Pat O'Keeffe

Pat O'Keeffe (17 March 1883 – 16 August 1960) was a British professional boxer who became the British champion in both the welterweight and middleweight weight classes. His professional career spanned the years between 1902 and 1918. In 1914 he made an unsuccessful bid for the European heavyweight belt, losing to Georges Carpentier. Between 1907 and 1910 he left Britain and continued his boxing career in the United States, and then Australia. At the outbreak of World War I he joined the British Army to work as a Physical Training Instructor (PTI) and Recruiting Sergeant for the 1st Surrey Rifles. He won the Lonsdale Belt outright when he defeated Bandsman Blake at the National Sporting Club (N.S.C) on 28 January 1918, becoming British Middleweight Champion. O'Keeffe died on 16 August 1960 at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Middlesex, aged 77.