BoxRec

Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame awards will be held at the Showmen’s Club Yatala, this Sunday, July 17th.

Merv Williams, John Bukowski, Neil Geddes, Alan Gibbards and Merv Wockner will be honoured.

Guests will include Hec Thompson, Steve Aczel and Jeff White.

Merv Williams was one of the great characters of Australian boxing. This article is a great read:

Mervyn Louis (Merv) Williams (1902-1980), boxer and sports writer, was born on 12 March 1902 at Aramac, Queensland, son of Charles Williams, station overseer, and his wife Delia Isabella, née Phillips, both Queensland born. Educated at Ipswich Grammar School, Merv was State amateur middleweight boxing champion at age 17 and undefeated when he turned professional at 18. He worked as a blacksmith's hand, miner and breadcarter to harden his medium build.

In 1922 Williams defeated Max Gornik for the Queensland middleweight title, the first of his three State championships. Williams never gained a national title, losing at his last attempt to George Thompson, the Australian heavyweight champion, in April 1930. A skilful combatant with a formidable right cross, by then Williams had competed tenaciously with a damaged hand for six years, regaining the State middleweight title against Harry Casey, a spoiler, in July. A bored crowd booed them, one man hurling a bottle. Lured from retirement by a purse of £100 in December 1931, Williams was pounded to the canvas seven times by Fred Henneberry at Leichhardt Stadium, Sydney.

To supplement his income, Williams sold cars in Sydney, and then managed hotels 'where I had more fights than I ever had in the ring'. In 1932 he moved to Melbourne. At the Preston Presbyterian Church on 21 May that year he married Floris Elizabeth (Betty) McAlley, a photographic employee. For the next six years he refereed at the Fitzroy and West Melbourne stadiums. After a close contest in May 1938, he ruled that an overseas boxer, Claude Varner, had defeated the heavily backed Australian featherweight champion Mickey Miller. Williams's decision caused a riot and his employers, Stadiums Ltd, promptly sacked him. Because the fight was close, he could have followed the wishes of the spectators and crowned Miller but he stated that 'a referee who gives decisions to suit the crowds is true neither to himself nor to the fighters'.

The Sporting Globe immediately hired Williams to report the rematch. In his article he fearlessly suggested foul play; Varner's aggression and superb in-fighting skills were strangely absent causing him to lose. Thereafter, Williams covered all sports for the newspaper, as well as producing a weekly report on boxing. He wrote and spoke flamboyantly, one article in 1939 describing a boxer as being 'as cool as the tip of an Eskimo's nose'. The cigar-smoking, joke-cracking Williams, whose black-rimmed glasses were pinned by ears thickened from boxing, broadcast his 'Mervisms' on radio 3DB's 'Sports Forum', and later on HSV7's 'TV Ringside'. Tired and beaten boxers 'couldn't run out of sight on a dark night', 'swayed like a jelly in a wind', or 'had less chance than a crippled prawn in a flock of seagulls'.

Williams's integrity and his fatherly advice to boxers were notable and were informed by his view that pugilists did not enjoy fighting; to them it was a job. As a fighter, referee and journalist, he was known as 'Mr Boxing'. He raised funds for the Royal Children's Hospital, describing his involvement as 'one of the greatest and most rewarding of all life's tasks'; from 1960 to 1964, when he suffered a heart attack, he carried out the strenuous, year-round duties of director of the Sporting Globe-3DB-HSV7 Good Friday Appeal. Predeceased by his wife and survived by his only daughter, he died on 6 January 1980 at Heidelberg and was cremated with Anglican rites.

Don't know why but I expected to read about Brian Janssen as an inductee

As for Merv Williams, I remember seeing a photo of him boxing a kangaroo (a publicity pic I suspect). Bit of a character by all accounts

Claude Varner, an American boxer from the Bakersfield area in California, had one interesting career.

Recently, I learned a lot about Dick Cullen, an American boxer and boxing man based in the Queensland area for much of his life.

It appears that Paul Demsky, a Russian boxer based in Brisbane during his career, apparently listed his real name as Paul Aldridge while traveling by ship from Manila to San Francisco during 1926. According to the list of passengers, Aldridge's mother was Mrs. Irene Shahnovsky, a resident of South Brisbane.

