TOM HEENEY’S RECORD

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 26 November 1927, Page 13

TOM HEENEY’S RECORD

WORLD DISCUSSED BOXER. RECENT RISE TO FAME. MATCHED WITH SHARKEY. Tom Heeney, the Gisborne 1 heavyweight, whose value as <a box office attraction was estimated at £IOO,OOO by the American light promoter, Tex Rickard after he defeated Johnny ltiisko, at New York on October 27, is scheduled to- meet Jack Sharkey, tlie Boston heavyweight, on January 13 according to cabled advice of Nov. 18. New Zealand has produced many fine boxers, but few, if any, ■have created the general interest Heeney has done through his recent development which has made him one of the most prominent personalities in the boxing world of to-day. His fight with Risko, described in the cables as one of the bitterest' heavyweight battles staged of recent years, marked the thirty-first victory standing to Heeney’s credit in a record of 42 fights, the remaining eleven being accounted for by three draws and eight losses.

Commenting upon Heeney’s recent rise to the first flight “Square Ring,” writing in the “Poverty Bay Herald,” gives the opinion that there is a_ sound explanation for the difference in the Gisborne heavyweight nowadays, of course, for when he fought in New Zealand and Australia he was not pushed to do- his utmost either in the gymnasium or in the -ring. Dominion and Australian audiences seldom -saw the real fighter whose recent bouts have been described as almost unbelievably fierce (says the Gisborne scribe). As given by “Square Ring,” Heeney’s complete record to date with the various bouts in New Zealand and Australia, Great Britain, South Africa-, -and America grouped respectively is as follows:

NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA. Beat Bill Bartlett (K. 0.) nine rounds. Boat Geo. Mod-rich (pts.) 15 rounds. Beat Albert Pooley (N.Z. champion) 15 rounds. Beat Albert Pooley (pts.) 15 rounds. Beat Jack Cole (pts.) 15 rounds. Drew with Colin Bell, 15 rounds. Beat Max Garnik (K.O 1 .) 15 rounds. Lost to Colin Bell (Aust.) (pts.) 20 rounds. Beat J. Flett, Australia (pts.) 15 rounds. Beat J. L-ea-hy, Australia (pts.) 20 rounds. ' Beat Tom Battho, Australia (K. 0.) 14 rounds. Beat O. Ta-ylo-r, Australia, (pts.) 20 rounds. Drew with Ern Waddy, Australia, 20 rounds. Beat C. Complin, Australia (K.O 1 .) 9 rounds. Beat C. Whittaker (K. 0.) 15 rounds. Beat J. Flett (K.O'.) 8 rounds. Beat B. McCleary (K. 0.) 14 rounds. Lost t-oi J. Sullivan (pts.) 15 rounds. Beat J. Savage (K. 0.) one round. Beat- J. Sullivan (disq.) 5 rounds. Beat J. Sullivan (K. 0.) 9 rounds. Beat Ern Young (K. 0.) 4 rounds. GREAT BRITTAIN. Lost to- Phil Scott (pts.) 20 rounds. Beat Trooper Young (K. 0.) six rounds. lost to G. Cook (pts.) 15 -rounds. Beat Smith (K. 0.) four rounds. Beat Tom Berry (pts.) 15 rounds. Lost to Phii] Scott (pts.) 20 rounds. Beat Bartley Ala d den (pts.) 20 rounds. Beat Jack Stanley (pts.) 'ls rounds. SOUTH AFRICA. Beat Johnny Squires (pts.) 20 rounds Beat Johnny Squires (tech. K. 0.) 19 rounds. Beat. Blackie Miller (foul) six rounds. Lost to Black io Miller (disq.) Jive rounds. UNITED STATES. Beat Charlie Anderson (tech. K. 0.) 9 rounds. Beat Jack De- Alave (pts.) 10 rounds. Lost to Uzeu-dun (pts.) 10 rounds. Drew with Uzcudun, 15 rounds. Beat “Bud” Gorman (foul) three rounds. Beat Jim Alaloney (K.O 1 .) one round. Beat Johnny Risko (jits.) 10 rounds. WHEN TOM WENT WILD. There was perhaps only one occasion oil which Tom Heeney lost his customary good humour in the ring, and that wa-s in his Gisborne fight with Sullivan, the Auckland “giant.” That was a night and a- sight that few who- saw it will forget, for after five rounds of boxing, Sullivan got- in ia glancing blow that opened a cut oil Heeney’s brow, and thereby sealed his o.wn fate. By paying strict attention to the wound, and jabbing at it a few times, he induced -a good How of blood, and as lie had already gained the- credit of outboxing Heeney in Auckland, lie probably -believed tlui-t lie had the fight in his hands. There might have been no doubt about the decision if Tom, had continued to box his way -along, hut the trouble with his eye reminded him jbhat lie could not afford to lose any time. Accordingly, -he went about his business with a new spirit, and advancing on his opponent with menace in every movement, he felled him in the corner by the press table. Sullivan lost his head, started to rise, and realised hi-s mistake only when he -sighted Heeney rushing at him again. In the flurry of the moment, he committed the last act a- fighter -should commit; he dropped again without being hit, and the decision went to Heeney on a disqualification.

