With the Olympics approaching, reader David Brown was reminded of one of Oxford’s former Olympiads, boxer Percy Lewis.

He was a member of the British team in the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland, competing at featherweight.

He made only a brief appearance, but he was proud of the honour of competing on the world’s biggest sporting arena.

Although he lost his opening round bout to Georghe Ilie, of Romania, the official report of the 1952 Olympics recorded that “several highly fancied featherweights were put out by poor verdicts, including Percy Lewis (Great Britain) in the first series”.

Other members of the British team that year included Henry Cooper, later Sir Henry. He was outpointed in the second stage of the light heavyweight division by Russian Anatoli Petrov.

The most memorable triumph of Percy’s boxing career came in 1957 when he was crowned the British Empire featherweight champion after defeating the holder, Scot Charlie Hill, before an enthusiastic crowd of supporters, many from Oxford, at Nottingham Ice Stadium.

Hill’s seconds threw in the towel in the 10th of the 15 rounds after Percy floored the champion eight times during the contest.

After being presented with a silver trophy by Lord Scarsdale, Lewis was carried from the ring shoulder-high by members of the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club, with whom he had trained. He had won the title after just 14 professional bouts.

Percy’s manager, Jim Wicks, said he had rarely seen him land so many fierce punches. He held the title for three years.

Mr Brown, of Jordan Hill, Oxford, has sent in two pictures, one of the 1952 British Olympic team and the other showing Percy leaving for Nottingham in 1955 with Henry Cooper and his identical twin, George, who was also a boxer.