Lyn Philp boxer

Lyn Philp (1924-1981) was a New Zealand professional boxer, and New Zealand's Bantamweight Champion from 1947 - 1954.With his punching power, speed and elusive style, Philp soon became the #1 contender for the bantamweight belt. In 1960 he was ranked third best bantamweight in New Zealand history.During World War II, Philp was drafted into the New Zealand Army, serving with distinction in the Middle East and Japan in World War II.In the spring of 1942, the United States First Marine Division sailed for Wellington, prior to opening a counteroffensive against the advancing Japanese forces. The marines were matched to fight local boxers on the preliminaries to the Strickland-Mullett heavyweight title fight. In the local team there appeared two Wellington fighters who were to turn professional after the war, Jack McCann and Lyn Philp. Both had wins over US Marines, and 15-year-old Bobby Goslin, drawn to meet P. Gonsalves, less than a minute later they were picking a semi-conscious Marine up off the deck! Goslin who would represent New Zealand at the 1948 Olympics. Philp, incidentally, fought Goslin three times, winning once and losing twice. Philp while serving with J Force in Japan after the war, he would win a tournament in Kure, beating an Australian in the final. Kure is at the southern end of Japan's main island Honshū. The allocated area of occupation included the Hiroshima Prefecture.He started his pro-career as a bantamweight joining the training stable of the legendary Dick Dunn. His first professional fight was a win against Ronnie Hawes on 21 April 1947 at Wellington Town Hall.