Olympic boxing legend Terry Spinks dies

Terry Spinks, who won boxing gold at the 1956 Olympics at the age of
only 18, has died at the age of 74.
East Londoner Spinks, the youngest Briton to win an Olympic boxing
gold medal, died at his Essex home after along illness.
The baby-faced Spinks, who was an apprentice jockey before
concentrating on boxing, won flyweight gold in Melbourne having been a
late replacement.
Spinks, who clinched the British featherweight crown as a
professional, won 41 of his 49 professional fights and was awardedan
MBE in 2002.
With less than 100 days to go before the Games it's very sad that one
of the East End's favourite sons won't be around to see celebrations
in his own neighbourhood
BBC boxing commentator Mike Costello
The son of a West Ham bookmaker, Spinks, who remains the only boxer to
be schoolboy, ABA, British and Olympic champion, started boxing at the
age of nine with the West Ham Amateur Boxing Club, which later
produced two-weight world champion Nigel Benn and British
super-featherweight champion Kevin Mitchell.
He was working as a binman when the call came to join Great Britain's
Olympic team and only had a week to prepare before leaving for
Australia.
Spinks, who was originally overlooked by the selectors because of his
age and youthful looks, beat Romania's Mircea Dobrescu in the final.
Spinks turned pro the following year and had a short - in terms of
years - career in the paid ranks, retiring at the age of 24.
However, he won the British featherweight title in 1960 with a
stoppage of Bobby Neill and defended the Lonsdale Belt twice before
losing to Welsh legend Howard Winstone in 1961.
Spinks became a trainer, coaching the South Korean team at the 1972
Olympics in Munich, and raised the alert when he witnessed the Black
September terrorists approaching the Israeli quarters.
After a lengthy battle with alcoholism, Spinks fell ill and in later
years was looked after by his cousin Rosemary Ellmore and her husband
Terry.
A long campaign led by the Ellmores led to Spinks finally being
awarded an MBE, fellow Melbourne gold-medalist Dick McTaggart having
received one 17 years previously.
Despite his failing health, Spinks, an East End legend, remained a
fixture at meetings of the London ex-Boxers'Association until shortly
before his death.