Comments on: Sammy McCarthy, Flyweight Champion

By: Craig Hamilton

Craig Hamilton — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 20:14:08 +0000

Sammy is a distant relative of mine,I only heard about him early this year when my mum said she read about him in a book,he is cousins with my grandad I believe.My grandad has now passed away.I used to box myself and I would love to meet with Sammy if anybody has some contact details my grandads name was Cornelius or Con Mocock,also from Stepney.My email address is magicpostcards@outlook.com

Thanks

Craig Hamilton

By: Alan Humphries

Alan Humphries — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 20:26:00 +0000

Knew Sammy in the 70s kings head kingsland rd where i was the res d.j lovely man perfect gentlemen

By: Vivienne

Vivienne — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 22:28:12 +0000

Those beautiful blue eyes! Wonderful Sammy! Great story, thanks.

By: Carol Himmelman-Christopher

Carol Himmelman-Christopher — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:56:59 +0000

What a lovely man, with a wonderful story. Humble and honest enough to admit his insecurity, his fear and his failures. A truly heroic man. With a lovely smile.

By: Dean Armond

Dean Armond — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 12:28:04 +0000

What an inspirational story!

By: Paul Loften

Paul Loften — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 10:46:10 +0000

Great story ! I must say that Sammy looks absolutely superb and to look at him you would never know of his time spent in the ring .
My dad did a bit of boxing in Stepney his youth and would speak of Harry Mizler being an artist in the ring . My father was a left hander and southpaw. When i tried it out he told me off and put me off ever pursuing it as sport. However he did teach me how to land a punch and finish a fight quickly if I ever needed to defend myself . I rarely did except for a few playground scraps at school.
He also taught his younger brothers boxing and how to defend themselves in the rough streets of Stepney and I recall one night as a child we were awoken by a knock at the street door at around 3 am . It was his brother at the door . He was a black cab driver and was in a bit of a state and said he had been robbed by two men who he had just dropped off in secluded street in Wapping . They took his money bag and he got out of his cab to get it back and they attacked him . In that moment he remembered what my father taught him as a child about effectively landing a punch and he left both of them lying on the pavement and was able to retrieve his bag. He showed me his fists which were black and blue and you could clearly see the bloody teeth marks in his knuckles . I recall my father bandaging his hand in the early hours and my uncle saying ” You know What you taught me all those years ago saved my life tonight ! “

By: Adele Lester

Adele Lester — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 09:42:41 +0000

My heart goes out to him. What a career (mistakes aside). Coming from a family of boxing-mad fans, I know my dad was one of his biggest! For sure as a teenager he saw him box many times, and I remember him saying ‘I could have been a flyweight like Sammy McCarthy!’
Great read, GA.

By: Jill Wilson

Jill Wilson — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 06:59:29 +0000

Ooooh! That certainly was an unexpected twist to his story… Glad to know he is a reformed character now!

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 06:27:20 +0000

Excellent piece, thank you Gentle Author. I went to Primary School in Stepney and a classmate was Sammy’s nephew, also Sammy. I was a bit too young at the time to really appreciate boxing but my parents and other family and neighbours saw Sammy as a great local hero and personality.