John Caldwell

Pure Genius, Pure Class, Unsurpassed!
[from the Appletree Press title Legends of Irish Boxing published by Appletree Press]

At twenty-seven years of age, John Caldwell had had enough of professional boxing. In 1965 he lost his final bout on points to Monty Laud in Nottingham, and returned to his trade as a pipe fitter in Belfast. The dream was over.
      Looking back on his career as an amateur and professional boxer, John is proud of his achievements but dismayed at the treatment that he received from many in the game.
      “In hindsight, I suppose that I am unhappy at the treatment I got from some managers and promoters. I never got what I felt I deserved out the game and it seemed to me that everybody got their cut of the purse before me. I felt like I was only a means to an end for some and that hurts me no end: but that’s professional boxing. Saying that, I did get enough to buy myself a house back in Belfast, but it could have and should have been a lot more. But I enjoyed the whole experience immensely and have many great memories.”
      Caldwell retired from the fight game and returned to his trade as a pipe fitter. Today he will still receive a warm reception at any bill he attends in his native city, with those who saw him fight most emphatic in their applause. When asked about his views on boxing today, John is certain in the view that the game, in which he acquitted himself so well, is not the same one in which he competed.
      “It was an entirely different set-up to the one that I became involved in fifty years ago,” he said. “You had to be totally dedicated back then, clean-living and prepared to make a lot of sacrifices to survive at the top. It was a game for hard and skilful men and if you couldn’t stick the pace you were found out very easily.”
      Today, John Caldwell is still a familiar figure around the Andersonstown Road in Belfast. A quiet and unassuming figure, many people would be astounded if they knew of the career that he had enjoyed. He remains sharp, astute, full of playful charm and possesses a fabulous sense of humour. When asked to estimate the attendance at his King’s Hall bout with Freddie Gilroy, he smiles and says wryly, “I don’t know, I hadn’t time to count them all. Freddie kept me too busy that night.”
      In June 2006, the 2012 London Olympic Road show came to Belfast’s City Hall where the great Irish Olympians of the past were honoured and rubbed shoulders on a podium as they were introduced one by one to the assembled crowd. A special reception was afforded to John Caldwell as he took his bow in his native city. Afterwards, he posed for the cameras sporting his Irish Olympic towel from 1956, which had been preserved perfectly by his mother.
      The year 2006 marked the half-century since John claimed his bronze medal at the Melbourne Olympics. Many things have changed in boxing, and indeed in his native city of Belfast, since that historic day but one thing has not changed. John Caldwell is still revered in Irish boxing circles – and will be for many generations. The boy from the terraced houses of Belfast’s Cyprus Street has packed so much into his boxing career that his place in Irish sporting history is assured – and deserved!
     

The previous parts of John Caldwell's story can be read here:
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4
From the Appletree Press title: Legends of Irish Boxing by Barry Flynn.