Pat O'Keeffe
O'Keeffe in a 1908 press photograph | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 17 March 1883 Bromley-by-Bow, England |
| Died | 16 August 1960 (aged 77) |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | Welterweight, Middleweight, Heavyweight |
| Signature | |
| Boxing career | |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 131 |
| Wins | 88 |
| Win by KO | 36 |
| Losses | 25 |
| Draws | 7 |
| No contests | 11 |
Pat O'Keeffe (17 March 1883 – 16 August 1960) was a British professional boxer who twice held the British middleweight title. His professional career spanned sixteen years, from 1902 to 1918, and took him to the United States and Australia between 1907 and 1910. In 1914, he challenged Georges Carpentier in a contest billed as the European heavyweight championship but was knocked out in two rounds.
During World War I, he joined the British Army and served with the 1st Surrey Rifles, combining recruiting duties with physical training. In 1918, he won the Lonsdale Belt outright by defeating Bandsman Blake at the National Sporting Club (NSC) during a German air raid on London, becoming British middleweight champion and the first boxer to hold the middleweight Lonsdale Belt outright.
Boxing historian John Harding described O'Keeffe as one of the notable characters of his era, while Arthur Frederick Bettinson, the NSC's manager, wrote that he deserved "pride of place" among the middleweights of his time, if only for his force of personality. After retiring from the ring, he worked as a publican and boxing trainer, and served as a founding member of the British Boxing Board of Control.