Liverpool, the gateway to the cultures of the world. Home to a multitude of people, universally reknowned for its sporting prowess. This is where our story begins. In 1896 a well-known Liverpool boxer Harry Brown was attracting the attention of the boxing world demonstrating his sporting proficiency in the boxing ring, by being crowned coloured champion of the North West of England in the lightweight division. Little is known of Harry Brown, beyond the fact that his professional career lasted from 1896 till 1912. Other Liverpool black boxers from the early twentieth century include William Lawson (Young Snowball), the hard-hitting Jamaican bantam and the only Merseyside based boxer to defeat the late great Ike Bradley at Birkenhead Drill Hall.