Also known as Frank Manto
Wrestling Heritage welcomes memories, further information and corrections.
Barnsley heavyweight Frank Manterfield was the younger brother of Bert Mansfield, and like brother was destined to become one of Britain’s top heavyweights, using the name Frank Manto or Frank Mantovich. Frank was born in Monk Bretton seven years after his brother.
He came into wrestling around 1940, following a short stint in the boxing ring. He established himself against the likes of Cordite Conroy, Billy Riley, Dick Wills and Karl Reginsky. Frank was a busy worker, mostly in the north of England, throughout the 1940s.
In the early 1950s he began working for Atholl Oakeley. Oakeley was attempting to re-establish his wrestling promotions through high profile tournaments at Harringay Stadium. Frank became a mainstay of Oakeley’s tournaments and Oakeley said of him in Blue Blood On The Mat, “I saw at once that here was the post-war British heavyweight whom I had been looking for….Most weightlifters only think they are strong, and so they are for thirty seconds at a time. But the work this man has to do, which consisted of heaving coal from the pitface for hour after hour, would have given all the weightlifters I knew a coronary.”
Working for Oakeley Manto won the British heavyweight championship and challenged for the European championship. He had high profile matches against Ed Don Virag, Jack London, Alex Cadier, Mario Matassa and Rudy Redvern.
In 1954 Oakeley abandoned attempts to re-establish himself as one of the country’s top promoters. With his disappearance as a promoter wrestling fans had the loss of seeing the disappearance of the near fifty year old Frank Manto.
15985
Wrestling Heritage 