Title
'We went out partying until about two in the morning': Winning the Southern Counties ABA Boxing Championship
Subject
Harry Slater
Description
An excerpt from a recording of an oral history interview with Harry Slater, in which Harry describes boxing three bouts over one day to secure victory in the Southern Counties ABA Championship in Folkestone. Harry also talks about his strengths and style as a boxer, being the first fighter to represent Folkestone Amateur Boxing Club, training above a pub in Cheriton, and what it takes to win a boxing tournament. Transcript attached.
Creator
Michael Romyn
Source
Harry Slater Oral History Recording
Date
Interview recorded on 15 May, 2019
Contributor
Harry Slater; Michael Romyn
Rights
Kent's Sporting Memories
Relation
Harry Slater Oral History Recording; Harry Slater Oral History Recording Summary
Format
MP3
Language
English
Type
Sound Recording
Identifier
Harry Slater
Transcription
Kent’s Sporting Memories Oral History Transcript (Excerpt)
Interviewee: Harry Slater
Interviewer: Michael Romyn
Date: 15 May, 2019
Location: Folkestone Amateur Boxing Club, Kent
Recording Time: 39:40 – 48:25
Michael Romyn: What was your strength in boxing? You said you were quick…
Harry Slater: Yeah, as an amateur, as a junior, yeah, I think speed was one of my major assets. I had a style because back then it was part of the fashion – I used to box with very wide hands. Just wait, and move. When I become a senior, it wasn’t working! So I go this, tightened up, and then they hot you on the gloves maybe and then you’ll be able to counterpunch them, so yeah, speed was one of my best assets.
MR: What weight class were you?
HS: As a senior I was a middleweight, seventy-one kilos, as an amateur as I said I started off at five stone, five stone ten, we used pounds and ounces back then. I didn’t get much, put much weight on, I think I went up to maybe about six and a half stone. I was very small at school, I was quite petite until I left school and started working and I started developing and growing, you know.
MR: When did you make the transition from junior to senior?
HS: Eighteen, well it was seventeen back then, but yeah, it’s eighteen now. They changed it back to seventeen when Amir Khan boxed in our Olympics cause he was seventeen and they wouldn’t let him box for England, England wouldn’t let him box for us at seventeen in the Olympics so he said he was going to go to Pakistan and box for them, so they changed the rule so he could box in the Olympics at seventeen, yeah.
MR: So as a senior you were the first person to represent Folkestone Amateur Boxing Club?
HS: Yeah, I was the first one to box actually physically. Everyone boxed eventually but because I’d had, I’d done it, I had the technique and was able to stand well, obviously the coaches must have thought, you know, ‘he’s ready to go’, yeah.
MR: Do you remember your first bout?
HS: As a senior, no. No I don’t remember my first bout as a senior. I remember the three on the trot, but I don’t remember my first bout as a senior. I think I won it, I won it, because they put me down as a beginner – I wasn’t obviously, you know. They put me down as a beginner and I wasn’t, and I was able to move and slip and get out of the way, and I was able to do that most of the time as well, you know.
MR: You made it to the semi-finals of the national competition?
HS: No, Southern Areas. I won the Southern Areas. In them days, say, at the moment there’s approximately eighty thousand people boxing, right, approximately, back then there was about eight hundred thousand people boxing. It was a lot more back then, you know, it was a very popular sport. It died off and it’s beginning to revitalize itself now. This was, Southern Counties, right, and there was, how many was there? At middle weight there must have been – if I boxed three times in one day, there must have been six or eight people entered at that weight then, right. Well now, even five years ago, at middle weight, it’s a popular weight, you’d probably get four entered for Southern Counties so, you know, there’s twice as many people involved in it back then. I think that was good.
MR: So to win that…
HS: Yeah, it was an achievement. It was an achievement. I didn’t go any further than that because of work, I just couldn’t commit myself because I had a business and I though ahh.
MR: What year was that?
HS: Oh I can’t remember the date. I must have about twenty-three maybe twenty-five.
MR: It’ll be in the record book.
HS: It’ll be somewhere about, yeah. I can’t remember exactly. [Transcriber’s note: The Southern Counties Amateur Boxing Association do not keep records of this kind, although it is making inquiries. We believe Harry won the Southern Counties Championship between 1970 and 1975].
MR: Is that the one where you fought three on the trot?
HS: That’s the one when I done three on the trot, yeah. That was an achievement.
MR: What do you remember about that day? Did you feel exhausted?
