George Francis

Who was George Francis?

George Francis was a British boxing athletic trainer who trained world champion boxers such as Frank Bruno, John Conteh, John Mugabi, and Cornelius Boza Edwards. He was found hanged at his home in London, apparently having committed suicide. He was 73.

George Francis was born in 1929 in Camden Town north London. He was only eight when his father died, and by the age of 11 he had begun full-time to work to support his family. His earliest involvement with boxing was allegedly as a bare-knuckle street fighter but, after a local policemen persuaded him to quit pavement warfare, he turned to amateur boxing. Francis worked his way up the ranks at Covent Garden Market and eventually became a porter. He was a member of a local boxing club and it was there that he decided to switch from boxer to trainer. These early ventures into the fight game were to be the start of a career which saw him become involved with some of the greatest boxers in the world.

He committed suicide in 2002 after the deaths of both his wife, Joan, and his son, Simon.