Museum Hub & Community Engagement at South Elmsall Library

Touring boxing rings or ‘booths’ were popular for hundreds of years, travelling with fairgrounds from town to town. Boxers received wages to tour for months at a time. Locals could try their luck against the boxers or pay to watch.

‘Professor Boscoe’s Boxing and Wrestling Show’ was one such booth and toured Yorkshire in the 1950s. When visiting the area, it would set up next to the Moorthorpe Hotel. Boxing also took place at ‘The Palace’ Picture House. Before it started showing films it was a theatre and boxing venue. A supermarket now stands there.

Born and bred in South Elmsall, George Dilks worked all his life as a boiler fitter at Frickley Colliery. His talent was spotted as a young man and local coaches offered to train him up. George became North Central Area Middleweight Champion in 1948-49. He won 53 of his 81 fights and competed all over the country.