Hard puncher, iron-chinned, got his better matches later in his long career. Ran into a prime John Henry Lewis but that should hardly count against him. The Rochdale Thuderbolt!
Joe Bamford suffered from severe stiffness of the joints, specifically the thumbs which had been broken in a cotton mill accident , he would put his gloved thumbs in his mouth when in the ring and tug at them with his teeth to loosen them up. Reg Gutteridge the English boxing commentator and author,a man I had the privilege of meeting and talking to a couple of times at the fights ,wittingly described him as being ,"the only man who regularly bit the hand that fed him". Two weeks prior to his title shot at Lewis ,McAvoy/Bamford had exacerbated the on-going pain he endured in his hands by banging them on Anson Greens head in a meaningless tune up. It may be apocryphal but Jock, who had his hands injected with pain killer before fights went into the Lewis fight handicapped by painful maulies.The story is that John Greenlees Lewis' manager knew of Jock's plight and deliberately held up the start of the fight,as a result of which halfway into the fight, the drug wore off and Jock was in agony. post fight Jock said" I never complained about the verdict ,Lewis deserved to win ,but if my hands had been ok I might have done him." The ringside Doc,Doctor Walker examined McAvoy and stated,there were no broken bones but high synovial condition inflammation, and recommended no boxing for several months.Six weeks later McAvoy was challenging Jack Peterson for the British heavyweight title," I couldn't break an egg". In later years Jock contracted Polio.He committed suicide on his 63rd birthday.
Regarding McAvoy's fight with Babe Risko, did he originally travel to the States expecting it to be a title fight but Risko's handlers changed their mind and it ended up a non title fight? I thought I read something of that ilk somewhere but my memory could be playing tricks.
Risko's corner refused to have the fight for the title as they said McAvoy was unknown.McAvoy was naturally a super middle. McAvoy fell of a horse in 1930 and broke his neck the diagnosis was that he wouldn't box again, and might not even walk.Jock contracted polio at the age of 39 the BBB Of C donated £25 for a wheelchair.
Broken neck, seized up hands the man was hard as nails! I take it Risko's people passed up on McAvoy getting a title shot after blitzing him in one round. Let's just suppose that McAvoy had won the title, how do you think he would have fared against the then contenders like Freddie Steele and Fred Apostoli?
Hard to say he may have been weakened by making 160,he was 168 for the Risko fight. Very tough guy old Jock. No Risko's people weren't interested in giving McAvoy a title shot ,he had to take on a great lhvy champ in in Lewis .