There were complioatioms about- the decision, for Sullivan and Heeney got mixed in the eye of the referee, who uplifted the wrong man’s hand, and preeinitated an ugly scene, in the hall. Nothing so bizarre as that scene has been witnessed in Gisborne in 20 years, for while the ring-siders climbed the ropes and crowded the ring, those in the. body

of the tall rushed to the front, yelling and hooting at what they considered was an extraordinary decision. Heeney himself seemed possessed, and presented a remarkable spectacle as he strode round th© ring through the crowd, his brow streaming with blood and his eyes glaring with rage. The “Wild Bull of the Pampas” could have had nothing on Tom Heeney for p i cture s queness that night. The referee finally managed tq. grab Tom and lift his hand, thereby restoring peace in the hall, and saving an ugly situation. DEFEATS DUE TO GOOD NATURE. There was no other occasion in the course of Tom Heeney’s New Zealand record on which he showed anything lige th© same vigor, or went after iris man in anything but a reasonable frame of mind. His few defeats were generally due to Iris good nature, lor when assured that he could win on points, he was inclined to let his opponent see the distance out, and thereby endanger his victory. Inexperience had much todo with his few defeats, too, for he twice lost to Colin Bell, the wily old Australian, and twice to- Phil Scott, in England, simply because he could not use his favourite style of fighting against them. Scott and Bell took four victories off Heeney, and these were the only losses that were at all clean-cut. In all, Tom Heeney has lost eight of his 42 fights ; apart from those conceded to Scott and Bell, there was the points loss to Sullivan in Auckland, the muchdiscussed verdict which Geo. Cook took from him in England, the disqualification which a second earned for Tom when he met Btackie Miller in South Australia for the second rime; and the bout with Paolino Uzcudun (the first), which New York critics hailed as an “All Fools” decision. In connection with the fight in which Torn Heeney got his only disqualification, that in South Africa noth Blackie Miller, it was reported that one of the New Zealander’S l seconds* stepped into the ring in his excitement, when Tom had Miller down and) distressed. The referee had no; option but to disqualify the Gisborne man for his second’s lapse, thus placing the only black mark on .a splendid record. The second fight with Phil. Scott in England was undertaken by Heeney at a few days’ notice, Heeney 'having had no time to recover from the effects of a gruelling contest with Berry. The critics considered that Scott was never nearer a defeat up to that stage of Ids career, nevertheless. Another point of interest in connection with the record above is that for his first fight with Paolino; Uzcudun, the Gisborne man was not really fit, and lie suffered particularly from bruised ribs.