Professional Boxer. He shall be remembered as one of the few men to beat the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Raised in Cork, Ireland, he had a successful amateur career becoming Irish lightweight champion. After moving to Coventry, England, in the 1950s he worked construction and turned professional on October 22, 1956, with a first round knockout of Steve Gee. Kept busy on both sides of the Atlantic he spent most of 1959 fighting in Australia and New Zealand, took British citizenship in 1961, and won the British middleweight crown on May 28, 1963, with a first round knockout of George Aldridge at Nottingham; on September 3, 1964, he met the legendary but by-then-aging Robinson in a 10-round contest in Paisley, Scotland, winning by decision. He journeyed to Vienna for an unsuccessful attempt to wrest the European crown from Hungarian Laszlo Papp and had his final bout in Cologne, Germany, on March 19, 1965, losing to Jupp Elze; his boxing career ended after a 1965 car wreck took the sight of his left eye. Leahy spent the remainder of his life in Coventry working construction and as a mechanic. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2004 he spent his final 18 months in a nursing facility and died of bronchial pneumonia. His professional record was 46 wins with 16 by knockout, 19 losses, and 7 draws.
Professional Boxer. He shall be remembered as one of the few men to beat the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Raised in Cork, Ireland, he had a successful amateur career becoming Irish lightweight champion. After moving to Coventry, England, in the 1950s he worked construction and turned professional on October 22, 1956, with a first round knockout of Steve Gee. Kept busy on both sides of the Atlantic he spent most of 1959 fighting in Australia and New Zealand, took British citizenship in 1961, and won the British middleweight crown on May 28, 1963, with a first round knockout of George Aldridge at Nottingham; on September 3, 1964, he met the legendary but by-then-aging Robinson in a 10-round contest in Paisley, Scotland, winning by decision. He journeyed to Vienna for an unsuccessful attempt to wrest the European crown from Hungarian Laszlo Papp and had his final bout in Cologne, Germany, on March 19, 1965, losing to Jupp Elze; his boxing career ended after a 1965 car wreck took the sight of his left eye. Leahy spent the remainder of his life in Coventry working construction and as a mechanic. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2004 he spent his final 18 months in a nursing facility and died of bronchial pneumonia. His professional record was 46 wins with 16 by knockout, 19 losses, and 7 draws.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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