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A Right Tough Un
An old timer who was “A right tough un.”. That was Wigan’s heavyweight Ernie “Saxon” Smith according to fellow heavyweight Sam Betts.
Ernie Smith was born on 20th September, 1922, the first child of William and Alice. Father William worked underground at one of the local collieries, a coal cutter In 1939, living in Bolton Street, Scholes, seventeen year old Ernie listed his occupation as an Assistant Silk Sterilizer. He began wrestling soon after the war ended, and we find him wrestling in Ramsbottom in January, 1948. Opponents in the first few months included Cyril Morris, Cordite Conroy and Tommy Pye.
Saxon filled out to become a fully blown heavyweight, facing other hard men such as Jack Beaumont, Jim Foy and Count Bartelli. He was a very strong man who Sam Betts remembers could pick up an opponent and repeatedly lift him up and down in the air. Although he did work for Wryton and Relwyskow-Green on Joint Promotion shows he mostly worked with the major independent wrestlers of the day and for a while was billed as British champion. He retired from the ring in 1965, but remained involved as a referee and promoting shows with Buddy Ward.
In later life Saxon suffered from poor health and had both legs amputated as a consequence of poor circulation. Over twenty-five years later we were told by a nurse at Wigan Infirmary:
“The guy was a star and as hard as nails. He always refused help if he needed to move, he’d just slap his chest, say ‘I’m Saxon Smith’ and start doing pull ups on the monkey bar above his bed. If my memory serves me well he was scooting around the ward in a wheel chair the day after his op. I never heard him complain, he was always laughing and joking and was always a compete gentleman. He really was a lovely man. It says a lot about the man, that after 25+ years and the thousands of people I’ve nursed, I remember him.”
Saxon Smith died in 1990.
Page added 15/06/2025
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