Billy Joyce is one of my pet projects this year and I thought I'd share some interesting tidbits with others as I work through his career, along with some questions for the more knowledgeable along the way. The earliest appearance I have for him is 21 July 1939, under the name of "Ben Joyce", and based on the description his overall debut being at somepoint in early 1939 seems likely. One of a few big names with 5 wrestling decades under their belt. I discovered that he gained a lot of weight as the years passed by in order to move up divisions and become the heavyweight he's best known as today. An accomplishment in & of itself considering the food rationing of the WWII years. Starting off as a billed welterweight in early 1941:
From there we have a show from 28 February where he defeats Jack Stevens 2-1 and is described as challenging any wrestler up to 12 stone. I'm not sure what the weight division cutoffs were pre-Mountevans so is this still Welterweight or Middleweight? Clarification is crucial in order to gain context on the "best at his weight" descriptor frequently used for Joyce, including soon after on 21 March for the final Preston Rink show:
13 January 1942 we have the apparent first sighting of a match vs older brother Joe Robinson. The description makes this seem like a must watch for me:
Joyce's most frequent opponent between 40-42 appears to be a Northern Irish heel by the name of Pat Cavanagh (or Kavanagh). A frequent rule breaker who appeared often with Joyce, Joe Robinson, and Billy Riley on cards. I'd be curious to learn anything more about him. In 1943, from the middle of the year to the end, we see a step up in the name value of Joyce's opponents with matchups against the likes of Bert Mansfield, Carl Van Wurden, Francis St Clair Gregory, George Gregory, and others. This seems to indicate another bump up in weight for Joyce to Light Heavyweight & above, which is confirmed here:
1944 sees Taffy Jones as his most frequent opponent and more comments about Joyce being the best England has to offer at his weight:
1945-46 has the likes of Jack Atherton and Pado Peltonin as frequent opponents along with other interesting names such as Jan Blears (James Blears billed as a Dutchman before moving across the pond by June), Francois Miquet (who I believe is the same Frenchmen known for his work in the US as part of the Corsicans tag team), and Andre Drapp who was soon to be a major star in France. The year ends, according to the review on the main site, with Joyce listed as the no 5 challenger for the vacant Light Heavy title in Mat Magazine. These shows are from 1946:
My questions:
1) Can anyone clarify the weight cutoff for different divisions in this pre-Mountevans era?
2) Do we have any more information on Pat C/Kavanagh?
3) Do we have a clipping for the title & challengers list from Mat Magazine Dec 1946? If so, I'd be very grateful if it was shared so I could add it to my records.
Thanks in advance,
Ethan Tyler
Andre Drappe bottom of the bill here versus Billy Joyce has several excellent matches on You Tube