Lonsdale Belt - National Sporting Club

National Sporting Club

Lord Samuel Wallace Lonsdale organised boxing matches and was the first president of the National Sporting Club. In 1909, he introduced the Lonsdale Belt as a new trophy for the British champion at each weight division. The belts were crafted from porcelain and twenty-two carat gold, supported by red, white and blue fabric backing, and were only to be held by a fighter as long as he was British champion. However, a British champion was allowed to keep his Lonsdale Belt if he defended his title successfully twice. Later belts were made from nine carat gold rather than the original twenty-two carat. A total of 22 Lonsdale belts were issued by the National Sporting Club, and of these 20 were won outright.

The holders of the first Lonsdale belts were:-

• Flyweight — Sid Smith, 1911
• Bantamweight — Digger Stanley, 1910 (retained)
• Featherweight — Jim Driscoll, 1910 (retained)
• Lightweight — Freddie Welsh, 1909 (retained)
• Welterweight — Young Joseph, 1910
• Middleweight — Tom Thomas, 1909
• Light-heavyweight — Dick Smith, 1914 (retained)
• Heavyweight — Bombardier Billy Wells, 1911 (retained)

The three above belts that were not retained by the holders were eventually held and retained by Jimmy Wilde (flyweight), Johnny Basham (welterweight) and Pat O'Keefe (middleweight).