The crowd gathered outside the old Daily Echo office in Above Bar, Southampton, was 10,000-strong and all faces looked anxiously up to a screen positioned in one of the windows of the newspaper building.

It was the evening of December 4, 1919 and even the cold of a winter's night did not put off the throng all waiting for the news the whole of Southampton wanted to hear.

At the city of London's Holborn Stadium, France's famous boxer, George Carpentier was to step into the ring with Southampton's Joe Beckett to fight for the heavyweight Championship of Europe.

In those days before homes had their own wireless set, crowds turned to the Daily Echo to bring them the news of the bout as it happened.

The mood was one of undiluted confidence, with Joe seen as the favourite against his opponent, described as "the weedy Frenchman".

Even the trams stopped and for quite some time the screen showed slides of the boxers. Then, at last, came the fight itself. The words "Carpentier wins toss for corners'' flashed in the window and then "They're off!''

Then dramatically, just 74 seconds after the starting bell: "Beckett down to a rapid right and is counted out!'' The crowd was struck dumb with amazement and sorrow and they gradually melted away back to their homes.

Joe, standing 5ft 10in and weighing

13 stone in his prime, had another crack at Carpentier at Olympia in 1923 but was again knocked out in the first round.

Battling Joe really was a larger than life character whose exploits in the ring made him a national hero. He was born in Wickham in 1892 and learned his boxing in the world of fairground booths.

One booth owner offered £5 to anyone who could last three rounds with Joe. Few succeeded but a Sholing sailor, Jim Streets, who would go on to become the Royal Navy boxing champion, won his fiver in style by giving him a sound thrashing.

One of the most courageous boxers of his day, Joe, who died at the age of 72 in 1965, held the British Heavyweight Championship from 1919 until his retirement four years later. He also won the British Empire title in 1922.

After his retirement Joe, who married and had five children, became a well known figure in Southampton, living at Shanklin Road in Shirley.