Never even heard of this guy before I looked at boxrec's all time featherweight rankings. He was right up there among the elite. 117 (41) - 21. Never stopped, which is incredible for a 20 year career that took place during the era of smaller gloves. Anyone know anything about Nel?
yes nella is a legend , didn't he train at the royal oak in aughton ? one lung and never beaten inside the distance ,died just before his 50th birhday when he would have been eligible for a pension through winning lonsdale belts.
Perhaps you recall my mention of Nella on a thread asking for fighters who overcame great physical handicaps. Since Len Harvey has made it into the IBHOF, maybe, just maybe, Nella has a shot at induction.
I do mate and I was impressed someone from afar was aware of his work, not totally surprised it was you though. Old timers used to wax lyrical over Nella's draw with Panama Al Brown and other assorted great fights in The Stadium and the like. As I said, very much a local legend. There's many a pub around town with a pic of Tarleton. There was also a book released recently about the hostory of Liverpool boxing (Nella, Peter Kane, John Conteh and Al Francis' dad ), I thought it was nailed on to be a xmas stocking filler. But, nope. It's top of my list though.
