The Lynn A.C. is Britain’s oldest continuing amateur boxing club. Founded in 1892 in a café in London’s Borough High Street, the Lynn has seen off many challenges from World Wars to venue closures and has become synonymous with amateur boxing in Britain. Over the years the Lynn has produced many champions from School Boy to Olympic level and this is largely down to the clubs philosophy of hard work, dedication and discipline. The Lynn has always offered local boys (and in recent years girls) a place to channel their energies and to learn the skills of amateur boxing.
The Lynn A.C. was formed in 1892 at a time as bare knuckle fighting was deteriorating in popularity and when amateur boxing was beginning to thrive in Britain. Formed approximately 12 years after the formation of the Amateur Boxing Association there is still to this day some confusion as to how the Lynn got its name. It was thought that at the first club meeting the proposed secretary was out of town and sent a telegram from a place called Lynn (Kings Lynn perhaps) and the club members decided that they would use the secretary’s location as the club name. In 1924 however the boxing correspondent for the Evening News quoted an original club member as saying that they saw the name Lynn above a shop and that was where they got the name from. However the name came to be used it would be a name that would become a big name within the amateur boxing game.
The origin of the club logo is not so disputed. The Ace of Clubs emblem was the suggestion of Harry Parks and it was from an old cycling club from Norwood that was no longer in use.
The Lynn was founded in a café in Borough High Street called ‘The Sausage,
Potato and Onions Café’ although the first official headquarters were over the Duchess of Kent public house in Borough. Within a short time the club had moved to the Dover Castle in Great Dover Street and in 1895 to the Duke of Clarence, Manor Place, where it settled for many years.
Within a couple of years the Lynn had already added ABA Championship titles to its name. In 1894, 1985 and 1986 two Lynn Fighters, R.Gunn and P.Jones, were ABA champions at featherweight and bantamweight respectively. The Lynn proved to be a stable for winners right from the outset.
During the early years of the Second World War the Lynn AC and the Fitzroy Lodge BC were two London clubs hit the hardest. With premises bombed and many members being involved in the war in one way or another the members of both clubs were gathered up and amalgamated. Unfortunately, in May 1941 a land-mine wrecked the headquarters of the amalgamated club and a new venue had to be found. Legend has it that all that remained after the explosion was a shaft and on top of it, the ring, with a pair of boxing gloves flying in the wind. The ‘FitzLynn’ stable had much success and eventually parted company in 1946. By 1948 the Lynn had 200 members, 90 of which were juniors.
In 1952 Southwark Council offered the Lynn the use of a disused arch in the baths laundry attached to Manor Place Baths. The club accepted and the Lynn was based there well into the seventies.
Over the years the Manor Place Baths deteriorated and at some points the Lynn committee would have to conduct meetings dressed in their overcoats because there was no heating.
The club searched for new premises and often used the Thomas A Becket public house and the gymnasium at Guy’s Hospital.
In 1981 the Lynn were granted the use of a disused bath house that the council had agreed to decorate and lay a new floor in. The baths were in wells way and it
is here that the Lynn A.C. has remained to this day.
One major figure in the clubs history is Keith Walters.
Keith joined the Lynn in the 1950’s and was S.E. Schoolboy Champion at 9st in 1955. Keith eventually hung up his gloves to concentrate on coaching and has held many positions in amateur boxing. He became South East Divisional Competition Secretary in 1979, London ABA council member and Competition Secretary in 1980, selector for the London Division of the ABA and even England team manager. Keith is now Chairman of the English ABA and on the committee at the Lynn.
Perhaps the most famous ex-Lynn boxer is Danny Williams. Danny Williams turned pro in 1995 and is probably best known as the man who knocked out Mike Tyson in four rounds. Danny Williams has fought at heavyweight for many years and has held the Commonwealth title and in 200 he first won the British title despite suffering a dislocated right arm during the fight. Danny Williams remains involved with the Lynn to this day.
The Lynn has evolved and adapted over the years to keep up with changes within boxing and outside of it. A stable for producing winners, the Lynn has produced fighters that have gone on to win professional titles as well as winning a vast amount of ABA titles. The Lynn is not all about titles though. Whilst they are the aim of all Lynn boxers, the club aims to offer all boxers a place to train hard, learn the skills of boxing and develop themselves as both boxers and individuals.
