Stephen 'Moggie' Murray undertaking 2-week-long bus tour to raise funds towards statue honouring Rochdale boxing champ Jock McAvoy

A local pensioner and fundraiser is set to undertake a ‘bus tour’ across England to help raise funds towards a statue of Rochdale boxing legend, Jock McAvoy.

Hamer Amateur Boxing Club has been working hard over the past few years to try and erect a permanent statue to ‘The Rochdale Thunderbolt’ in Falinge Park.

 

Read more: Hamer ABC hopes to recognise famous boxing champion Jock McAvoy “The Rochdale Thunderbolt” with a statue in Falinge ParkPublished: 13 March 2019

 

After a pause forced from the pandemic, the boxing club has restarted pursuing its dream for a statue honouring Jock’s legacy.

Now, Stephen ‘Moggie’ Murray – who has helped raise funds for local causes – will undertake a two-and-a-half-week bus journey to help raise funds for the statue.

Moggie’s first destination on 6 June will be Morecambe, where Jock beat 10 opponents at the Winter Gardens, including wins over the former Welsh area middleweight champion, Billy Green, and two Northern area middleweight champions, Joe ‘Young’ Lowther and Tommy Moore.

He will then travel to Carlisle, Darlington, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Grays, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Brighton, Southampton, Yeovil, Stroud, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Liverpool, before finally arriving in Manchester where Jock gained 38 victories, including a win over the great Len Henry at Belle Vue.

Moggie, 68, said: “Jock’s achievements within the boxing ring have helped put Rochdale on the map, yet nothing is on display to show future generations from our town just how great this forgotten man was.

“Jock has become a legend in our town for our older generation. But if our community don’t voice their concern as to why nothing has been done to recognise this great boxer, then our younger generation will have no idea who he was.

“This great man suffered from all kinds of issues regarding his mental health, just like I have. Yet he achieved great things for himself and our town, but he is still not recognised. We are doing this event along with other events within our town to try and get some form of recognition for this great, great boxer of ours.”

 

 

Who was Jock McAvoy?

McAvoy’s illustrious career spanned from 1927 to 1945, winning 132 contests whilst losing only 14, according to BoxRec official boxing records. Of this, 88 wins were by knock-out.

Although born in Burnley as Joseph Patrick Bamford in 1908, McAvoy moved to Rochdale at a very young age and started boxing and training at numerous gyms within the town, including Hamer Amateur Boxing Club.

Regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, McAvoy was never knocked out in his 18-year career and won the Lonsdale Belt outright by defending the British title three times. It was a title he never lost.

McAvoy was awarded the British middleweight title in Manchester on 10 April 1933, after defeating Len Harvey on points.

They would again face off in the British and Commonwealth (British Empire) light-heavyweight title at White City Stadium, London on 10 July 1939, a fight which drew an all-time British attendance record of over 94,000 fight fans.

His greatest achievement came when he travelled to America to beat the leading world light-heavyweight title contender Al McCoy by unanimous decision after 10 rounds at Madison Square Garden, on 29 November 1935.

Because of his victory over McCoy, he was in line to box the-then middleweight champion of the world, Eddie ‘Babe’ Risko. McAvoy was matched against Risko in a non-title bout: McAvoy knocked Risko out at the time of 2:48 inside the first round after flooring him six times.

McAvoy was never allowed a rematch with the title at stake, but he was offered the chance to fight the-then light-heavyweight champion of the world and future International Boxing Hall of Famer, John Henry Lewis in March 1936. Jock lost on points after a hard fought 15 rounds.

Although only a middleweight, McAvoy also fought for the British and Commonwealth (British Empire) heavyweight titles against the champion Jack Peterson on 23 April 1936. Unfortunately, he lost on points after 15 gruelling rounds.

McAvoy also won the British light-heavyweight title in London on 27 April 1937, knocking out Eddie Phillips for the title.

Although Jock achieved great things within the ring, he also suffered from mental health issues when he finished boxing. He was stricken with polio, which steadily got worse, and he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He had also survived both diphtheria and a broken neck prior to his polio diagnosis, as well as continuous suffering from insomnia and depression. This led to regular arguments with his wife, Renee, who eventually left him.

Jock’s mental anguish became gradually worse, yet his son Joe, thought he had convinced the boxing champ to come back to live in Rochdale. Jock agreed – but told Joe he wanted to spend one more night at his Cheshire home. Sadly, Jock took his own life that night in November 1971, with an overdose of barbiturates.

Jock was buried at Rochdale cemetery that same month.

 

Hamer head coach Steven Connellan said: “This is a great opportunity for our community to show their support on Moggie’s journey up and down the country to help with this great appeal to raise funds for a statue of the Rochdale legend Jock McAvoy for our town and he is hoping that many boxers, ex-boxers, and boxing fans show their support when he arrives at the different destinations along the way.

“This is a great opportunity for our council to sit down with us and try and support our community by allowing us to erect this statue somewhere within the centre of our town to help inspire our younger generation and also help the town generate tourism.

“If we don’t manage to raise enough funds for a statue, then we are hoping to maybe get a bust or a blue plaque. Any remaining funds will be donated to the Ringside Charitable Trust Care Home to help ex-Boxers, such as my uncle Kevin Taylor, who is suffering from dementia after he once fought in the Olympic Games in 1984 and for the British featherweight title on two occasions.”

Local builder Ian Lawlor has kindly donated £1,000 pounds to cover the cost of accommodation for each destination Moggie visits, along with Wright Interiors, who have kindly donated t-shirts depicting Jock McAvoy and a small ladder for the tour.

Other local people have also helped with the cause by donating money to help Moggie on his journey up and down the country.

Donations in support of the cause can be made to the following community bank account:

• Account number: 93160165
• Sort code: 20-72-67