- Chuck Johnston

Where do you get this stuff from good sir? Your knowledge of Oz boxing is amazing

bollox wrote:Where do you get this stuff from good sir? Your knowledge of Oz boxing is amazing

Editor Chuck, unlike yours truly, is a historian

Merv Williams sayings "he'd rather fight than eat"

One great source for doing research on Australian boxing history is the Trove website, which contains old Australian papers in digital form. I found what I believe is solid information about Paul Demsky in a California passenger and crew lists database on genealogical website, Ancestry.com., which requires a paid subscription.

- Chuck Johnston

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Hec Thompson and Jeff White at the function.

Brilliant pic, they both look well

Harry Begourie, a Queensland boxer, had twenty known bouts, apparently as a featherweight or a lightweight, from 1910 to 1914. After enlisting in the Australian Imperial Forces during 1914, Begourie was wounded during the Battles of Gallipoli and the Somme, dying from wounds sustained in the latter battle on August 8, 1916. He is buried in the Puchervillers British Cemetery, which is located in Puchervillers, France.

Note- I am not advocating that Begourie be inducted into the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame. But I do find his life story to be fascinating and decided to write a post about him.

Another great pic has surfaced from the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame awards July 17th:



From left Dale Artango, Hec Thompson, Steve Aczel and Jeff White

Hec thompson a true great. Fought Duran in Panama.
His fights against Manny Santos were epic

Grant wrote:Hec thompson a true great. Fought Duran in Panama.
His fights against Manny Santos were epic

One of our most underrated fighters IMO.

My Grandfather is an inductee this year. Paul Briggs, Sharon Anyos, Benny Pike. There’s another couple as well.

fox wrote: ↑05 Jun 2018, 18:00 My Grandfather is an inductee this year. Paul Briggs, Sharon Anyos, Benny Pike. There’s another couple as well.

Warwick icon awarded state boxing's highest honour

Warwick boxing icon Sel Brackin, mentor, coach and friend to scores of people across a 50-year career, was immortalized at the weekend, earning a place in the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame.

Local boxer, trainer and referee Chris Fox and wife Leah recently formed their company, Fox Fight Promotions, to provide Warwick with some great boxing entertainment in conjunction with fundraising for local sporting clubs and charities.

Fox said he owed his passion for boxing to his grandfather, the late Sel Brackin, who had him around boxing before he could even walk.

"I had my first fight at 10 years of age," he said.

"There is no better sport in the world than boxing and I am pleased I can share my passion with the people of Warwick and assist in raising money for clubs at the same time."

https://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/new ... r/3420632/

Like a Boss wrote: ↑05 Jun 2018, 18:33

fox wrote: ↑05 Jun 2018, 18:00 My Grandfather is an inductee this year. Paul Briggs, Sharon Anyos, Benny Pike. There’s another couple as well.

Warwick icon awarded state boxing's highest honour

Warwick boxing icon Sel Brackin, mentor, coach and friend to scores of people across a 50-year career, was immortalized at the weekend, earning a place in the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame.

Local boxer, trainer and referee Chris Fox and wife Leah recently formed their company, Fox Fight Promotions, to provide Warwick with some great boxing entertainment in conjunction with fundraising for local sporting clubs and charities.

Fox said he owed his passion for boxing to his grandfather, the late Sel Brackin, who had him around boxing before he could even walk.

"I had my first fight at 10 years of age," he said.

"There is no better sport in the world than boxing and I am pleased I can share my passion with the people of Warwick and assist in raising money for clubs at the same time."

https://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/new ... r/3420632/

bollox wrote: ↑13 Jul 2016, 03:15 Don't know why but I expected to read about Brian Janssen as an inductee

As for Merv Williams, I remember seeing a photo of him boxing a kangaroo (a publicity pic I suspect). Bit of a character by all accounts

Brian Janssen was inducted in 2009.

Dale Howes wrote: ↑23 Oct 2018, 06:07

bollox wrote: ↑13 Jul 2016, 03:15 Don't know why but I expected to read about Brian Janssen as an inductee

As for Merv Williams, I remember seeing a photo of him boxing a kangaroo (a publicity pic I suspect). Bit of a character by all accounts

Brian Janssen was inducted in 2009.

Mark was inducted this year.