1950s Middle-Weights

Thank you, yes there was a photo of Jack with a certain belt. I was approached by his relative with the questions re titles and etc and I want to believe that I answered them to the best of my ability and my knowledge, and I also asked them to share info about that particular trophy whether they know which title/promotion that belt represented. As always I failed. As soon as I asked my question they stopped talking to me. Lol. One day I should learn a lesson and finally let go this bad habit of talking to "wrestler's relatives" lol.

Beaumont was also the champion on Dick Rogers' shows in the 1950's. Not sure where the belt came from but Jack was photographed with it.

You do make an interesting point about Beaumont and Foley coming from different camps.

I would say that it is laughably ironic that the last undisputed British Middles Champion was Jack Dale in the 12 years before the formation of Joint Promotions.

That cartel was supposed to unify things but it took them 8 years to do so. His own title seemed to split apart to various claimants.

And by "undisputed" I don't mean ability wise. I mean that the pre-JP promoters worked amicably together and Jack's title was sacrosanct.

So maybe the JP promoters were more joint pre-1952! And more disjointed thereafter.

By the way this JOE COATES needs some closer look at his deeds. Just sayinnn...we, the fans need more than this:

"Joe Coates

Joe Coates was a 1930s boxing promoter in Derbyshire. Interestingly he sometimes staged combined boxing and dancing shows. The orchestra would play in the boxing ring except for an interlude during which two boxing matches took place. In 1939 he staged his first wrestling show at Brook Street Baths in Sutton in Ashfield, and following the war promoted in Sutton and Kirkby in Ashfield. In the 1950s he promoted in association with Joint Promotions. In 1979 he announced he was to cease promoting due to falling attendances."

Ruslan

"So there were two different "boards of control" and they were absolutely unrelated, historically. I understand that."

Don't be silly Ruslan. Of course it wasn't that simple.

That paragraph makes it sound straightforward. As if.

Within days a rival organisation was set up. Nothing With a stated ambition of protecting wrestlers and improving working conditions a group of wrestlers who called themselves the British Wrestlers Federation met for the first time on October 15th. They claimed their committee was freely elected and that membership was open to both active wrestlers and those currently serving in the armed forces. An advocate of the newly formed Federation was wrestler and promoter Norman Morrell, who said that he would stage BWF British heavyweight championship tournament at Blackburn in January, 1944.

And still to come The British Wrestling Promoters Association, another British Wresting Federation, The Wrestling Federation of Great Britain and The British Wrestling Alliance.

You can read about all of them on Heritage

https://wrestlingheritage.co.uk/wrestling-promoters/

In another thread we have been discussing individual members' niche interests. Well, a lifetime could be devoted to sorting out title lineages. Devote enough time and you might make some sense but you'd never uncover a logical lineage.

I'm not sure what Joe Coates relationship with Joint Promotions is. He used their wrestlers but he wasn't a member. Maybe he bought entire shows from them or, and i think more likely, he had an arrangement to use their wrestlers in the same way as Devereux, Johnny Peters, Riley and Atherton and others.

Ron is right that the British Wrestling Board of Control was used on posters to make things look official.

As far as I can see there have been only two registered "British Wrestling Board of Control" companies and neither were Boards of Control in the way we usually understand, i.e. overseeing the organisation of the business. Both were long gone by the time of this 1958 Joe Coates programme.

The 1943 incarnation was an organisation of wrestlers. On 15th October, 1943, the national press reported an announcement by Jack Pye that he was the secretary of the newly formed British Wrestling Board of Control. Pye announced that the Board was ready to clean up wrestling, and have it in a healthy and ready state for the return of wrestlers when war ended with championships awarded by the promoters they recognised. The BWBC claimed that around 50 wrestlers had already signed up to their rules and agreed they would not work on any programme that included an unlicensed wrestler.

The second registered British Wrestling Board of Control was the official name of the Committee set up for the formation of the Lord Mountevans rules. Formed on 21st November, 1946 the B.W.B.C. was dissolved in May 1947. We have an article planned for this British Wrestling Board of Control later this month.

So Joe Coates B.W.B.C. was neither of these and most likely just a bit of promotional hype. Ruslan has previously asked for the various sets of rules, here are the rules printed in a Joe Coates programme.

As for those title matches. I haven't found any record of the title changes between Jack Beaumont and John Foley, and I've looked through all of Ron's bills for 1956, 57 and 58.

And correlating the Mann win in 1952. I don't think it can be correlated. Yes there are references to it in places, but I can't find any evidence.

I thought there was no British Wrestling Board of Control and that it was on the posters to make it look very official.

Almost certainly different posters in different parts of the country could claim a champion at any one time , because they thought they could easily get away with that.

All uncovered today in the digital age.

You can spend a lifetime trying to make sense of it all.

Nothing wrong with that , if you like a bit of fun.