Walter McGowan, MBE (13 October 1942 – 15 February 2016), was a Scottish boxer born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.
He had his first professional fight in August 1961 when he fought George McDade at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, winning by a technical knockout in the third round.
The fight was held in the Olympic Stadium, Rome, and McGowan suffered the second defeat of his career, losing on points over fifteen rounds.
In December 1965, he stepped up a weight and challenged for the European bantamweight title, held by Italian, Tommaso Galli.
They met at the Empire Pool, Wembley, and McGowan won a fifteen-round points decision to gain that world title, despite sustaining a badly gashed eye in the seventh round.
[3][4] In September 1966, he fought Alan Rudkin at the Empire Pool, for the British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles that he held.
The Thai fighter won and took the title when McGowan suffered a badly cut nose in the ninth round, and the referee was forced to stop the fight.