‘Tancy’ Lee to get place in Hall of Fame

LEITH boxing legend James “Tancy” Lee is to be inducted into the Scottish Boxing Hall of Fame, writes BRIAN DONALD.

The induction will take place at a ceremony in Glasgow in September and organisers have appealed for surviving relatives of the fighter to contact them so that they can attend the event.

Despite not turning pro until in his 30s, Lee became the first Scot to win a British flyweight title when he stopped Welsh ring great Jimmy Wilde inside the distance in January 1915 in London. He then went on to win the British featherweight title and, between 1917 and 1919, became the first Scot to win a Lonsdale belt outright at that weight. Then, as a coach at the famous Leith Victoria club, he guided his nephews – George and James McKenzie – to the Olympics where they both won medals.

Lee died in 1941 – killed by a bus during Edinburgh’s wartime blackout.

Jan Mack of the Scottish Hall of Fame said: “I would be very obliged if someone contacts me to put us in touch with his family in Leith.”

Mack added: “We are also honouring Edinburgh’s 1970 Commonwealth Games light-middleweight gold medal winner Tom Imrie of the Capital’s Buccleuch amateur boxing club and another Edinburgh featherweight – former British champion Vernon Sollas who won the British nine-stone crown in 1975.”

Musselburgh featherweight Hugh Roddin will also be remembered to mark the 100th anniversary of his feat of becoming the first Scot to win an Olympic boxing medal – featherweight bronze at the 1908 London games.

• JAN MACK can be contacted on 07939 280246 or 01236 842428.