Imagine a roar of the crowd. It echoes through time to this very spot where the Harry Mallin Blue plaque stands. This plaque commemorates Harry Mallin a policeman and Olympic boxing champion. He lived and worked here at 105 Regency Street.
Harry Mallin was born Henry William Mallin in 1892. His family soon moved to Hackney Wick. As a boy he joined the Eton Manor Boys’ Club and excelled at sports. Boxing became his passion. Fred Grace an Olympic champion coached him.
Mallin joined the Metropolitan Police in 1914. He served in Tower Hamlets and Bow Street. From 1923 he was stationed at Peel House. This is where he achieved his greatest sporting successes.
Mallin first won the London City police reserve competition in 1916. During World War I he was posted to a shipyard. A leg injury nearly ended his career. He recovered to win the Amateur Boxing Association title in 1919. He then held it for five consecutive years. His brother Fred later equaled his record.
The 1920 Olympics in Antwerp marked Mallin’s first triumph. He won gold beating Canada’s George Prud’homme. The Eton Manor newsletter noted he had no trouble with drunk people wanting to fight him.
The 1924 Paris Olympics brought controversy. In the quarter-final his opponent Roger Brousse bit him. The referee initially ignored the bite marks. Mallin lost the fight. A protest led to Brousse’s disqualification. The English press accused Brousse of “sampling the unroasted human beef of Old England”. Mallin went on to win gold defeating his British teammate Jack Eliot.
An injured hand forced Mallin to retire undefeated. He had approximately 350 amateur bouts. He later managed British Olympic boxing teams and became the first British TV sports commentator.
Mallin remained with the Metropolitan Police. He served for 37 years and retired as a sergeant-instructor. He never married. He died in 1969 after a stroke. The Harry Mallin Blue plaque stands as a testament to his remarkable life. It honors his achievements as both a policeman and an Olympic champion. His legacy lives on in the history of British sport.