A silver cigar case presented to Tommy Farr in commemoration of his world heavyweight championship fight versus Joe Louis, hallmarked London, 1935, th

A silver cigar case presented to Tommy Farr in commemoration of his world heavyweight championship fight versus Joe Louis, hallmarked London, 1935, the lid engraved with the initials TF in a reserved panel, the front inscribed PRESENTED TO, TOMMY FARR, BY THE, WEMBLEY BOXING COMMITTEE, IN RECOGNITION OF HIS GALLANT ATTEMPT TO WREST THE WORLD'S HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP FROM JOE LOUIS, AT NEW YORK ON AUGUST 30TH 1937, THE EMPIRE POOL & SPORTS ARENA WEMBLEY 19TH OCTOBER 1937, wood lined interior, length 30.5cm., 12in. appendix Tommy Farr Lots 798 & 799 Thomas George Farr (1913-1986) is one of the most famous British boxers of all time. Nicknamed 'the Tonypandy Terror', the Welshman became the British and Empire heavyweight champion in March 1937 defeating Ben Foord. The next opponent for Farr was Max Baer, the great former World Heavyweight Champion. This was a big step up in class and Tommy was the underdog but turned the odds upside down with a great display of boxing, while for the most part Max Baer played to the crowd mistakenly believing he could finish Farr whenever he so chose. A convincing performance against Walter Neusel, who Farr dispatched in only 3 rounds, was enough to set up an epic battle with the legendary Joe Louis on 30th August 1937 at Yankee Stadium, New York City, in front of 32,000 spectators. Joe Louis was at the height of his powers, but Tommy Farr took the 'brown bomber' all the way losing only on a points decision over 15 rounds. This was a highly respectable performance when considered that Louis, arguably one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, had knocked out eight of his last nine opponents and proceeded to knock out his next seven adversaries. In retirement Farr's life was marred by personal tragedies and financial ruin which saw him have to return to the ring at the age of 36. In later life he ran a pub in Brighton, and the great Welsh champions died on St. David's Day in 1986 aged 71.