IT is not unusual for two young brothers to have the occasional friendly fight.

But for Barnstaple boys Ronnie and Jimmy Isaac, those brotherly bust-ups were the start of great achievements in the boxing ring.

Growing up in North Devon in the 1950s, boxing became a way of life.

After learning their ringcraft with Barnstaple ABC, they both went on to wear the England vest with pride.

Jimmy, 65, said: "We would spar for hours and hours together.

"My father would push the bed back and we'd make our own boxing ring.

"We were brought up with boxing gloves on from when we were five or six-years-old.

"I remember the milkman, Mr Mason gave my dad two pairs of boxing gloves and we started from there.

"Ronnie and I have had better fights than you see on television sometimes.

"He was 10 and I was six-and-a-half and he nearly always used to make me cry, with temper more than anything."

For Jimmy, those early scraps were part of the learning curve to becoming a West Country sporting star in the 1960s.

Boxing seven times for England, the bantamweight had the opportunity to travel the world.

He twice boxed live on BBC Grandstand and twice turned down the chance to turn professional.

It was a time when more than 50,000 amateurs competed in Britain and Jimmy faced brilliant opponents from the USSR, Germany, Hungary, Holland and Belgium.

"To be given a tracksuit with England on the back, you felt so proud," he said.

"I remember we were on a beach in Hungary and people just crowded around. They were in awe of us."

In Budapest, Jimmy, then 18, faced the Olympic champion Gyula Torok, losing narrowly on points.

Later, he travelled with England to the USSR for fights in Moscow and Tiblisi.

"In Russia I carried the flag for England," he said. "When you get in the ring and you're standing there and they are playing the national anthem, it's a fantastic feeling, it just overwhelms you."

It was a tough trip for England's amateurs who won just one out of 20 bouts against a mighty Soviet team.

On home soil, Jimmy made his England debut against Czerge, a European silver medallist at the Royal Albert Hall.

"I lost but I was considered very unlucky to lose," he said. "In the national press it had 'the unluckiest loser, Jimmy Isaac, Barnstaple'.

Canadian Alex Mason was the man responsible for honing Jimmy's slick skills.

Mason, a former Canadian Golden Gloves champion, would only allow boys to box if they joined the Army, Air or Sea Cadets.

"I wasn't interested in the Cadets really but I joined because you had to be a Cadet to be able to box," said Jimmy.

Training Barum's youngsters at the Old Ice Factory near Mill Road, Mason wrote on the wall: "The Home Of Future Champions."

Under his guidance, and later Wilf Cooper, Jimmy's reputation grew.

As a youngster, he twice became a National Boys' Club champion, boxing at the Blackpool Tower Circus to take the title.

He once boxed four times on the same day to win the Devon, Dorset and Cornwall championships in Truro.

After becoming Great Britain junior ABA champion in 1961, Jimmy was twice a senior ABA finalist in 1964 and 1966.

Defeat at Wembley in 1966 was certainly no disgrace for the Barnstaple amateur. He lost on points to Ken Buchanan who would later become a professional world champion.

"We had great respect for each other afterwards and we have got great respect for each other now," said Jimmy who is featured in Buchanan's autobiography.

For older brother Ronnie, 68, memories of those sibling sparring sessions are still vivid.

"We went to war," he said. "We never pulled any punches.

"Father used to be in the dining room watching through the window and mother used to say 'stop them!'

An all-round sportsman, their father Walter served in the Army where he met his future wife Pauline in Malta.

Partially deaf in one ear, Ronnie never boxed publicly as a youngster, opting instead to concentrate on rugby.

"I was about 22 or 23, I was a married man and I had a young family. I thought to myself, Jimmy is doing so well, shall I give it crack?

"I gave up rugby and concentrated on boxing for three or four seasons. I did it as a challenge."

A natural flyweight, it all came together for Ronnie in 1968 when he was selected for England, then reached the ABA semi-finals at Manchester's Belle Vue.

"I boxed for England in February and the ABAs in April and then I called it a day," he said.

"I had achieved my goal and that was the last time I ever boxed."

Ronnie was a tough, no-nonsense fighter, something that showed on his England debut against Ireland's Brendan McCarthy in Dublin.

"I was an aggressive body puncher," he said. "He was very tall and on a number of occasions, my punches were marginal. They were on the border.

"It's something I'm not proud of, but in the third round I caught McCarthy with a low punch. Right at the end, there was only seconds to go, I got disqualified."

Mention the Isaac brothers at any boxing show in North Devon today and fans still enthuse about their athleticism and dedication.

In a notoriously tough sport, those long training runs, and gym sessions make all the difference.

"It's not a sport you can play at," said Jimmy.

"I won lots of bouts not because I was better than the other bloke but because I was fitter. Even If I lost the fight I very rarely lost the last round.

"I admire anybody that climbs into that ring to face an opponent.

"No matter what standard they are, it takes a lot of courage to step in there."