Jacky Horseman: Boxing champ struck gold out of ring
IT IS not often in life that you strike gold twice – but that is exactly what happened to Jacky Horseman.
Jacky became a Hartlepool legend when he lifted the Northern Area featherweight title in May 1951, defeating Carlisle's Don Scott in front of a 20,000 crowd at the Greyhound Stadium.
As John Jarrett said in the piece next to this, Jacky did not win many, but he was a proud fighter, who loved his boxing and gave everything in the ring.
He was a winner though out of the ring in 1967 when he won the Pools!
Following the Pools win, Jacky and wife Trudy moved to Ormesby Bank before settling by the seaside at Whitby.
After Trudy's death in 1999, Jacky remained in Whitby but returned to Hartlepool every week to visit his daughters, Sheila and Doreen.
This reporter first met him in October, 2002, when I interviewed him ahead of Michael Hunter's challenge for the WBF world super-bantamweight championship fight against Sweden's Frankie de Milo.
Eighty years young, he was not only a gentleman, but also a great character.
Walking through the Middleton Grange Shopping centre one day, with a daughter on each arm, someone spotted him and shouted out: "Still tashing Jacky?"
"Too right," came the reply with a smile. "And both have their pension books!"
He always had a smile for everyone and retained a great love for boxing and its fighters.
Many times Jacky came to the Borough Hall to support Hunter and always looked a million dollars at ringside every time.
The last time I saw him was when I bumped into him at the Melbourne Hotel in April last year – he still looked as good and fit – and as young – as ever.
Sadly, Jacky fell ill, suffering a stroke, and spent his later days in hospital, losing his fight for life at the weekend. This earth will be a poorer – and quieter – place without him.
Family, friends and admirers can say their farewells at the funeral service at Strathmore House, Stockton Road on Friday, at 1.20pm.
– ROY KELLY, Mail boxing writer
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Friday 25 May 2012
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