Frank Parks | |
---|---|
![]() Parks circa 14 May 1911 | |
Born | March 1875 |
Died | 22 May 1945 | (aged 70)
Known for | British amateur heavyweight champion |
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
Francis George Parks (March 1875 – 22 May 1945) was a British amateur heavyweight boxer.[1] He joined the Polytechnic Boxing Club in 1892, and won the Studd Trophy in 1902.[2] He also won a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics.[3][4]
He was born in March 1875 in London, England, to George Parks and Eliza Ann Barrington.[5][6][circular reference][7] Around 1896 he married Ada Sarah Waller in London and they had the following children: Maud Lilian Parks (1897–1983), Francis George Parks (1898–?); Rose Gladys Parks (1900–?), Ivy Mary Parks (1904–?), and Olive Eva Parks (1907–1991).[8] He was the ABA Heavyweight Champion in 1899, 1901, 1902, 1905 and 1906.[9][10]
In 1911 he and Reuben Charles Warnes went to the United States with the Amateur Boxing Association of England to fight in Madison Square Garden in a series of exhibition bouts.[10] In one of the 1911 matches in the United States he lost to William Spengler in three rounds on a referee's decision.[11]
A plaque in the shape of a laurel wreath was dedicated to Frank Parks by the Polytechnic Boxing Club "as a token of admiration by his many friends for his high example and untiring effort for the welfare of the this [sic?] club for 52 years". The plaque is dated 7 November 1946.