[2] He became a popular fighter and crowd-puller,[3] producing a twenty-one match undefeated run, losing his twenty second to Italian Domenico Bernasconi.
[4] On 3 July 1933 King fought Panama Al Brown in a losing effort for the IBU World bantamweight title.
[8] He would hold the British title for the next twelve years, though would only defend it twice, largely due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
[9] His first defence of the British bantamweight title was against Jackie Brown,[10] in front of a 20,000 strong crowd at Kings Hall, Manchester on 31 May 1937.
He was aboard the King George V-class battleship HMS Prince of Wales when she was sunk by a Japanese air attack off Kuantan, in the South China Sea.