Fifty years ago today (December 10), Oxford's most famous boxer, Percy Lewis, scored his most memorable triumph.

He was crowned the British Empire featherweight champion after defeating the holder, Scot Charlie Hill, before an enthusiastic crowd of supporters at Nottingham Ice Stadium.

But the modest Lewis didn't let the victory go to his head. He told Oxford Mail reporter Syd Cox: "I am naturally very, very happy, but I shall, of course, be back on my milk round in Oxford on Thursday or Friday."

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

After being presented with a silver trophy by Lord Scarsdale, Lewis was carried from the ring shoulder-high by the cap and gown members of Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club, with whom he had trained.

He had won the title after just 14 professional bouts. Lewis's manager, Jim Wicks, said he had rarely seen him land so many fierce punches. He said: "Hill was always susceptible to Percy's stinging lefts to the jaw and this weakness was his downfall."

Reporter Cox agreed: "Hill took a terrific hammering from the Oxford man, whose natural clever style, grace and ringcraft was this time allied to a new and powerful quality - a devastating punch in his left hand."

One of the first to congratulate Lewis in the dressing room was his wife Barbara, who threw her arms round her smiling husband and showered him with kisses. Lewis had suffered a cut over his left eye and a gash under the right eye, but he assured everyone that the injuries were not serious.

Lewis successfully defended his title against John O'Brien, of Glasgow, at the same venue two years later, but in 1960, his three-year reign as champion ended when he was beaten by Floyd Robertson, of Ghana, in Belfast.

Because he was born in Trinidad and not the UK, Lewis was denied the chance to compete for a British title, and opponents seemed reluctant to fight him. He was once described as the forgotten man of British boxing.

But to his many supporters in Oxford, he was the best.