Freddie Mills
Freddie Mills in the 1952 film The Hundred Hour Hunt | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nicknames |
|
| Born | Frederick Percival Mills 26 June 1919 Bournemouth, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 25 July 1965 (aged 46) London, England |
| Height | 5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (179 cm) |
| Weight | |
| Boxing career | |
| Reach | 72 in (183 cm) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 101 |
| Wins | 77 |
| Win by KO | 55 |
| Losses | 18 |
| Draws | 6 |
| No contests | 0 |
Frederick Percival Mills (26 June 1919 – 25 July 1965) was an English professional boxer who held the British, European and Commonwealth light heavyweight titles in the 1940s. In 1948, he won the NBA/BBBofC versions of the World Light Heavyweight Championship, which was the first title bout in Europe to be recognized by a New York-based (USA) sanctioning body. Mills was one of Britain's biggest boxing idols of the post-war era and remained a popular media personality after his retirement from the ring.
Once he had retired from boxing, Mills moved into boxing management and promotion, and pursued a career in entertainment, working in radio, television (notably as co-presenter of the early BBC TV music show, Six-Five Special between 1957 and 1958), and on the stage, as well as playing roles in a number of films between 1952 and 1965. He opened a Chinese restaurant in Soho before there was an established Chinatown in the area and also ran his own London nightclub until his mysterious death.