Introduction

Known as Larrupin’ Larry and the Toronto Terror, Larry Gains was the twice named Coloured Heavyweight Champion of the World and is considered to be one of the top heavyweight boxers of the early twentieth century.  After a successful amateur boxing career in Canada, his professional fights brought him to the East Midlands, where he became a prominent member of Leicester’s early Black community during the 1930s.

This exhibition, curated by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, explores Gains’ life and legacy as a Black boxer, a Shireman, and a champion.

The Impossible Dream

By the time Larry Gains arrived in England, a colour bar preventing Black boxers from fighting high-profile matches against white boxers had existed for over a decade.  In 1911, to prevent a proposed fight between the World Heavyweight Champion and African-American Jack Johnson and the white Empire Heavyweight Champion ‘Bombardier’ Billy Wells, Home Secretary Winston Churchill placed an official ban on all professional fights between Black and white boxers in Britain.

Racially segregated titles had existed since the late nineteenth century.  Despite defeating many champions of the World Heavyweight title, Larry Gains was forced into the World Coloured Heavyweight category.  He secured the World Coloured Heavyweight title from George Godfrey in 1928, and again against Obie Walker in 1935.  Larry became its last champion when the decision was eventually made to allow Black boxers to compete for the World Heavyweight title.

Some exceptions to the colour bar came during Larry’s career.  In 1932, when a match for the Empire Heavyweight title was proposed between Gains and the South African boxer, Don McCorkindale, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) sought to cancel it.  Despite being the Empire Heavyweight champion after his fight at Welford Road Stadium in 1931 against Phil Scott, the colour bar made it illegal for Larry to compete in a higher-profile match, despite defending his own title.  In his autobiography, Larry describes a short, ‘Godfather-like’ conversation between his manager Jeff Dickson and the general manager of Royal Albert Hall to lift the ban right before the fight, forcing the BBBoC to recognise it as an Empire match.

The colour bar was officially lifted in 1948, following pressure from the public and press that it was damaging the credibility of the sport.

The Shireman

“The crowds in Leicester looked upon me as a hometown boy, and that’s how I felt too.”

Larry Gains has been regarded as Leicester’s own boxing champ. Settling in Leicestershire in 1930, he was described as a man who could make friends wherever he was, and many people remember him training in the gym above the Jolly Angler on Wharf Street.  He lived close to The George pub in Desborough with his wife Lisa and his four children, with easy access to its upstairs gym, and could be seen running with his trainer by onlookers.  Larry was a familiar face, a local celebrity and a self-proclaimed ‘Shireman’.

Where Larry went, Leicester was not far behind.  As his fights took him further south to London, his return home was filled with fanfare.  After his win against Don McCorkindale at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1932, Larry returned to crowds all hoping to congratulate their Leicester boy on his victory.  Many who were children at the time remember him buying them ice cream outside his gym on Wharf Street after his win.  Four months later, returning home on the train from his victory over Italian boxer Primo Carnera, parades of supporters, including the Mayor of Leicester, greeted him in the streets. In 1935, having fought across the UK and Europe, including Royal Albert Hall, it was Welford Road that Gains chose to fight for his second match for the World Coloured Heavyweight title against Obie Walker.  Toronto would always be Larry’s first home, but Leicester was his second.

The Toronto Terror

He made his first appearance in Leicester, 1930, against Johannes van Vilet at Granby Halls, which once stood at Aylestone Road, winning in two rounds.  He would see 16 wins in Leicester, with one of his biggest matches taking place at Welford Road Stadium against Phil Scott on 13 June 1931, for the Empire Heavyweight title.  In front of a crowd of more than 30,000 people, Gains secured his victory in six minutes and Scott never fought professionally again.

The Living Archive

As a part of The National Lottery Heritage Fund project, Unearthed: Forgotten Histories, Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage has been developing a Living Archive to collect archival material for Black arts, heritage and culture.

The ethos for the Living Archive acknowledges the archive not as a static structure where objects are labelled definitively, but one that continues to evolve through interpretation and reinterpretation that can be used to deliver unique experiences where art responds to and is informed by heritage and used to tell stories. In turn, this opens up an exchange, reconnecting back to heritage so that the Living Archive is active and animated.

The Living Archive is a collection of archival materials that can be used by all; artists, academics, researchers and those tracking their family history. The digital collections provide a home to these inspirational documents and aims to spark conversations, learning and creativity by bringing the content to life through artistic responses, events, exhibitions, podcasts and films.

The Larry Gains collection is a part of the Living Archive and the collection will continue to be used to tell Larry Gains’ story and ensure he receives recognition for his exemplary boxing career, his contributions to Leicester and acknowledge the barriers he faced because of his ethnicity.

Establishing a Legacy

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage have promoted and celebrated the legacy of Larry Gains as a key Black figure in Leicester’s history, through exhibitions and creating an archive collection. Larry Gains’ legacy is being recognised more widely, with the Gains family being instrumental in ensuring his legacy is established in the public sphere.