Graham Finlay, Greymouth boxer.

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DescriptionThree West Coast boxers all of whom were trained by “Doc” Finlay set a remarkable
record in a ten-year period from 1948. Maurice and Vern Tuck, along with Graham Finlay won thirteen New Zealand titles and what made the feat more remarkable was the fact that Vern missed two championships and Maurice one, due to injury.
Older brother Maurice set what was considered at the time a record, never to be beaten, of six national titles, with the last five in succession. His golden run commenced in 1948 with the annexation of the middleweight crown and was repeated in 1950.
In 1951 he dropped down a weight division to take the inaugural light middleweight title and defended his title the following year. The middleweight crown was regained in 1953 and successfully defended during 1954. In addition Maurice had an Australasian title to his credit and represented New Zealand at the 1954 Empire Games.
Vern Tuck was considered by many at the time the more scientific boxer and this was
perhaps confirmed when he was awarded the Jameson Belt at the 1954 championships.
His titles were the lightweight title in 1948, when representing Ashburton, followed by the middleweight crown in 1951 and the lightmiddle version during 1954.
The third member of this illustrious group, was the son of the trio’s trainer Graham
Finlay. The youngster was considered unlucky not to win a title as a seventeen year old and returned in 1954 to annex the lightwelter division. A hat trick of victories in the welterweight class followed in 1955/56/57.
The three Greymouth boxers made the 1954 Wellington national championships their own, when they won the three championship trophies, along with Vern Tuck’s Jameson Belt, and the Earl Stewart Memorial Shield for most points won by an Association.
In all fairness there were many other good fighters as well not mentioned like the Bell Brothers Besides Frank Bell there was also Tom Croft of Stillwater who went Pro. In the early 60's there was Cyril Curtis facing the NZ Champion Paddy Donovan in Greymouth. Thats when I realised how good Donovan was. Others of note were John Logan, Eddie Morrison and Barry Cummings both of Westport. Rusty Lemon and Evan McDonald also just came to mind.Map^[1]Contributor Brian McIntyre

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Location (city or town)GreymouthPersonGraham Finlay

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Graham Finlay, Greymouth boxer.

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