Two legends of Boxing New Zealand and a home town hero, were amongst the champions that were crowned at the NZBA National Championships held in Wanganui in 1953.

The first Wanganui National tiles were fought out in 1914, with the second edition of the Wanganui national championships staged in 1953. It will be been a long time between drinks, with the return of the Boxing New Zealand showcase to the river city after a 68 year absence, in 2021.

There were plenty of accolades flowing for Wanganui Lightweight, Kevin Cronin, who won back to back national titles when he lifted the Parisian Cup aloft in triumph in 1953. The Parisian Cup presented by the Parisian Neckwear (Tie) Company, is the second oldest individual trophy after the Ted Morgan Cup, was first presented in 1933.  

Cronin defeated George Simpson from Rotorua. in what was sure to have been a partisan crowd of hometown boxing fans. The previous year in Invercargill, Kevin had won his first Lightweight crown after beating Colin Shanks from the host association. 

Wanganui Middleweight national champion Maurice Tuck, won six national championship titles with his last five in succession. Maurice and Vern Tuck along with Graham Finlay, who were trained in Greymouth by " Doc" Finlay, won 13 New Zealand titles in a ten year period that kicked off in 1948.

Tuck defeated Canterbury boxer Ian McDougall at the Wanganui Nationals to earn his fifth New Zealand crown. His 1953 title, had been preceded by Middleweight honours in 1948 and 1950, before dropping a weight division in 1951 to win the inaugural Light Middleweight title and backing up in the same weight class twelve months later.

The 1954 Nationals saw Maurice win his fourth eleven stone eight pound title. Tuck represented his country at the 1954 Empire Games  held in Vancouver Canada.

Alan Scaife created a boxing dynasty that is still alive and well today, with his grandson, in five time New Zealand Middleweight champion Ryan Scaife. The 1953 Wanganui Nationals, saw Alan win the third edition of the newly minted Light Welterweight championship, when he dispatched Nobby Clarke from Canterbury in the title decider.

His win set in motion an extraordinary family Light Welterweight family treble, with son Grant earning victory in 1979 and  grandson Harrison claiming the now 64 kilo prize in 2011. There were a few tears shed, when Alan climbed into the ring to present his grandson with the Boxing New Zealand big prize of the Jameson Belt.

In 1954, Alan was selected to join Maurice Tuck in wearing the black singlet in the ring at the Empire Games held in Canada. 

A short stint as a referee and judge on retirement, was followed by a long and distinguished career as a boxing trainer, in which Alan was selected as the New Zealand team boxing coach at the 1976 Olympic Games and 1978 Commonwealth Games. He set a record that is unlikely to ever be surpassed training the winner of six successive Jameson Belts. 

The Jameson Belt was won by Hawks Bay bantamweight Jackie Harrison, who had jumped a weight division after winning the Flyweight title the previous year. The Earl Stewart Shield which is awarded to the association with the most points, was a unique five-way tie, shared between Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui and Wellington. A tied result saw Canterbury and Greymouth share the Treston Shield for most wins.

Wanganui National Championships 1953

Flyweight                      Ken Collins (Taranaki)              df Kevin Hepworth (Manawatu)

Bantamweight               Jackie Harrison (Hawkes Bay)  df Dick Andrews (Hamilton)

Featherweight               Sid Moffitt (Oamaru)                 df Aubrey Hanks (Auckland)

Lightweight                   Kevin Cronin (Wanganui)         df George Simpson (Rotorua)

Light Welterweight       Alan Scaife (Wellington)           df Nobby Clark (Canterbury)

Welterweight                Mike Hannah (Hawkes Bay)      df Barney Shaw (Canterbury)

Light Middleweight      Anthony Waring (Wellington)    df Ron Montgomery (Auckland)

Middleweight                Maurice Tuck (Greymouth)       df Ian McDougall (Canterbury)

Light Heavyweight       Basil Bloor (Taranaki)                df Charlie Reeder (Wanganui)

Heavyweight                 Peter Schmidt (Auckland)          df Colin Bloor (Wanganui)

Jameson Belt (Senior Most Scientific) - Jackie Harrison

Earl Stewart Shield (Association Senior Points) - Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui, Wellington. 

Treston Shield (Association Most Senior Wins) - Canterbury, Greymouth. 

Article added: Sunday 20 June 2021