Boxing historian
ON DECEMBER 8, 1913, the British heavyweight champion, Bombardier Billy Wells, boxed a rematch against the Frenchman, Georges Carpentier, in London for the European heavyweight title.
Six months before this, Wells had lost their first encounter in Ghent, Belgium, when he was knocked out in the fourth round. That result was seen as an aberration and had come as a complete shock to the commenting that “All the omens point to a really great contest which will exceed expectations. Wells has reach, height, strength, weight and, we fancy, a shade of skill in his favour. The French boy has the greater faith in himself and that wondrous joie de vivre which has worked miracles before now.”
