Packer was born in March 1944 in Dartford, and began to box at the age of eleven.[3] While working at a dockyard as an apprentice, he was he should never box again, unless he wanted to suffer permanent damage to his hand.[1] However, after multiple operations, he went on to win the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) bantamweight title.[1]
He won the 1963 and 1964 ABA British bantamweight titles, when boxing out of the Dartford ABC.[4] At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Packer competed in the men's bantamweight event.[5] However, he lost his first-round bout to Takao Sakurai,[5] who would go on to win the gold medal.[6]
Following the Olympics, Paker became a professional boxer,[3] winning fourteen of his fifteen fights.[7][8] Packer then went up to the featherweight division, with his final fight taking place in November 1968.[1] The following month, while working as a welder, he damaged his leg during a fall, which ended his boxing career.[9]
Packer died on 30 August 2021 at the age of 77,[10] after a long period suffering from dementia.[11]
