best AMERICAN boxer?

[bollox]

To ever come and fight in Australia.............Archie Moore

[Brute]

To ever come and fight in Australia.............Archie Moore

What about Jack Johnson? First African American World heavyweight champ, and he won it a Sydney Stadium on Boxing Day, 1908.

Or Sam Langford, who held the Australian Heavyweight Championship.

Interesting story about Sam Langford. On November 4, 1912 a boxer he managed named Dave Depena fought Les Darcy at Summer Park Stadium in Newcastle. Half an hour before the fight Langford called Darcy, who was four days short of his seventeenth birthday and fighting a man in his late twenties, aside and told him that Depena was in the mood to destroy him. "It would be better for you" Sam told Les "if i went in there against you. I's a Christian and kind to kids like you."

Les replied with a smile like a kid who just got a house for Christmas "Would you box me Mr Langford? I would love to have a go at you!"

Sam was taken aback by Darcy's confidence, which was well placed, as by the ninth round Sam had to throw the towel in to save Depena's life.

[bollox]

To ever come and fight in Australia.............Archie Moore

What about Jack Johnson? First African American World heavyweight champ, and he won it a Sydney Stadium on Boxing Day, 1908.

Or Sam Langford, who held the Australian Heavyweight Championship.

Interesting story about Sam Langford. On November 4, 1912 a boxer he managed named Dave Depena fought Les Darcy at Summer Park Stadium in Newcastle. Half an hour before the fight Langford called Darcy, who was four days short of his seventeenth birthday and fighting a man in his late twenties, aside and told him that Depena was in the mood to destroy him. "It would be better for you" Sam told Les "if i went in there against you. I's a Christian and kind to kids like you."

Les replied with a smile like a kid who just got a house for Christmas "Would you box me Mr Langford? I would love to have a go at you!"

Sam was taken aback by Darcy's confidence, which was well placed, as by the ninth round Sam had to throw the towel in to save Depena's life.

That's a great story there Mr Brute Les, oh what could have been huh? (he was poisoned by the Yanks just like Pharlap ). It's great that today he's held up as one of our best ever sportsmen

Got any Freddie Dawson stories?

[Brute]

My trainer was Bernie Hall, who fought Freddie Dawson twice in twelve round fights. Bernie lost the first on points and was KOed in the 12th in the second fight. There was a big deal made about Bernie being the first Australian to go the distance with Dawson, who had previously KOed Vic Patrick. Bernie and Freddie became good friends and wrote to each other up until Dawson's death.

There was a story put around in the sixties that Dawson had gone blind. It caused some surprise when he came out here for Vic Patrick's "This is Your Life" episode years later, looking fit, well and immaculately dressed. Bernie told me that Freddie had cataracts, which were successfully treated and the local tabloids got the wrong end of the story (as usual).

[knightshadeau]

To ever come and fight in Australia.............Archie Moore

That's a great story there Mr Brute Les, oh what could have been huh? (he was poisoned by the Yanks just like Pharlap ). It's great that today he's held up as one of our best ever sportsmen

Got any Freddie Dawson stories?

Les Darcy

Agreed he was a great boxer and had he lived, would have been even greater.

However... the facts are that after he ran like a rabbit from being drafted into the army by stowing away on a steamer to the US, leaving his Aussie team and supporters seriously in the s**t, he was so focused on getting a chance a a world title, he ignored a bad tooth infection & an increasingly sore throat & high fever.

He died of pneumonia after developing septicaemia (blood poisoning) caused by the streptococcal infection raging in his body.

Pharlap - was from New Zealand, not Australia, but a great horse nonetheless.. It has never been established, let alone proven, that he was poisoned, intentionally or otherwise. It's more likely that he developed severe colitis or a bacterial gastroenteritis, and since his immune system
would have been at a low point after the stress of long distance travel, he was not strong enough at the time to recover from it.

Tests were done on his mane last year to try to finally establish cause of death. Far as I know, the results have not yet been published.

