With boxing on hold with the coronavirus holding centre stage, the time is right to pick up our look back in time, of the standout boxers in the various weight divisions since the first New Boxing Championships in 1902.

In the last eighteen months we took an occasional look at the best in the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions. This time we go back to look at the Lightweights, who along with the Heavyweight’s, Middleweights and the Featherweight ranks, made up the competition at the inaugural 1902 Championships.

The first New Zealand Boxing Championships were held at the Theatre Royal, Christchurch on the 26^th and 29th^th September 1902.The winners of the four divisions received a gold medal valued at three guineas, with the runner up receiving a silver medal valued at one guinea.

Today the winner of the Lightweight division at the BNZ National Championships receives the Parisian Cup. The impressive silverware was presented to the Marlborough Boxing Association by the Parisian Neckwear Company and subsequently to the NZBA by the Marlborough Association, to commemorate the first New Zealand Championships to be held in the region in 1933.

The Christchurch Press reported on the first night saying “In the first two bouts (of the lightweight division) good boxing was done, but the better of the two was decidedly that between Olliver and McCracken. Both contestants made the going very warm and at the end of each round they were applauded”.

Finals night, saw PW Olliver from Christchurch annex the first National Lightweight title, after he beat Alex Farquharson (Otago) in the final. Farquharson went on to win the lightweight crown the following year. The Christchurch Press described the second night’s action “The (semifinal) bout between Olliver and McCracken was a willing one from the opening, but Olliver’s greatly superior skill and coolness outclassed his opponent”. “In the final Olliver again showed his advantage and despite Farquharson’s long reach, he had no difficulty keeping matters pretty equal during the first round. Olliver's win proved a popular one”.

Redheaded Dick Loveridge from Taranaki was one of the “fightingest” fellows to lace on gloves. Loveridge was no great shakes as a scientific performer but from the outset he always went straight at his opponent. In 1924 he won the national Lightweight title and a year later the Welterweight championship in Christchurch. His most notable performances were two epic fights at the 1924 championships.

In the semi-final of the Lightweight contest, Loveridge faced off against the 1923 champion Dick Pascoe. The first round was a fairly even battle before Loveridge tore into the champion in the second round and had the crowd standing on their feet. The final round was described by the New Zealand Freelance (national news periodical) as the most exciting seen in a local ring. Pascoe realised he was behind on points and waded in, intent on saving the crown by the short route. He had however drawn a tartar, that gave just as much in return and after a remarkable display of resolution and pluck by both men, Loveridge secured a popular winning verdict.

An unforgettable sight for those present for the presentation of medals after the championship final in Wellington in 1924, was when the two gladiators Dick Loveridge and Reg Trowern, entered the ring together to receive their medals. Both heads were swathed in bandages, Dick’s ear having required medical attention while Reg’s eye had to be attended to. After a monumental contest that was awarded to Loveridge, the only visible part of their faces were the large grins on the face of both contestants.

The 1925 Lightweight winner, will be forever remembered when amateur boxing is discussed in New Zealand, with Edward (Ted) Morgan winning New Zealand’s first Olympic Gold Medal, at the 1928 Olympic Games held in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

While Ted Morgan’s Olympic glory has been well documented, his lead-up background is not so well known. Morgan was a pupil at Wellington College and from the time that he first threw a punch at Tim Tracy’s old Willis street gymnasium, he showed potential greatness. Ted plied a good right hand along with a “loaded” left. It was this ambidexterity which was to prove such a success, as opponents moving away from the left were hooked back into line by the stinging right.

Strange to relate when the pages of time are turned back, but Ted Morgan nearly missed Olympic selection. He had won the 1925 New Zealand Lightweight title but lost it the following year to Harold Kindley. The names of the boxers originally submitted as Olympic prospects did not include Morgan’s name. During the 1927 championships, Morgan re-established himself with victory in the Lightweight class and was considered the best boxer of the tournament.

Ted Morgan, defeated Otago’s Bob Fulcher in the 1925 National Lightweight title decider in Christchurch, with Fulcher having to wait until 1928 before he won the 9st, 6lb, 4oz weight limit crown. Invercargill was the venue of Ted Morgan’s second Lightweight title where he defeated A Jones from Southland.

Hutt Valley's Tommy Dunn, trained by the doyen of New Zealand trainers in his brother Dick, won the Lightweight crown at the 1939 Invercargill National Championships. Tommy Dunn defeated Hector Calder from the host association in the title decider and for good measure was awarded the Jameson Belt. Tommy Dunn was the first of Dick Dunn's two boxers to win the Jameson Belt with nephew Wally Coe repeating the feat in the Welterweight division in 1963.

An interesting aside is that Tommy Dunn and Middleweight Bill Enright were selected for the 1940 Olympic Games, which were originally awarded to Japan, before being reassigned to Helsinki. The 1940 Olympics and the 1944 London Olympics never took place because of World War 2. 

Both boxers and trainer Son Tall from Invercargill never received any recognition of their Olympic selection - until at special presentation at the 1998 National Championships in Invercargill, Bill Enright and the families of Tommy Dunn and Son Tall, were presented with Boxing New Zealand  specially framed blazer pockets in recognition of their Olympic selection.

Few amateur boxers in the country, kept at the top of their game as long as Paddy Donovan, who won the Lightweight crown in 1956, 1957, 1959 and 1962. Donovan is arguably the greatest Lightweight champion of all time, having the Jameson Belt placed around his waist on three occasions (1956, 1959, 1962) and twice boxed at the pinnacle tournament in amateur boxing.

The Hawkes Bay pugilist has a unique place in Boxing New Zealand history as the only Kiwi boxer to have earned selection at two Olympic Games. At the 1956 Olympics over the ditch in Melbourne Australia, he was accompanied by Welterweight Graham Finlay, while eight years later in Tokyo Japan his companion in the Olympic ring was Light Welterweight Brian Maunsell.

Another with an outstanding record was Brian Kendall who won 102 of his 107 recorded contests, which included the Lightweight titles in 1968 and 1969. He was the first New Zealand boxer to be awarded the Jameson Belt in successive years, earning the most scientific senior boxer prize in the Featherweight ranks at the 1965 and 1966 Nationals.

The final Brian Kendall tally of New Zealand senior championships was seven, in four weight divisions. A record that is unparalleled, is that Brian was never beaten in a New Zealand championship bout.  He contested 18 championship bouts winning every single contest.

Article added: Sunday 03 May 2020