Born and initially raised in Montserrat, Meade moved to the United Kingdom at the age of nine and grew up in Swansea, Wales.

In 1973 he reached the final of the heavyweight division of the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) National Championship held at Wembley Arena in London, but lost to Garfield McEwan.

[2] The next year, still representing the RAF, Meade again reached the heavyweight final, and on this occasion won, taking the English amateur title.

[4] After beating Samoa's Vai Samu on points in the semi-final, Meade faced Nigerian Fatai Ayinla in the final.

The contest with Rodriquez, who would become the French and European Heavyweight champion, was held in Paris, Meade's first professional fight outside the United Kingdom.

[5] Two weeks later Meade challenged for his first notable professional title when a match was arranged between him and Tony Blackburn for the Welsh Heavyweight belt.

Meade followed the Ruddock fight this with another loss, suffering a technical knockout in the sixth in an encounter with future European champion John Lewis Gardner.

[5] In December 1977, while back in Britain, he stopped his run of bad results with a win over American Bruce Grandham, but then lost the rematch in March 1978.

In an attempt to change his fortunes, Meade linked up with trainer Jimmy Bromfield, boxing out of Colin Breen's gym in Sandfields, Swansea.

[6] Meade spent a year away from professional fighting, making his comeback for a defence of his Welsh title against David Pearce in early 1980.

[5] Meade followed this with an identical second round stoppage in another Welsh title defence, this time over Cardiff fighter Winston Allen.

[5] The final eliminator was held in Wales, at Ebbw Vale, and Meade, facing Terry Mintus from Leeds, recorded his fourth straight knockout this time in the third round.

The referee began the count but quickly realised that the prone Ferris would not recover and so ended the fight, making Meade the new British Heavyweight champion.

[5] Meade was back on winning form when he knocked out Rick Kellar in February of the next year when the two fought at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

[5] Meade's final fight was his first defence of his British title, fought at St David's Hall in Cardiff on 22 September 1983.

[1] When Bromfield became his manager it was on agreement that Meade would stick to his training and this paid dividends when the fighter got down to 16 stone and 3 pounds for his title decider with Ferris.

[6] His life improved after that and he spent time as a youth worker, but late in 2009 he was diagnosed with cancer and he died at Tŷ Olwen Hospice at Morriston Hospital in Swansea on 13 March 2010.