Cheers

[bollox]

I was only joking about the poisoning of Darcy and Phar Lap. Recently I saw a show saying that Pharlap did indeed die of poisoning. Arsenic. Administered by his the trainers no less. Apparently in those days they used to give horses a small dose of the stuff for a reason that I now can't remember

Darcy - maybe he was a draft dodger, I don't really know

And speaking of our greatest fighters...........one Albert Griffiths was once locked up for kiddie fiddling

[Brute]

Darcy was under 21 and his parents would not sign his papers for him to enlist. He could not be conscripted because both times Billy the Bastard Hughes put conscription to a referendum the electorate told him to stick it up his arse. Apart from Hughes the main slanderers of Darcy were Hugh McIntosh and Snowy Baker, and neither of them enlisted, although both were young enough. The First World War started because a Serb student dying of tuberculosis shot an Austrian Archduke. It never had anything to do with Australia, but through the efforts of Australian politicians 60,000 young Australians were killed in action .

Les Darcy died from an infection in his mouth where two teeth knocked out by Harold Hardwick in the fight where Darcy took Hardwick's Australian Heavyweight title from him had been put back in and he developed a strep infection over 15 months. There was no penicillin then.

Snowy Baker tried to make a big show of attending Darcy's funeral. He was warned by Dave Smith that if he went anywhere near the funeral the people of Maitland would dig a fresh grave next to Darcy's and bury him alive. He decided to stay home.

[Brute]

That's a great story there Mr Brute Les, oh what could have been huh? (he was poisoned by the Yanks just like Pharlap ). It's great that today he's held up as one of our best ever sportsmen

Got any Freddie Dawson stories?

Les Darcy

Agreed he was a great boxer and had he lived, would have been even greater.

However... the facts are that after he ran like a rabbit from being drafted into the army by stowing away on a steamer to the US, leaving his Aussie team and supporters seriously in the s**t, he was so focused on getting a chance a a world title, he ignored a bad tooth infection & an increasingly sore throat & high fever.

He died of pneumonia after developing septicaemia (blood poisoning) caused by the streptococcal infection raging in his body.

Pharlap - was from New Zealand, not Australia, but a great horse nonetheless.. It has never been established, let alone proven, that he was poisoned, intentionally or otherwise. It's more likely that he developed severe colitis or a bacterial gastroenteritis, and since his immune system
would have been at a low point after the stress of long distance travel, he was not strong enough at the time to recover from it.

Tests were done on his mane last year to try to finally establish cause of death. Far as I know, the results have not yet been published.

Cheers

Do you really think a war in Europe between cousins (George V of England and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, both grandsons of Queen Victoria) started by a Serb shooting an Austrian in Sarajevo really had anything to do with Australia? AsI pointed out before, Darcy could not be a draft dodger as there was no conscription in Australia in World War I. His parents would not allow him to enlist and he was under voting age. The main maligners of Darcy were PM of the time Billy Hughes, (world champion turncoat) and two shonky promoters who were both young enough to enlist but did not.

[Cap]

The naively pro-war press of the day tarred Darcy as a coward for fleeing to America to make a fortune while his countrymen were fighting overseas. Nowadays we know that World War 1 was just a slaughterhouse instigated by a royal family feud and promoted by war-profiteers in Europe and America.

Cap

[p4p1]

is there much footage of darcy anywere?

[Brute]

The naively pro-war press of the day tarred Darcy as a coward for fleeing to America to make a fortune while his countrymen were fighting overseas. Nowadays we know that World War 1 was just a slaughterhouse instigated by a royal family feud and promoted by war-profiteers in Europe and America.

Cap

There was nothing naive about Baker or Mackintosh. They were out to make all the money they could out of Darcy and resented him doing anything for himself.

[razor7]

My 85 year old father has been a fight fan for his whole life. He says Freddie Dawson was the best import he's ever seen here.

[Brute]

Dawson was highly regarded here after beating Vic Patrick and every other Australian lightweight or welterweight he fought. I believe my old trainer, Bernie Hall, and some years later George Barnes were the only Aussies to go the distance with Dawson. He is the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame in spite of his US citizenship.

Dawson fought Ike Williams for the World Lightweight Championship. He lost, but that was no disgrace. "Old Bones" was one hell of a fighter.