William Michael Toweel ( born William Michael Toweel ; April 6, 1934 , Benoni - December 25, 2017 ) is a South African lightweight boxer . In the early 1950s, he played for the South African national team: the bronze medalist of the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, the champion of the national championship, a participant in many international tournaments and match meetings. In the period 1953-1960 he boxed on a professional level, was a contender for the world lightweight champion.
 Willie Toil | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| general information | ||||||||
| Full name | English William Michael Toweel | |||||||
| Citizenship |  South Africa | |||||||
| Date of Birth | ||||||||
| Place of Birth | ||||||||
| Date of death | ||||||||
| Weight category | the lightest (53.5 kg) | |||||||
| Professional career | ||||||||
| First fight | May 9, 1953 | |||||||
| The last battle | October 22, 1960 | |||||||
| Number of battles | 54 | |||||||
| Number of wins | 46 | |||||||
| KOs | 23 | |||||||
| Defeat | 6 | |||||||
| No one's | 2 | |||||||
Medals
| ||||||||
Biography
Willy Toil was born April 6, 1934 in the city of Benoni , Gauteng province. He began to actively engage in boxing in early childhood, trained with five brothers under the guidance of his own father. In amateur boxing, he became the champion of South Africa among both juniors and adults. Thanks to a series of successful performances, he won the right to defend the country's honor at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki - he managed to get to the stage of the semi-finals here, after which, by unanimous decision, he lost to the American Nathan Brooks , the future Olympic champion.
Having received a bronze Olympic medal, Toil decided to try himself among professionals and left the team. His professional debut took place in May 1953, his first rival Jackie O'Connor, he won on points in four rounds. Over the next two years, he spent many successful fights, won the champion of South Africa in the lightest and semi-lightweight, and repeatedly defended his champion's titles. In September 1955, he had the opportunity to compete with Robert Cohen for the world title in the lightest weight category - the match lasted all fifteen rounds, both boxers were knocked down, but in the end the fight ended in a draw, and the current champion remained in the belt.
Despite the defeat, Toil continued to enter the ring and in 1956 became the champion of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, and also won the belt of the champion of South Africa in lightweight. Subsequently, he remained an active boxer until 1960, defended his champion titles several times, but in recent years he did not achieve significant achievements and in his last fight was brutally beaten by American Emil Griffith . In total, in professional boxing, he spent 54 fights, of which 46 ended in victory (including 23 ahead of schedule), lost 6 times, in two cases a draw was recorded.
After completing his sports career, Willie Toil worked as a boxing trainer. His older brother Vick was no less famous boxer, he spoke at the 1948 Olympics in London and owned the world title in the lightest weight category. The other three brothers Alan, Jimmy and Fraser also performed in professional boxing, but without special achievements.
He died on December 25, 2017 [2] .
Notes
Links
- Willie Toil - professional boxing statistics for BoxRec