The boxer Freddie Welsh (1886-1927) was born Frederick Hall Thomas at The Bridge Inn, Pontypridd. At the age of 16 he left home in search of a new life in Canada and North America. It was in Philadelphia that he fought his first bout in December 1905, fighting under the name Freddie Welsh. After a period in Australia, Welsh returned to Wales where he began to make his mark as a boxer. He became lightweight champion of Wales in 1907 and by the summer of 1914, Welsh had been crowned lightweight champion of the world, a title which he held until 1917. He died in poverty in New York in 1927.