Eddie Thomas MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

 (27 July 1926 – 2 June 1997), was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 champion and boxing manager.

Thomas was born in Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...

. After a highly successful amateur boxing

Amateur boxing

Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...

 career, he turned professional in 1946. He won the Welsh welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

 title in 1948, the British welterweight title in 1949, and the European welterweight title in 1951, retaining it for only four months. He held the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 title for a period in the same year.

Retiring in 1954, he became the manager of two of Britain's most successful boxing champions, Howard Winstone

Howard Winstone

Howard Winstone, MBE was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff-Boxing style:In his early...

 and Ken Buchanan

Ken Buchanan

Ken Buchanan is a former boxing undisputed world lightweight champion. Many consider Buchanan to be the best boxer ever to come out of Scotland.- Early career :...

.

Thomas had a successful business career for a time, but in 1994 he was forced to resign as Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Merthyr Tydfil.

A BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

TV programme, Champ from Colliers Row, was made about him in 1997, shortly after his death.

External links

• Old Merthyr Tydfil: Eddie Thomas - Merthyr Mayor - Historical Photographs of Eddie Thomas, during his period as Mayor of Merthyr Tydfil.