[IceTea]

Originally Posted by Rocco Del Sesto

Ran across an article in Boxing News with a photo of this heavyweight from England and looked in my data base and seen him in there a rating done originally by Mark Elwood. That article, mentioned about Ronan being found dead in the Thames river. This was in late July 1950. Peaked my interest.

Following is a visit into Ronan's career and tragic ending to his young short life that I founding looking through Boxing News and newspapers online.
Then looked did a bit of tweaking of Mark's rating. Included are both.

I've included more that I found about Ronan's fights in his biography in the rating file.

Career Record: W21(KO 13) / L11(KO 6) / D1


Original rating by "created by me" Mark Elwood (vistaman44)

Unknown information has been left blank.

Some newspaper articles listed him as 6ft 4in, some as 6ft 3in.

DOB from the 1949 Boxing News Annual

DOD from boxerlist.com

August 2, 1950 Boxing News had a short account that the previous week

the body of Frank Ronan, Fulham heavyweight was recovered from the

Thames at the Vauxhall Bridge, London. The article noted that Ronan had

shown a promising career after his release from the Army adn then

winning a heavyweight competition in July 1948. At one time he was

working as a sparring partner for Bruce Woodcock.

08/04/50 Nottingham Evening Post and 08/05/50 The Londonderry Sentinel -

News article on this death said his body was found in the Thames on July

24th. In the articles a police contsable is quoted saying he heard and

then ran into two men who were running and they ran into him. He got

into a struggle with one of the men who then broke free and ran toward

some steps leading to the river. On July 26th he identified the body

taken from the Thames river as the man he'd struggled with apparently

recognizing him enough to itentify him. That man was Frank Ronan. So

that would confirm his DOD as 7/22/50 that boxerlist.com shows.

A tragic ending to a still very young life. Ronan had at first early in

his career shown some promise in the British heavyweight boxing world,

granted in the 40's not a lot to say about heavyweight boxing in the UK

at that time. But then some mental demons started affecting his boxing

that prematurely ended it.

03/18/48 Daily Mirror, London - Ronan, 6ft 3in (or 4in depending on the

article) was the son of a 5ft 3in London underground railway worker.

Artilcle mentions he's a private in the East Lancashire Regiment,

expecting to be demobilised in June.Mentions that Ronan was being

groomed better in the "finer points of the game", and then be taken to

South Africa for a series of fights. That never happened of course.

07/26/50 The Sheffield Telegraph - Ran an account of the death of Ronan

by drowning in the Thames. Mentioned he lived on Dynoch Street in

Fulham.Mentioned that he did a little boxing before he went into the

Army. His favorite punch was a short right uppercut.

07/30/50 The People - A very good article, rather long accounts how

Frank Ronan was being billed only a couple years earlier "as one of the

most promising of Britain's pitifully small crop of up-and-coming

heavyweights." Interesting their press seem to acknowledge to sad state

of British heavyweight boxing at the time. What held Ronan back

ultimately? "Fear" The writer of the article quoted a friend who said

"Frank Ronan realised how pathetically simple it was-and is- for a boxer

to be permanently , irreparably hurt." "That knowledge I believe, alone

kept him from becoming a champion."

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