Yesterday’s Heroes: Coalminer Tommy Marren had 169 fights in seven years

Recently, I had the great pleasure of returning two scrapbooks, detailing the boxing career of a fighter from the 1930s, to his family. I came into possession of these books around 20 years ago and since then, they’ve been sitting in my study. The family of Tommy Marren reached out to me for information about his boxing career and I felt it was only right to give the books back to them.

Tommy Marren, a native of Burnley, was a prominent boxer during the bustling period of the late 1920s to mid-1930s. Born in 1907, he had already become a coalminer and a fighter by his teenage years, a combination that was known to produce exceptional fighters. His boxing career, although short-lived from 1928 to 1935, was quite full with 169 matches, of which he only lost 41. Today, he is best remembered for being the Northern Area welterweight champion in 1934 and for obtaining the Jem Mace belt, both of which he won in a single contest.

The Northern region in 1934 included not only its present-day equivalent but also the entire current Central Area and a significant portion of the existing Midlands area. The Southern region did include Birmingham, but almost all areas north of the city were considered ‘Northern’. Therefore, Tommy’s championship covered a vast region, and winning this title at that time was quite an achievement. The Jem Mace belt, first won by Mace himself in 1861 by defeating Sam Hurst in a bare-knuckle match, is fortunately still owned by the family today.

Throughout his career, Tommy had an average of one match every two weeks, with most of them being 12-rounders. For example, in the initial three months of 1931, he participated in 11 matches, which included three 15-rounders and six 12-rounders, out of which he won nine. During one of these fights, he severely hurt his right hand, and his doctor suggested that he retire from the sport. However, Tommy disregarded this advice and continued to box for another four years, participating in over 100 additional matches.

In May 1934, the Winter Gardens in Morecambe hosted the Northern Area title contest. At the time, this venue was renowned, hosting weekly shows throughout most of that decade. Tommy and John Melia from Bradford were the welterweight tournament finalists, a competition open to any British fighter. Originally, there were 28 contestants. The tournament spanned six months, starting in December 1933. To make it to the finals, Tommy had to defeat Harry White, Bob Parkin, and his main rival Tommy Kenny from Burnley. Tommy had previously beaten Kenny twice and managed to outscore him comfortably in the semi-final after knocking him down in the 11th round.

The Northern Area council made the decision to acknowledge the tournament final between Marren and Melia as the competition for their open area welterweight title. The Jem Mace belt, procured by the promoter and set to be given to the tournament victor, was the cherry on top.

In the early phases of the final, Melia took a considerable lead over Tommy, who was struggling. Melia managed to stagger Marren in the fifth round with a brief right, but failed to capitalize on this advantage. This allowed Tommy to regain his footing in the competition. However, in the ninth round, Melia was compelled to stop due to a severe cut, paving the way for Tommy to emerge as the champion.

Later in the year, he was defeated by Hanley’s Pat Haley, who outperformed him in just one round, causing him to lose his title. Post-retirement, Tommy purchased a gym in Burnley where he spent many years training young boys. The gym, famously known as the Star Gym, was eventually demolished. Tommy exited the sport with nothing but his memories. In 1989, at the age of 82, this proud man passed away.