BOUTS WITH HUGE CATCHWEIGHT DISPARITIES!!

I don't remember ever seeing these huge weight discrepancies in the 1950's, except times when Morrell brought handicap matches to Newcastle.

I'm reminded of the story of the fisherman who married a really ugly woman. He only married her because she had worms.

I have the utmost admiration for Adrian as a wrestler but his comments are sometimes equal to the fisherman's tales of catching a whopper lol.

During an unsuccessful tour of Europe Adrian Street faced and lost to both Pat Roach & Mighty John Quinn. Not sure if Street was anywhere near the heavyweight bracket back then. Johnny Saint also did a couple of stints in the European tournies facing the heavyweights.

Kung Fu, Kidd and Haystacks somehow seem magically exempt from this list.

The Le Petit Prince bout wasn’t due to sloppy matchmaking. He was at his peak in 1967 and invariably faced heavier opponents because, as the name suggests, he was little. Jean Ferre was brought in to highlight the little Prince’s acrobatics - and then went on to be a big name in his own right. I suspect that Ferre was a nipper at the time and they couldn’t have been sure how long he would last as a wrestler.

I believe that was a headline-making novelty bout.

Blame Max anyway ............... he deserves it😝😎

Wasn't there a Jim Hussey v George Kidd match in the days before we could blame Max?

Foggy recollection of a TV tag match with the Afrikaaners (Kruger and Rand) against, I think, Colin Bennett and Eddie Riley and thinking "This is just stupid".....

Mal Kirk .v. Sammy Lee - Porthcawl , South Wales 1982.

Mighty Chang/ Crusher Mason .v. Kevin Conneely. Reslo broadcast mid 1980s.

Says a great deal about Mal Kirk being placed into such contests, that he was a pair of safe hands to work with considering the huge weight and strength difference.

I recall seeing a Max Crabtree show at Bell Vue where Ray Thunder faced John Naylor. It didn't last long with Naylor ducking and weaving before Thunder cornered him and kicked and punched until disqualified. At the same hall I recall Max matching Hans Streiger with Pete Lindberg. Pete did his usual thing of blowing up and bursting a hot water bottle and, the moment he had done so, "popular" Bryan Crabtree signalled to the timekeeper to ring the bell so a knackered Lindberg was demolished by Streiger within minutes. I also recall Abe Ginsberg versus Jack Robinson at this venue back in the tenure of Morrell and Beresford but, in fairness, this was because someone had failed to turn up and Jack was drafted in as a last minute replacement.

Crabtree seemed to love these mismatches however. I recall The Little Prince at The Sports Centre, Newark, being thrown all over the place by a rulebending Paul Mitchell and, on a later show, facing the even unliklier opponent Undertaker Jonathan (Vince Apollo).

I also promoted a few matches with a huge disparity in weights in my time but in my case I wasn't trying to be clever; it was because someone let me down and I had to rearrange things. When I promoted Jim Moser at his local hall, the Public Hall in Wilmslow, one or two of his neighbours turned out. He said nothing to me but word got back to me that he was hoping for someone different to the considerably lighter Al Miquet. It was kudos to both gentlemen that they managed to turn it into a creditable bout.

Similarly, due to hasty rearrangement when other wrestlers let me down, I promoted a tag match at The Parr Hall, Warrinton, in which villainous Lincolnshire Poachers Bill and Rick Clarke (Rick Wiseman) faced blue eyes Lee Sharron and Klondyke Jim.

Finally, I recall an Orig Williams show at The Town Hall, Rhyl, in which Klondyke Jake faced Kung Fu. Crabtree promoted Kung Fu at Belle Vue against, amongst others, Kendo Nagasaki, Johnny Yearsley and Hans Streiger but, of course, in this case, weight disparity was offset by martial arts techniques.

On that poster, wouldn't Bobby Ryan vs Ray Thunder (Glendenning) have been a huge mismatch as well?

Your ten and up two.

Jean Ferre's tv début against 10st Le Petit Prince.