammond) worked with him
Footnotes
See also List of British heavyweight boxing champions List of British light-heavyweight boxing champions
Sources