The Early Days ...While we live in changing times, there is little doubt that it is nowhere near as challenging as when boxing first started in New Zealand. In the next few months we will look back to where our sport has come courtesy of the “The Story So Far” ,which told the tales of the first one hundred years of Boxing New Zealand.

The sport of boxing in New Zealand had its early foundations in Canterbury. The first recorded bout was in July 1862 when a London prizefighter, Harry Jones beat local, George Barton, for a purse of 100 pounds on the banks of the Waimakariri River.

Jones was declared the winner after 30 bare fisted rounds lasting 70 minutes. The police attempted to stop the fight cutting the ropes and even entering the ring with drawn revolvers, before being driven back by the 600 spectators. Legal proceeding were initially instituted before being quietly withdrawn, when it was discovered that the Crown Solicitor and several magistrates were in the crowd.

An early character was Professor Stackpole, who arrived and took the London Prize Ring into many corners of New Zealand, during the decade 1870-80. In a unique fight Professor Stackpole was engaged in a contest with one George Ulyett, who was a member of a team of English professional cricketers touring the country. The fight was held in New Plymouth in the Town Hall, and was stopped in the eighth round in favour of the Professor.

The next recognised figure in the early days of boxing in the Dominion, was the arrival from England of Jem Mace in 1880. Mace brought with him Professor Miller who was also a noted wrestler and weight lifter. The pair put on exhibitions at the old Princess Theatre in Dunedin.

Mace was the last of the old prizefighters that rubbed the brine of beef into the skin to toughen it. He had also fought under the London Prize Ring rules, which permitted elbowing, kneeing and throwing. While he was over fifty years of age when he promoted the noble art of boxing in this country, he had been in the ring with the legendary Tom Sayers earlier in his career. Like many of his day he was a relatively small man weighing under twelve stone, but was known to have fought men of up to seventeen stone.

During 1870 Jem Mace travelled to America to beat fellow English born pugilist Tom Allen, in ten rounds of desperate action. He was widely regarded as the real champion of the world with his victory over Allen.

Mace opened a boxing school in Timaru, and after a period announced that he was to hold the New Zealand amateur championships of boxing. Among the entries were R Fitzsimmons who took out the inaugural contest, and also the second when he knocked out Herbert Slade, the first acknowledged Maori champion. Mace later took Herbert Slade to America, where he fought John L Sullivan for what was billed as a World Title fight. After the Sullivan fight, Herbert Slade joined the John L Sullivan touring party and became John L’s number one sparring partner.

Typical of the types of bouts that used to take place in the colony in the early days (1880s) was the Battle at “Billy Goat Flat”. An area was cleared from tangled bush at the back of the Ruru sawmill, near Nelson Creek. The ring was minus ropes, for which green saplings had no trouble in keeping the boxers off the ropes. The posts were squared-off lumber.

Usually in these bush contests the prize was a ten-gallon keg of beer, which was contributed by the partisan spectators. The fighters and referee had the privilege of filling the first glasses (after the bout of course) and as the glasses were of “schooner” size, it did not take long for the trophy to be merrily disposed of. Very few refused to drink the health of the referee, whose frequent declarations of draws appeared to satisfy most.