Jackie Brown

John Brown (29 November 1909 – 15 March 1971), better known as Jackie Brown, was a flyweight boxing world champion. He held the NBA, IBU and British flyweight titles. He would be stripped of both his NBA and IBU titles while still having not been beaten at flyweight since the beginning of his reigns. The NBA stripped him on July 6, 1934 when he was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison for assault. while he was stripped of his IBU title for not giving Valentin Angelmann another chance after a draw in a title bout against him. His British flyweight title would be the only title he lost in the ring when he was defeated on September 9, 1935 to Benny Lynch thus taking all claims he laid to being a flyweight champion. Professional career Born John Brown in Collyhurst, England, he had his first professional fight on 18 May 1925, at the age of sixteen, defeating Harry Gainey on points over six rounds. In October 1929, he won the vacant British flyweight title, knocking out Bert Kirby in three rounds. The BBBofC subsequently recognised Brown as the World Champion, succeeding the later Johnny Hill, and received confirmation from the New York State Athletic Commission that they were willing to allow him to defend the title in the US. In March 1930, he defended the British title against Kirby, and was knocked out in the third round. In February 1931, he met Kirby for the third time, winning back the title with fifteen-round points decision. In May 1931, he won the European flyweight title, beating Lucian Popescu, of Romania on points. In the next two months he defended this title twice, winning on points against Emile Degand, of Belgium and Vincenzo Savo, of Italy.