BOXING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 11 June 1924, Page 17 (Supplement)

BOXING.

Tho history of boxing in Timaru is confined to comparatively recent times, for prior to the formation of the Timaru Boxing Association in 1911, fisticuffs as a science had no expert exponents locally. Since its inception, however, tho Association has done much to encourage local boxers and stimulate public interest in the sport, by means of tournaments and professional contests which it has arranged. An idea of the progress this body has made, and its popularity with the sport-loving public, may be gained from the fact that ,whereas in 1911 there were 25 members only, there are now 400.

Though Timaru did not actually produce any boxei'3 until recent years,. several old Timaru boys have earned fame abroad as professionals. Outstanding amongst these is Bob. Fitzsimmons, who was born in Timaru and went to school hero. For some time he worked in his father’s smithy in Stafford Street North, and later went to Sydney where he took up boxing in earnest and soon made a name for himself. He afterwards ment to America, and there earned a world,vide reputation as a boxer.