As Britain prepares to host the 2012 London Olympic Games in less than 100 it mourns the passing of one of its boxing legends, 1956 gold medal winner Terry Spinks at the age of 74.
The youngest Briton to win an Olympic boxing gold medal at the age of 18 Spinks died at his home after a long illness.
The baby faced Spinks was a multi-faceted sportsman who was an apprentice jockey before he concentrated on boxing and became a sensation when he won the flyweight gold medal Melbourne after been a late replacement.
Spinks, who won the British featherweight title as a pro won 41 of his 49 professional fights and was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2002.
BBC boxing commentator Mike Costello said ?With less than 100 days to go before the Games it's very sad that one of the East End's favorite sons won't be around to see celebrations in his own neighborhood.
BBC Sports recalls that Spinks remains the only boxer to be schoolboy, ABA, British and Olympic champion. He started boxing at the age of nine with the West Ham Amateur Boxing Club, which later produced two-weight world champion Nigel Benn and British super-featherweight champion Kevin Mitchell.
BBC Sports said Spinks was called up to join Great Britain's Olympic team and only had a week to prepare before leaving for Australia after being originally overlooked by the selectors because of his age and youthful looks.
In the gold medal bout Spinks beat Romania's Mircea Dobrescu.
Spinks turned pro the following year and had a short - in terms of years - career in the paid ranks, retiring at the age of 24.
He became a trainer, coaching the South Korean team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and is credited with having raised the alert when he witnessed the Black September terrorists approaching the Israeli quarters.
Despite his failing health, Spinks, an East End legend, remained a fixture at meetings of the London ex-Boxers' Association until shortly before his death.
Comments
Share your thoughts on the above article by Ronnie Nathanielsz.