Remembered as one of Britain’s greatest boxers, Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis became an international celebrity in the 1920s and was renowned for his intense rivalry with the Irish-American Jack Britton. The blue plaque commemorating him is at Nightingale House, Balham, where he spent his final years.

EAST END TO BOXING RING

Lewis was born Gershon Mendaloff in Umberston Street, Whitechapel (now demolished), to a Jewish cabinet-maker’s family. At the suggestion of a police officer – who had witnessed his performance in a street brawl – he entered the boxing ring in 1909, making his debut as ‘Kid’ Lewis at the Judaean Club, Whitechapel. In 1913, at the age of 19, he became the youngest ever British featherweight champion, and between 1914 and 1922 won numerous further titles, including European featherweight, British, Empire (now Commonwealth), European and World welterweight, and British, Empire and European middleweight.

The fights between Lewis and Jack Britton for the world title were particularly notable. Their relationship has been described as one of the greatest rivalries in boxing history, and it was said that ‘they winced and ducked every time they heard the other man’s name’.

During this period Lewis became a celebrity. Charlie Chaplin was godfather to his son and Lewis briefly ventured into the Hollywood film industry in a series of boxing-related films. Meanwhile, his fights we so high-profile that they demanded venues such as the Royal Albert Hall. In 1929, Lewis fought the last of nearly 300 bouts in Hoxton, London, winning by a knockout. Over the course of his career, he lost only 30 times.

LATER YEARS

After boxing, Lewis invested unsuccessfully in a bookmaker’s shop, and then turned to refereeing, film work and personal appearances to raise money. During 1931 he was employed by Oswald Mosley as a youth training instructor, a publicity ploy by the politician. According to Lewis’s son, this relationship ended when Mosley openly embraced fascism, and the former boxer sent his boss flying against a wall with an open-handed strike. Later business ventures took Lewis and his family to Bournemouth, Brighton, Blackburn, Sheffield, Southend and on seven different occasions to London.

HAPPIEST YEARS

The widowed Lewis lived from 1966 at Nightingale House, a residential care home for the Jewish community, and died here at the age of 76. Nightingale House is a grade II listed, mid-19th-century Italianate house, between Clapham Common and Wandsworth Common. These were among the happiest years of his life, according to his son, Morton, who unveiled the plaque in 2003.