Robert Neill was a Scottish boxer who was British Featherweight Champion between 1959 and 1960.
17 Facts About Bobby Neill
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Bobby Neill was born in Edinburgh on 10 October 1933, the son of Andrew Bobby Neill, a bookmaker and Sarah Richardson.
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Bobby Neill had an older brother Frank, a younger brother Andrew, and two younger sisters, Myra and Marcella.
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Bobby Neill attended Trinity Academy, and boxed out of the Sparta Amateur Boxing Club, representing Scotland at amateur level despite suffering serious injuries in a car crash.
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Bobby Neill made his professional debut in May 1955 with a second round stoppage of Denny Dennis.
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Bobby Neill was named 'Best Young Boxer of the Year' in 1957 at the British Boxing Writers Awards.
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Bobby Neill suffered his first loss in January 1957, when he was stopped by the then unbeaten Jimmy Brown.
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Later that year he was again seriously injured in a car crash, the resulting surgery shortening one of his legs, with surgeons telling him that he would never box again, but despite this Bobby Neill regained his fitness and continued to have success in the ring.
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Bobby Neill challenged for Hill's British featherweight title in April 1959 at Nottingham Ice Rink, stopping the defending champion in the ninth round after knocking him down nine times.
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Bobby Neill's next fight was a loss to Davey Moore, the American stopping him in the first round.
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Bobby Neill started 1960 with wins over Alberto Serti, Germain Vivier, and Jimmy Carson, but was stopped in the fifth round in June by Johnny Kidd.
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Bobby Neill subsequently retired from boxing, and within a few years began a second career as a trainer, working with Spinks and other boxers such as Alan Minter, Lloyd Honeyghan, Alan Rudkin, and Vernon Sollas.
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Bobby Neill worked as a boxing adviser on television shows including Minder.
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Bobby Neill married Laurie Steadman in May 1961, they had a daughter Michelle born in 1962 and a son Fraser born in 1965.
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Bobby Neill died of complications related to COVID-19 in London, on 15 February 2022, at the age of 88.
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Bobby Neill's funeral was held at Enfield Crematorium on 10 March 2022.
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In 2004, Bobby Neill was inducted into the Scottish Boxing Hall of Fame.