page_title: Pat O'Keeffe
section_title: International career: 1907-1910
hierarchical_section_title: Pat O'Keeffe / Professional boxing / International career: 1907-1910
caption_attribution_description: English: Signed picture of Pat O'Keeffe in Australia
context_page_description: Pat O'Keeffe, was a professional English boxer who became the British champion in both the welterweight and middleweight weight classes. His professional career spanned the years between 1902 and 1918. In 1914 he made an unsuccessful bid for the European heavyweight belt, losing to Georges Carpentier. Between 1907 and 1910 he left Britain and continued his boxing career in the United States, and then Australia. On the outbreak of World War I he joined the British Army to work as a Physical Training Instructor and Recruiting Sergeant for the 1st Surrey Rifles. He won the Lonsdale Belt outright when he defeated Bandsman Blake at the National Sporting Club on 28 January 1918, becoming British Middleweight Champion.
  O'Keeffe died on 16 August 1960 at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Middlesex, aged 77.
context_section_description: After losing the British Middleweight Championship title, O'Keeffe travelled the world and fought all over the United States and Australia.
  In 1907, he fought World Middleweight Champion Billy Papke and World Welterweight Champion Henry Lewis with just over a month's rest between bouts. The match in Philadelphia with Papke was very hard-fought, ending in a draw.  He lost his bout with Henry Lewis in Boston, Massachusetts by decision. His next fight was against Willie Lewis originally scheduled for 19 December 1907, but the police placed an injunction on the venue in New York . The fight went ahead on 23 December 1907. W.Lewis is said to have entered O'Keeffe's dressing room just before the fight, berating his apparent belly, quipping that he might kill him if he punched him there. O'Keeffe lost by knock out. Despite not winning a bout in the US, O'Keeffe was upbeat and in February 1908, he returned to England. He placed a message in the Sporting Life, declaring  "he is here for business", in a wide-ranging article that revealed he contracted malaria in the US. The article claimed that anyone who wanted to challenge the statement need only send money to the Sporting Life, with correspondence addressed to O'Keeffe and it would receive his immediate attention.
  Answering O'Keeffe's message in the Sporting Life, fellow Canning Town boxer Steve Smith took on O'Keeffe at the Wonderland Francais, Paris, the match ended in a draw. Less than two weeks later at the same venue, he was disqualified for a low blow in the fourth round against Jeff Thorne.
  Later that year, O'Keeffe toured Australia with Tommy Burns, the World Heavyweight Champion. At 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Burns is the shortest boxer ever to hold the title which he won in 1906. He also managed to successfully defend it eleven times against all claimants until he met with Jack Johnson on Boxing Day in 1908.
  While in Australia, O'Keeffe and Burns trained together and used to invite the public to watch these exhibitions of their skills.
  O'Keeffe fought a number of contests in Australia, mostly against heavier opponents, winning two, drawing one and losing three.
caption: A signed photo of Pat O'Keeffe, c. 1908, in Australia. [18]
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