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Vernon Sollas (born 14 August 1954) is a Scottish former boxer, businessman and music manager, who was British featherweight champion between 1975 and 1977.

Career

Sollas was from Edinburgh. His father (also called Vernon) was also a boxer; he came to Britain in 1948 from Jamaica on the well-known voyage of the Empire Windrush. He was one of a number of Jamaican boxers being brought to Britain by the promoter Mortimer 'Buddy’ Martin.

The younger Vernon Sollas fought as an amateur out of the Madison ABC, and in 1972 finished runner-up to Kirkland Laing in the ABA featherweight (51kg) final. He turned professional in 1973 and moved base to London where he was managed by former British champion Bobby Neill, stopping John O'Rawe in his debut in February. He fought eight more times that year, including wins over Albert Amatler and Bashew Sibaca, losing only once, to George McGurk. In March 1974 he faced Jimmy Revie in a British featherweight title eliminator at the Royal Albert Hall. The fight went the full ten rounds with Revie getting the decision. He beat Sibaca again in May and in June faced British champion Evan Armstrong in a non-title fight, losing by knockout in the eighth round.

When Armstrong relinquished, Sollas was matched with Revie for the vacant title in March 1975 at the Royal Albert Hall. Sollas avenged his earlier loss, knocking Revie out in the fourth round to become British champion, at 18 years old the youngest-ever Scot to win the title.

In January 1976, Sollas won the boxing writers' 'Best Young Boxer of the Year (1975)' award.

Sollas won his next five fights, all inside the distance, and in February 1976, after being named number one challenger by the EBU, fought for Elio Cotena's European title at the York Hall, Bethnal Green. Cotena stopped him in the fourteenth round to retain the title.

Sollas won his next five, including a third round stoppage of Tommy Glencross and a win over Arnold Taylor, before being stopped in February 1977 by Les Pickett. In March that year he lost the British title in his first defence, Alan Richardson stopping him in the eighth round at Leeds Town Hall.

In July 1977, Sollas faced Dave Needham at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Needham knocked Sollas out in the seventh round, with Sollas unconscious for almost 15 minutes before being taken to hospital. Sollas recovered fully but announced his retirement later that night. In 33 professional fights, Sollas won 25, 21 inside the distance.

He later became a businessman based in London, including managing rock bands.

References

1. Windrush75 (12 March 2024). "Mortimer 'Buddy' Martin". WINDRUSH75. Retrieved 5 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. "1972 - 85th ABAE National Championship", England Boxing. Retrieved 16 February 2016
3. ^ Donald, Brian (2008) "Sollas ready to warn Appleby of the pitfalls of title success", The Scotsman, 18 October 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2016
4. Golesworthy, Maurice (1988) Encyclopaedia of Boxing, Robert Hale, ISBN 0-7090-3323-0, p. 225
5. Reynolds, Jim (1976) "Sollas Given Boxing Award", Glasgow Herald, 21 January 1976, p. 20. Retrieved 16 February 2016 via Google Newspapers
6. Reynolds, Jim (1976) "Sollas Two Steps From World Fight", Glasgow Herald, 8 January 1976, p. 13. Retrieved 16 February 2016 via Google Newspapers
7. Kelly, Mike (2011) "When Boxers Were Kings", The Journal, 19 September 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2016
8. "Cut-prone skin was drawback for boxer Needham", Nottingham Post, 2 October 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2016
9. ^ "Sollas Taken to Hospital - Then He Retires", Glasgow Herald, 6 July 1977, p. 20. Retrieved 16 February 2016
10. Collen, Phil, with Epting, Chris (2015) Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard and Beyond, Bantam Press, ISBN 978-0593073193

External links

• Boxing record for Vernon Sollas from BoxRec (registration required)

• 1954 births
• Living people
• Scottish male boxers
• Featherweight boxers
• Boxers from Edinburgh
• Scottish businesspeople