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Johnny Basham

British boxer

Born
13 September 1890, Newport
Died
8 June 1947
Citizenship
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Sport
boxing
Discipline
middleweight, welterweight
Occupation
boxer

John Michael Basham (1890 – 7 June 1947) was a Welsh boxer who became British and European champion at both welter and middleweight. His professional career spanned over 20 years, from 1909 to 1929, and after being stationed in Wrexham through military service, he fought most of his bouts in nearby Liverpool.

Basham was the first welterweight to win the Lonsdale Belt outright, successfully defended his British welterweight title on two occasions and also took the Commonwealth Welterweight title in 1919. His career was defined not only by his successes, but also through the death in the ring of opponent Harry Price, which saw Basham face manslaughter charges, and his failed contests with Ted "Kid" Lewis towards his career's end.

External links

Facts from Wikidata Q6266298 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.