Al Phillips (The Aldgate Tiger) pugile

Al "The Aldgate Tiger" Phillips (25 January 1920 – 7 February 1999) was a Jewish English professional featherweight/lightweight boxer of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, who won the European Boxing Union (EBU) featherweight title, and British Empire featherweight title. Phillips took both the British Empire and sanctioned British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) British featherweight Title against the powerful black feather British Guianan Cliff Anderson in fifteen rounds at Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, England in 1947.He was an unsuccessful challenger for the BBBofC British featherweight title, against Nel Tarleton in February 1945, and Ronnie Clayton in February 1951. His professional fighting weight varied from 124.5 lb (56.5 kg; 8 st 12.5 lb), (featherweight) to 137 lb (62 kg; 9 st 11 lb), (welterweight). The Ring ranked Al Phillips as the third best featherweight in the world in the mid 1940s and between 1944–51, he remained a top ten featherweight in the world for 44 months.Phillips was an action packed, two fisted pressure boxer who lacked the finesse of many earlier British and European champions. Former British and many European champions were expected to hit and retreat or avoid blows using ringcraft and long range boxing. Despite having fourteen years on Phillips, Ned Tarleton, a classic English stylist, gave Phillips problems in the ring.He won his first eliminator bout for the British featherweight title in a sixth round disqualification against Len Davies, on 24 April 1943 at the Queensbury Club in Soho. Davies would later contend unsuccessfully for the Welsh Area BBofC Featherweight title in 1950. Phillips won his second eliminator bout for the British Featherweight title on April 24, 1944, against Jim Brady at Colston Hall in Leeds in a ten-round points decision. On 21 June 1944, Phillips won a third eliminator for the British Featherweight title by a first-round knockout of George Pook at the Queensbury Club in Soho.