Len Johnson Statue Site Confirmed By Manchester Council

Manchester City Council has confirmed that a statue honouring boxer and civil rights activist Len Johnson will be positioned opposite Manchester Victoria Station, the BBC reports. Johnson, who died in 1974, won more than 90 fights during his career but was barred from contesting the British title under a rule that restricted championship bouts to fighters "born of white parents".

Born in Clayton, Manchester, in 1902, Johnson posted victories over reigning British middleweight champion Roland Todd twice in 1925 and later beat Ted 'Kid' Lewis, a fighter Mike Tyson once called "probably the greatest fighter to come out of Britain". Despite those wins, the British Boxing Board of Control's Rule 24 kept him out of title contention. Even after winning the Empire middleweight title in Australia in 1926, the achievement went unrecognised in England.

Johnson's Fight Against Racism In Manchester Pubs

After World War Two, Johnson joined the Communist Party and became a community leader in Moss Side, representing Manchester at the 1945 Pan-African Congress. In 1953, he was refused service at the Old Abbey Taphouse under the "colour bar" that allowed pubs to turn away customers based on race. Johnson and friend Wilf Charles returned with about 200 supporters and members of the press, forcing the landlady to serve him. The protest helped end racial discrimination in Manchester pubs more than a decade before the 1965 Race Relations Act outlawed the practice across the UK.

Deej Malik-Johnson, who leads the Len Johnson Campaign, said the statue marks "another milestone towards properly acknowledging the historic contributions of a working-class, mixed-race Mancunian whose brave actions in the past developed the foundations of a better future." The campaign has raised funds through an annual celebrity football match backed by darts player Luke Littler and boxer Tony Bellew.

Manchester City Council deputy leader Tracey Rawlins called Johnson "a model of a Mancunian" whose achievements deserve to be told. The statue remains subject to planning permission. Johnson will become the first black person honoured with a statue in Manchester.

Source: bbc.co.uk