HS: No, elated afterwards. The next day I was totally drained but that day, you know, once I’d achieved that, yeah, we went out partying, all the lads went out partying. Because it was Folkestone and I was a Folkestone boy then, right, and I had been boxing for a couple of years, you know, and yeah, we went out partying until about two in the morning. So the next day I was a bit, you know, a bit rough. I didn’t drink much then. When I was training we’d go down to the pub. We used to train over at a pub over Cheriton way, the White Lion, it’s all closed up now. I used to know the guy who runned it, Barry Chamberlain, and he said ‘I’ve got a room upstairs you can use Sunday morning for training’, and it was lovely, it was great up there. We used to work really hard, there was half a dozen boys who used to go up there, it was good enough, right, and yeah, it was really good. We’d come down, I’d have a lime soda, a couple of them had beers, I’d stick to, you know, trying to keep in shape, you know.
MR: Did you have a coach?
HS: Not over there. I was coaching them over there cause I knew the guy, I knew a lot of people in Folkestone. I was coaching as well, I was probably late twenties and yeah, we had some good times over there. It was who was going to be ill first, that’s how hard I used to push them, or they’d push us – it wasn’t just me, it was a combined effort, right, I mean I was probably the eldest one but it was a combined effort.
MR: In the lead up to that tournament what does your training regime look like and how does it fit around work?
HS: Well, I’d get up and run at six in the morning, right, and I wasn’t a great passionate runner but I’d get up and run at six in the morning for an hour, right, and then I’d come back, work, day at work, and then of an evening go down the gym or do some interval runs or do something else – just get up off your arse and do something, get that fitness level up. And it is very difficult when you’re working, you know. I mean Josh Kennedy, well he ain’t full time, he’s got a job over at, in the swimming, in the swimming pool over at Dover. But he trains and trains, that’s one of his fortes. He don’t listen enough, he does train quite well. He does train quite well.
MR: How long would you train for in the lead up?
HS: You train everyday for at least an hour or two, right, at least an hour, maybe two. You’d do mornings and evenings. I probably run for three mornings, right, and then I’d train for five evenings, and then maybe do a session at the weekend, you know, as much as you could really. As much as you could.
MR: How many weeks before are we talking about?
HS: I’m talking about when I need to be fit it’s got to be three months, three months of - gradually building up obviously as well. You know, you start off and you time yourself for a run and you take your fifteen minutes and eventually you’ll be able to do that in ten or you’ll try and get it down to ten, or even less, so you know you just build it up and build yourself up. It’s a slow process of getting fit, there’s no magic in it. Lads walk in here and think they can do it but it’s just pure hard work, you know, and it’s constantly improving and improving.
MR: It paid off in your case…
HS: Oh yeah it did on that day, yeah. It did on that day.
MR: How many rounds per match?
HS: Three rounds. Three three minutes, yeah, but I stopped the first boy, which was a bonus. I think maybe in the second round, maybe the first, but I can’t remember. But I stopped the first boy with a body shot. Second one was a tough one and I said it, three three minutes was tough then, and all I’d done was wrap myself up, had a drink, try to go to sleep, and then I was back on at eleven o’clock, yeah, that was tough. It was tough. It was a sense of achievement, yeah, definitely.
--Ends--
Interviewee: Harry Slater
Interviewer: Michael Romyn
Date: 15 May, 2019
Location: Folkestone Amateur Boxing Club, Kent
Recording Time: 39:40 – 48:25
Michael Romyn: What was your strength in boxing? You said you were quick…
Harry Slater: Yeah, as an amateur, as a junior, yeah, I think speed was one of my major assets. I had a style because back then it was part of the fashion – I used to box with very wide hands. Just wait, and move. When I become a senior, it wasn’t working! So I go this, tightened up, and then they hot you on the gloves maybe and then you’ll be able to counterpunch them, so yeah, speed was one of my best assets.
MR: What weight class were you?
HS: As a senior I was a middleweight, seventy-one kilos, as an amateur as I said I started off at five stone, five stone ten, we used pounds and ounces back then. I didn’t get much, put much weight on, I think I went up to maybe about six and a half stone. I was very small at school, I was quite petite until I left school and started working and I started developing and growing, you know.
MR: When did you make the transition from junior to senior?
HS: Eighteen, well it was seventeen back then, but yeah, it’s eighteen now. They changed it back to seventeen when Amir Khan boxed in our Olympics cause he was seventeen and they wouldn’t let him box for England, England wouldn’t let him box for us at seventeen in the Olympics so he said he was going to go to Pakistan and box for them, so they changed the rule so he could box in the Olympics at seventeen, yeah.
MR: So as a senior you were the first person to represent Folkestone Amateur Boxing Club?
HS: Yeah, I was the first one to box actually physically. Everyone boxed eventually but because I’d had, I’d done it, I had the technique and was able to stand well, obviously the coaches must have thought, you know, ‘he’s ready to go’, yeah.
MR: Do you remember your first bout?
HS: As a senior, no. No I don’t remember my first bout as a senior. I remember the three on the trot, but I don’t remember my first bout as a senior. I think I won it, I won it, because they put me down as a beginner – I wasn’t obviously, you know. They put me down as a beginner and I wasn’t, and I was able to move and slip and get out of the way, and I was able to do that most of the time as well, you know.
