My main post today is Boxing, history & social change. I followed this with Classical Greek, boxing & New England history. Now I want to complete the trifecta with a post directed just at the readers of this blog.
In my main post I mentioned The Tent by Wayne McLennan (Quadrant, May 2002).
Quite a few of my readers here come from Newcastle and the lower Hunter. I think that you will enjoy this description of a visit to a boxing tent at Cessnock in, I think, the 1960s.
Even if you are not from this area, it's still a well written piece.
Postscript
In a comment on my original post, kvd pointed out that Wayne McLennan had been inducted to the Cessnock Hall of Fame. kvd also led me to add something to the post on Bell's Boxing Tent, a continuing boxing show that Wayne boxed for!
In another comment, this time here, Greg reminded me of the short and tragic life of boxing great Les Darcy. Darcy was born on 31 October 1895 at Stradbroke, near Maitland. There is a real story in the boxers of the lower Hunter that deserves better promotion.
Postscript 2
Further comments from Greg:
We shouldn't forget another great New England boxing legend - the great Dave Sands from Kempsey.
Dave Sands also had a strong connection with the Newcastle area having had many of his early bouts at The Stadium in Newcastle West before going on to win the Australian middleweight title.
Boxing was legendary at The Stadium in the early to middle 20th Century. I remember it as the site of the Newcastle ice rink when I was young and I think that by then it's boxing days were over. Now it is the site of the Marketown shopping centre. A colourful piece of Newcastle history now barely remembered.
Incidentally - Dave Sands was another great sporting tragedy. He died in a truck accident at the age of just 26.
You will find details of Dave Sand's life here. I really do love the way comments extend discussion! Thanks, Greg!
Update:
Saturday Morning Musings - boxing & the power of blogging in history on my personal blog provides a consolidated update on these linked posts.
5 comments:
Australia's most iconic boxing legend immediately comes to mind - Maitland born and bred boxer Les Darcy.
Darcy's is one of the truly remarkable Australian sporting stories. I have often wondered why his tragic short life has not been immortalised in film. To this day he is rated as one of the great middlweights of all time despite never having been allowed to contest a world title. At 19 he held both the Australian middleweight and heavyweight titles and had defeated most of the worlds best boxers of his era. He was dead at just 21 from an infection.
Thanks for this Greg. I have brought Darcy's name up in the main post with a link to the ADB entry on his life.
We shouldn't forget another great New England boxing legend - the great Dave Sands from Kempsey.
Dave Sands also had a strong connection with the Newcastle area having had many of his early bouts at The Stadium in Newcastle West before going on to win the Australian middleweight title.
Boxing was legendary at The Stadium in the early to middle 20th Century. I remember it as the site of the Newcastle ice rink when I was young and I think that by then it's boxing days were over. Now it is the site of the Marketown shopping centre. A colourful piece of Newcastle history now barely remembered.
Incidentally - Dave Sands was another great sporting tragedy. He died in a truck accident at the age of just 26.
Thanks, Greg. I have added the additional material to the main post, again with a link to autobiographical material.
Interesting about the Aboriginal link because this goes back to part of the discussion in my original post.
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