TWO BOXERS.........TWO WRESTLERS

The picture in 1951 was an amazing find for me for so many reasons.

Two of those five boxers went on to be quite well known wrestlers.

The two boxers in question even fought each other twice.

I am not going to point them out yet and you may well be able to identify them from the picture.

It is my belief that Jim Moran was born in Leeds 7th February 1929 and turned pro in 1948. At that time he was tall indeed , but only six three. He got off the mark with seven straight wins.

His first defeat was at Leeds to George Nuttall who was born 17th March 1926 and lived most of his life in Marple (Stockport)

In January 1951 Moran turned the tables and stopped Nuttall at Leicester , controversial as Nuttall got the Gum Shield stuck in his throat and was breathing badly.

These guys were heavies , but nowhere near the weights that they were to become as wrestlers. They started at about 14 stones and gained over the years. By 1952 they were ranked 9th and 10th in the country. Indeed Jim Moran , now advertised at six five took future British champ Joe Erskine the distance.

As the decade went forwards “Greats” like Henry Cooper and Brian London were to come forwards and for those that never made it to the top , some bouts were lost convincingly. Manuel Bergo and Don Scott beat the giant Moran with ease.

George Nuttall also got some beatings , and as with most lost some momentum near the end , was a useful sparing partner though and both fought for the best part of a decade.

According to Boxing Records , Moran won 22 of 32 with two draws.

Nuttall won 25 of 46 bouts with two draws in there.

As for wrestling. In Nuttall's case , I can prove he tried some wrestling a few years before he gave up boxing. Initially not with Joint promotions as the 1955 Belle Vue bill shown , was one of a few where he worked for Dick and Jessie Rogers.

Most of his career with Joint promotions , he was used as The Black Mask , the first masked man used on TV. It was a good run , many imitators make it impossible to collect the exact stats , and some kept coming long after he had been unmasked.

George also had brother Bert who wrestled and I have recently untangled their career's for Bert's Grandson.

George Nuttall wrestled as Alec/Alex Nuttall for the Independents and for sure worked for both organisations at the same time. Working for the opposition kept him nearer home and paid well , with good work in the Manchester Night clubs.

Some of these bills give him away as from Stockport as he had been billed as both South African and a New Zealander , not true. Even Charly Nuttall in Vienna.

Jim Moran left a lasting impression on me and one night at Belle Vue , a match played out with Guardsman Crabtree where he put a single leg Boston on Shirley and would not break the hold after the submission. The crowd had a long wait for Shirley to be helped from the ring and Gargantua was at the ropes looking at the jeering audience. I thought he was the biggest man that I had ever seen and I went right down to the ring for a look. He leered over the top rope at me and it was the thickness of his bones that made him seem so Gigantic

Now Boxing records have him finishing about 1957 with an exception of a match in the Miners hall at Ryhope in 1960. I have found a bill with what looks like him wrestling in 1961 (Gargantua) with Shirley Crabtree and again in 1965 , with Shirley yet again , but as Big Jim Moran.

I believe he was probably lured in to the game gradually through the mid sixties , and often worked night clubs as a doorman.

This man was no longer that skinny boxer but six seven and 22 stones or thereabouts now.

And that growth seems to come late , I mean six three at nineteen and a half , six six on his boxing Record and billed even more as a wrestler.

I checked the disease Acromegaly and there is a suggestion that it does not make you taller , just distortion of certain bones. However there is a Gigantism Acromegaly where you do get taller as the years go by.

I believe Moran did suffer this or similar and we have discussed his height before , probably agreeing that he was no less than six six. I am sure in my own mind that he was taller than Gwyn Davies and Pat Roach with a clear margin. For me , about the same as early Haystacks. I last show him as Gargantua in 1977 although he may have gone to 1980 ( or copied)

The picture shows wide collar bones , giving the structure for him to become a huge man with a really wide back.

Here are the boxers again this time identified.

There are not many pictures about of George Nuttall and a good capture of a young Moran. Ironic that they fought as boxers for real.

Ironic for me to have researched for the Nuttalls and in Jim Moran , to look at a man I have never forgotten. He was just so big.

I end with another photo with the boxers named.

George Nuttall died in early 1994.

I believe Jim Moran died in Leeds in 1990 ( best fit)