MR: You made it to the semi-finals of the national competition?
HS: No, Southern Areas. I won the Southern Areas. In them days, say, at the moment there’s approximately eighty thousand people boxing, right, approximately, back then there was about eight hundred thousand people boxing. It was a lot more back then, you know, it was a very popular sport. It died off and it’s beginning to revitalize itself now. This was, Southern Counties, right, and there was, how many was there? At middle weight there must have been – if I boxed three times in one day, there must have been six or eight people entered at that weight then, right. Well now, even five years ago, at middle weight, it’s a popular weight, you’d probably get four entered for Southern Counties so, you know, there’s twice as many people involved in it back then. I think that was good.
MR: So to win that…
HS: Yeah, it was an achievement. It was an achievement. I didn’t go any further than that because of work, I just couldn’t commit myself because I had a business and I though ahh.
MR: What year was that?
HS: Oh I can’t remember the date. I must have about twenty-three maybe twenty-five.
MR: It’ll be in the record book.
HS: It’ll be somewhere about, yeah. I can’t remember exactly. [Transcriber’s note: The Southern Counties Amateur Boxing Association do not keep records of this kind, although it is making inquiries. We believe Harry won the Southern Counties Championship between 1970 and 1975].
MR: Is that the one where you fought three on the trot?
HS: That’s the one when I done three on the trot, yeah. That was an achievement.
MR: What do you remember about that day? Did you feel exhausted?
HS: No, elated afterwards. The next day I was totally drained but that day, you know, once I’d achieved that, yeah, we went out partying, all the lads went out partying. Because it was Folkestone and I was a Folkestone boy then, right, and I had been boxing for a couple of years, you know, and yeah, we went out partying until about two in the morning. So the next day I was a bit, you know, a bit rough. I didn’t drink much then. When I was training we’d go down to the pub. We used to train over at a pub over Cheriton way, the White Lion, it’s all closed up now. I used to know the guy who runned it, Barry Chamberlain, and he said ‘I’ve got a room upstairs you can use Sunday morning for training’, and it was lovely, it was great up there. We used to work really hard, there was half a dozen boys who used to go up there, it was good enough, right, and yeah, it was really good. We’d come down, I’d have a lime soda, a couple of them had beers, I’d stick to, you know, trying to keep in shape, you know.
MR: Did you have a coach?
HS: Not over there. I was coaching them over there cause I knew the guy, I knew a lot of people in Folkestone. I was coaching as well, I was probably late twenties and yeah, we had some good times over there. It was who was going to be ill first, that’s how hard I used to push them, or they’d push us – it wasn’t just me, it was a combined effort, right, I mean I was probably the eldest one but it was a combined effort.
MR: In the lead up to that tournament what does your training regime look like and how does it fit around work?
HS: Well, I’d get up and run at six in the morning, right, and I wasn’t a great passionate runner but I’d get up and run at six in the morning for an hour, right, and then I’d come back, work, day at work, and then of an evening go down the gym or do some interval runs or do something else – just get up off your arse and do something, get that fitness level up. And it is very difficult when you’re working, you know. I mean Josh Kennedy, well he ain’t full time, he’s got a job over at, in the swimming, in the swimming pool over at Dover. But he trains and trains, that’s one of his fortes. He don’t listen enough, he does train quite well. He does train quite well.
MR: How long would you train for in the lead up?
HS: You train everyday for at least an hour or two, right, at least an hour, maybe two. You’d do mornings and evenings. I probably run for three mornings, right, and then I’d train for five evenings, and then maybe do a session at the weekend, you know, as much as you could really. As much as you could.
MR: How many weeks before are we talking about?
HS: I’m talking about when I need to be fit it’s got to be three months, three months of - gradually building up obviously as well. You know, you start off and you time yourself for a run and you take your fifteen minutes and eventually you’ll be able to do that in ten or you’ll try and get it down to ten, or even less, so you know you just build it up and build yourself up. It’s a slow process of getting fit, there’s no magic in it. Lads walk in here and think they can do it but it’s just pure hard work, you know, and it’s constantly improving and improving.
MR: It paid off in your case…
HS: Oh yeah it did on that day, yeah. It did on that day.
MR: How many rounds per match?
HS: Three rounds. Three three minutes, yeah, but I stopped the first boy, which was a bonus. I think maybe in the second round, maybe the first, but I can’t remember. But I stopped the first boy with a body shot. Second one was a tough one and I said it, three three minutes was tough then, and all I’d done was wrap myself up, had a drink, try to go to sleep, and then I was back on at eleven o’clock, yeah, that was tough. It was tough. It was a sense of achievement, yeah, definitely.
--Ends--