Amateur boxer and ring official; Born December 17, 1933; Died February 11, 2008. TOMMY Beattie, who has died aged 75, was one of Scotland's most accomplished amateur boxers who went on to become a leading international official in the sport.
Although he lived for a long time in the picturesque Edinburgh suburb of Cramond, Beattie was born in Glasgow's tough Duke Street section of Dennistoun at the height of the 1930s economic depression. Nevertheless, even this tough environment could not vulgarise Beattie's gentlemanly character.
The son of a grocer, Beattie was introduced to amateur boxing by his elder brother, Jim, who took his younger sibling to the Springburn-based North British Loco Works amateur boxing club in 1944. Soon the younger Beatty discovered he had a real talent for the sport, winning junior titles at flyweight. He also struck up a lifetime friendship with fellow Glaswegian, bantamweight Peter Keenan, who became and remains the only Scottish boxing champion to win two Lonsdale championship belts outright.
Keenan helped develop Beattie's own peerless boxing skills by sparring with him at the club and also at the Scottish national club in Bridgeton, where Beattie also trained with many boxers from the stable of promoters Jim and Tommy Gilmour Sr, who owned the Bridgeton gym.
As a result, by the 1950s Beattie had enhanced his credentials as one of Scottish amateur boxing's most accomplished ring technicians by winning the western district and Scottish crowns at fly and bantamweight between 1951 and 1955.
His great left jab, allied to ring nous and great sportsmanship also brought him many caps boxing for Scotland against countries such as Ireland and Sweden.
Highly intelligent and articulate, Beattie was also a persuasive speaker. He became a top sales manager in the furniture trade, representing Schreiber as that firm's leading representative in Scotland.
Once he hung up his boxing gloves, Beattie qualified as an international ring referee and judge. He was appointed to officiate at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games of 1970 and 1986 and the very first junior world amateur boxing championships in 1979 at Yokahama, Japan.
Outside of boxing, Beattie expressed pride in his Glasgow roots by supporting Celtic.
Disllusioned by what he perceived as being a lack of fairness in the business of the now-defunct Scottish Amateur Boxing Association, Beattie in reluctantly joined the breakaway Scottish Amateur Boxing Federation in 1997, where his leadership skills came to the fore until that organistion reunited in 2000 to form the present Amateur Boxing Scotland.
Later afflicted by Parkinson's disease, Beattie was a true fighter as he still officiated in the ring in the late 1990s despite a discernible hand tremor, and the recent onset of Alzheimer's was negotiated with the same stoicism.
Beattie is survived by wife, Janette, sons Ryan and Mark, daughter Lara and grandson Travis.
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