RON RICHARDS TELLS HIS OWN STORY

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 160, 10 July 1939, Page 5

RON RICHARDS TELLS HIS OWN STORY

METEORIC RISE TO FAME

MIDDLE-WEIGHT CHAMPION OF AUSTRALIA IN 1936

HAS NO INTENTION OF GOING ABROAD

Acceptance of a “tent” challenge in 1931 .... first real fight a few months later .... middle-weight champion of Australia in 1936 .... and triple champion Jess than two years later by securing the light-heavy and heavy titles. Such was the metoric progress of Ron Richards, popular Australian boxer. His is a romantic story, which has no parallel in the fight game in the Commonwealth.

Eventually, I came good, and stopped him in the fifth round. My pay off was 30s. A bit of * contract to the la2oo I got recently for my fight '* Hh (h<ie Stewart. After that, my first fight, I went back to the axe and my boxing lessons with dad, until he fixed another fight at the Bohemia, where I later had several more. That place was only a small joint, but it proved a palace to me, and one I shall never forget. None of my fights there went over eight rounds, which built up my reputation so that before long I wais booked for the Brisbane Stadium, and the start of the real money era. My first match under the Stadium banner was with Tony Gora. What a light, and what a noute. Because X was a local, with a good record, the place was packed to see us punch boxes in one another for the 15 rounds ut the finish of which I landed the decision. My next was an easy one. I met Jimmy Pearce, and after shaking minds we went to our corners to wait Ijt the bell. It had hardly stopped ringing by the time we came together. I threw a rlgnt to the chin and the fight was over. Jimmy was down for the count. After a long list of wins at Bri*» bane, I was brought to Sydney, made my debut at Rushcutters Bay Stadium. I fought Ambros Palmer, one of the fellows I had made an idol in those days when I was in the bush. Ambrose was still the good fighter I had pictured. He licked me on points. Right after this they tossed me to against Fred Henneberry, in a nontitle fight, which ended in a draw. Then, after a couple of matches with lesser lights, I fought Fred again. This time his title was on the line, and I won on a foul in the 13th round. Travelling back to Brisbane with the middle-weight title of Australia in my bag, I was the proudest boy in the world. This was the greatest thrill of my whole life. I was an undisputed champion, and looked all #t in a position where I could adequately repay my folks for what they had done to make me what I was. This was an ambition I had cherished right through the piece. I was not destined to hold that title very long, for after one fight with Dealer Wells, I gave Henneberry a chance to win it back—and he did. 1 injured my hand, and retired in the 10th round. This was in 1933. This setback did not injure my drawing power, for I went on fighting and drawing big gates. I met all the imported fighters, and the best of the locals during the next three years, a.\l though I fought Fred Henneberry four times over that period, & was not until our last meeting, at the end of 1936, that I was able to win the title back from him. This made the seventh time Fred* and I had fought. I had signed articles for the eighth, giving him another chance to ge the title when he left for England. This fellow was always • tough match. A regular bulldog, he was never licked. Looking back over all the men X have met in the ring, Ambrose Palmei stands out as the best of the bunch. He knew all the answers on defence, and was by far the hardest of the lot to land a decent punch on. Always fit and well, he would fight back hardest just when you thought he was done. Game Gus Lesnevichu The hardest puncher 1 met was “Deacon” Leo Kelly. He raised lumps on me everywhere he landed, and at times I thought the Stadium roof had collapsed on my head. The American, Gus Lesnevich, will always remain in my memory as the toughest opponent I fought. On three occasions I lifted him inches off the floor with a right uppercut, expecting to sec him crumple up, but instead he put his head down and tore into it like an enraged bull. He kept this up all through the fight in defiance of everything I landed. Gus had a heart so big he would need to turn sideways walking through u door. Although I have been in the game nearly eight years, I am fighting better than ever before, because since Joining forces with manager Jack Munro and trainer Tommy Kelly I am more contented than at any previous time, and definitely in better condition. This story would not be complete without a mention of the wonderful assistance my good wife has been in helping me to handle the financial end or my fighting. Mainly through her careful manipulation I have folks happily settled in a nice home at Brisbane, and, provided I can hold my present form for a while longer. I should be sittinr pretty in the sunset of my life.

If I may begin my story at the end I should like first of all to make imposition clear. As everybody knows. I have had offers up to £3OOO to meet Len Harvey in England and Solly Kriegcr in America. I appreciate both (states Richards in his reminiscences in the Melbourne Sporting Globe).

But I want it clearly understood that while I can get a reasonable number of contests in Australia I have no intention of going abroad. That is definite. Now to the gloves and resin. As a beginning, let me tell you that for everything I have done in the fight game, and for what I have derived from it, most of the credit goes to my dad

He taught me and put me in a game I am sure I would never thave tackled on my own. There were three of us kids in the family—one girl, Maxie, who is also a fighter, and myself, the eldest. 1 was born at Ipswich, Queensland, on May 6, 1913, and went to the local State school there until I was 15.

Before and during my schoolboy days I don’t tenk I was like the average run of kids, seeing that I was never in a scrap of any sort.

Became JFig*R-minded. I had plenty of opportunities, but was the kind who would walk a mile around trouble rather than take a short cut through it. Even after leaving school and working around the bush 1 was just the same, in spite of the fert that I must have had the fighting instinct in me, as you will learn later. My first job on leaving school was with my dad, falling scrut? on a farm near Boonah. It was tough work, but l never regret having taken it on. For swinging the axe from daylight till dark built muscles and stamina which I am sure has helped me through many a hard fight.

Out in the bush with no form of entertainment on tap, reading occupied all my spare time. Dad, who was a good all-round sport, always had a budget of sporting papers, which I read inside and out. Strange to say. the boxing pages had a magnetic attraction for me. I would read them over and over until I felt I really knew the champions of that time. How well I can remember reading of Ambrose Palmer and Fred Henneberry, conjuring up mental pictures of their great fights, but never dreaming that I would ever -ce those champions. If you had told me that some dav I would be in the ring with these men I would have suggested you were hopelessly insane. But such a fairy tale actually came true, for I fought them both. The constant reading of all this fight news must have made me fightminded, for at the Boonah show I scared the life out of my dad by taking a glove .ch a member of a travelling boxing show. To this day I can feci the thrill I got out of that roug.i and tumblethat’s all it could be called. Little did the fellow 1 was fighting dream ti at he was swapping punches with the future trip.e champion of the country', who would some day be sought after by promoters in England and America. I am certain no such crazy thought ever entered my head. Indeed, I had no idea that I would light again. My dad was the or.Jy one in the tent who could sec anything in me. Right away he bought a set of gloves and started in to teacn me as soon as we got back to the farm. As I told you earlier, dad was -i good all-round sport, and boxing was his best. Right from the start things came easy to me under his tuition, and those boxing sessions cculd not come around too soon for me, even though I would be dog tired after swinging the axe all day.

Bitten by Fight Bug. In no time I was properly bitten by the fight bug, adds Richards. I saved my pocket money, and went to Brisbane to see all the important fights about that time. Now I am going to hand a surprise when I tell you that the first big fight I saw was the *ht Merv Williams fought Sunny jim Williams, the coloured boy from America, who had just put Billy Edwards, the Newcastle boy, out of the game. My dad was working hard to teach me and get me into shape during this time, and eventually he fixed a 15rounder against Jerry Simmons, at the Bohemia Stadium, Brisbane, j This was my first rea! fight, and was I nervous. The crowd had me scared stiff. Those first couple of rounds will always rema> a b T ank *n my memory, [I could think of nothing. ...