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Boxing at School
My Story
DescriptionBOXING
At school and at the Greymouth working men’s club, boxing was very popular. The Saint Colomba Hall was just around the corner from my home and was on the school grounds and was the venue for a lot of boxing tournaments. Teams from Nelson, Marlborough, and Canterbury would visit, with local teams from both the Workingman’s Club and the Marist. One of our boxing coaches was “Doc Findlay,” where the “Doc” came from I don’t know. He had a son Graham who represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games at boxing and he was very good, with real style, but he didn’t get into the medals. Practice nights were very hard and I would come home with my eyes watering, ears ringing and my nose crusty with dried blood. Mum would be visibly upset, but the next day she would be ok. One character who lived not far from me, up Brewerton’s Lane was Jimmy Purton, alias “Rocky” after the ex. World Champion Rocky Marciano. Jimmy was about Kevin’s age and a very “skinny little runt.” When he put on those huge boxing gloves stuffed with horse hair in those days, those skinny, skinny arms could hardly lift them. But Jimmy was then 10 foot tall and bulletproof. We had to wear a singlet in the ring and Jimmy had no shoulders to hold one up, so it was tied front and back to stop it falling off. The crowd enjoyed Jimmy’s fights and he won a few too, but win or lose, the crowd would at the end of the fight, throw money in to the ring for the two boys to share. Jimmy who came from a very poor family would be trying to pick up the coins, even with his boxing gloves on. Mind you, we older boys were always disappointed, when no one threw money into the ring for us.
During my boxing career I had seven fights, of which I won five, lost one and drew one. One of my wins, I knocked out my opponent, out cold. He lay on the floor twitching which frightened shit out of me, and he was only out for about twenty seconds. Another fight which would be called unofficial was held on my front lawn at home. David Tillyshort got some gloves from somewhere, so he and I decided to have a friendly fight. Although David had not done any boxing like me, I thought this would be easy. David was about my age, but a heavier build than me, mind you, I was a skinny little bugger then, but I was bigger than Jimmy Purton.
David and I started off and it was an even scrap, with other kids cheering us on, until he got me a beaut. Fair enough, but then he went for the kill, hammering hell out of me and they weren’t well padded gloves either. I fought back and was very relieved, when Dad who had just arrived home stopped us. And we all thought David was a Mummy’s boy, but not now.
ContributorBrian McIntyreMap[1]
At school and at the Greymouth working men’s club, boxing was very popular. The Saint Colomba Hall was just around the corner from my home and was on the school grounds and was the venue for a lot of boxing tournaments. Teams from Nelson, Marlborough, and Canterbury would visit, with local teams from both the Workingman’s Club and the Marist. One of our boxing coaches was “Doc Findlay,” where the “Doc” came from I don’t know. He had a son Graham who represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games at boxing and he was very good, with real style, but he didn’t get into the medals. Practice nights were very hard and I would come home with my eyes watering, ears ringing and my nose crusty with dried blood. Mum would be visibly upset, but the next day she would be ok. One character who lived not far from me, up Brewerton’s Lane was Jimmy Purton, alias “Rocky” after the ex. World Champion Rocky Marciano. Jimmy was about Kevin’s age and a very “skinny little runt.” When he put on those huge boxing gloves stuffed with horse hair in those days, those skinny, skinny arms could hardly lift them. But Jimmy was then 10 foot tall and bulletproof. We had to wear a singlet in the ring and Jimmy had no shoulders to hold one up, so it was tied front and back to stop it falling off. The crowd enjoyed Jimmy’s fights and he won a few too, but win or lose, the crowd would at the end of the fight, throw money in to the ring for the two boys to share. Jimmy who came from a very poor family would be trying to pick up the coins, even with his boxing gloves on. Mind you, we older boys were always disappointed, when no one threw money into the ring for us.
During my boxing career I had seven fights, of which I won five, lost one and drew one. One of my wins, I knocked out my opponent, out cold. He lay on the floor twitching which frightened shit out of me, and he was only out for about twenty seconds. Another fight which would be called unofficial was held on my front lawn at home. David Tillyshort got some gloves from somewhere, so he and I decided to have a friendly fight. Although David had not done any boxing like me, I thought this would be easy. David was about my age, but a heavier build than me, mind you, I was a skinny little bugger then, but I was bigger than Jimmy Purton.
David and I started off and it was an even scrap, with other kids cheering us on, until he got me a beaut. Fair enough, but then he went for the kill, hammering hell out of me and they weren’t well padded gloves either. I fought back and was very relieved, when Dad who had just arrived home stopped us. And we all thought David was a Mummy’s boy, but not now.
ContributorBrian McIntyreMap[1]
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West Coast New Zealand History (22nd May 2015). Boxing at School. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 21st Mar 2026 10:15, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/2079