Brian Curvis | |||||||||||||||
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 Curvis wearing one of his Lonsdale Belts in 1964 | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1937-08-14)14 August 1937 | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 January 2012(2012-01-09) (aged 74) | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Weight(s) | Welterweight | ||||||||||||||
| Stance | Southpaw | ||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 41 | ||||||||||||||
| Wins | 37 | ||||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 22 | ||||||||||||||
| Losses | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Draws | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| No contests | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Brian Nancurvis (14 August 1937 – 9 January 2012), who fought under the nameBrian Curvis as a professional, was aboxer fromSwansea,Wales who was active from 1959 to 1966. He fought as aWelterweight, becoming British welterweight champion in 1960. He retired as undefeated champion and is the only welterweight to have won twoLonsdale Belts outright. The four defeats in his professional career were all to foreign boxers; he was never beaten by a British boxer.
Curvis was the fourth son of Dai Nancurvis, who had been a bantamweight fighter in the British Army, and had opened a gym in Swansea on leaving the forces. All of Curvis' brothers were fighters, most notablyCliff Curvis who became British and Commonwealth welterweight champion. He began his amateur career during his National Service and while representing the army Curvis won the A.B.A. welterweight title. In 1958, while still an amateur in the Armed Forces, he was selected to represent England in the1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, which that year was held inCardiff, Wales. Fighting under his birth name of Brian Nancurvis he was beaten in the semi-finals securing a bronze medal.
He had his first professional fight on 2 June 1959 at theEmpire Pool,Wembley, winning by technical knockout againstHarry Haydock.
He won all of his first thirteen fights, and then fought theAustralian,George Barnes for the Commonwealth welterweight title that he held. The fight was held at theVetch Field, Swansea in May 1960, and Curvis won on points over fifteen rounds.
Three fights later in November 1960, he foughtWally Swift holder of the British welterweight title, at the same time defending his own Commonwealth title. The fight was inNottingham, and Curvis continued his winning run by taking a fifteen-round points decision.
In May 1961, he had a re-match with Swift in Nottingham for the two titles, and again won on points.
In October 1961, he defended both titles againstMick Leahy at the oldEmpire Pool, winning by a knockout in the eighth round.
In February 1962, he defended his titles againstTony Mancini at theRoyal Albert Hall, winning by a technical knockout in the fifth round.
In his next fight, his twenty-fourth, Curvis suffered his first defeat, losing to theAmerican,Guy Sumlin by a technical knockout in the eighth round. However he gained revenge over Sumlin with a points victory two fights later.
In February 1963, he defended his titles againstTony Smith, at the Royal Albert Hall, scoring a technical knockout in the ninth round.
In July 1964, he defended his titles against Johnny Cook, atPorthcawl, and won by a technical knockout in the fifth round.
In September 1964, Curvis, who had only been beaten once, fought theWBA andWBC, world welterweight champion, American,Emile Griffith, for his title. The fight was held at the Empire Pool,Wembley. Although it went the full distance, Curvis was knocked down in the sixth, tenth and thirteenth rounds by body punches, and lost a unanimous points decision.
Curvis continued to fight, suffering a defeat againstWillie Ludick inJohannesburg
In November 1965, he defended his British and Commonwealth titles for the sixth time, against theScot,Sammy McSpadden in Cardiff, winning by a technical knockout in the twelfth round.
In April 1966, he challenged for the vacant European welterweight title, fighting the Frenchman,Jean Josselin in the Palais des Sports,Paris. He was forced to retire in the fourteenth round.
Curvis fought one more fight, defeatingDes Rea inCarmarthen in September 1966, before retiring from the ring as undefeated British and Commonwealth welterweight champion. For his six successful title defences he won twoLonsdale Belts outright, the only welterweight to do so.
In 1960, he was named asBBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.
