My pal, Bobby

OBBY NEILL had held the title of Britain’s oldest surviving British champion until coronavirus landed the ultimate KO last week. The dapper Scottish featherweight was 88, one of the fight game’s old school and proud of it; a true gentleman of the ring, respected as both a skilled boxer and later even more so as an intuitive coach.

It was Bobby, impressively intelligent and articulate, who inspired me to pursue my own career in boxing writing. I was a cub sports reporter on a newspaper in South London when I was sent to cover my first pro fight at