Len Johnson grave (22nd October 1902 to 28th September 1974)

Len was a black British boxer who faced racial discrimination during his career. Despite being a talented middleweight he was barred from fighting for British titles due to a "two white parents" rule in place from 1911 to 1948. He was born in Manchester and also buried there and here I am by his wee headstone.

He was born in 1902 to a dad from Sierra Leone and a mum from Ireland. He boxed from aged 18 from 1920 to 1933. He won 96 out of 135 fights. He was known for his exceptional boxing skills and was considered one of the best middleweights of his era. He was known for his educated left hand, long reach and slippery defence (he was difficult to hit.) Even though he was born and raised in England and was a major boxing figure of the mid-20th century Britain he could not fight for top British titles as both parents had to be white.

After retiring from boxing he became an activist, fighting against racial discrimination and working to improve race relations in Manchester. There have been campaigns to honour him with a statue in Manchester (statue made but not been erected yet.) He married twice and had six children (all adopted) and I wondered if a child or grandchild had left the pair of gloves by the headstone. Later in life Len was a truck driver before being promoted to foreman and retire at 70.

If he was around now he'd have retired rich in his thirties and become a trainer but his main boxing years were between the World Wars and boxing wasn't the overpaid three-ring circus it is now. I had a photograph of the headstone and was expecting it to be about four to five feet high. However it's about one foot high and the type put over pauper's graves. There's quite a lot on the internet about this humble chap - so much that I felt a bit guilty that I didn't know who he was. I did a salute and left.