Ted Morgan, boxing for gold

Ted Morgan displaying his amateur world welterweight championship belt in 1928, the same year he won gold in the event at the Amsterdam Olympics.

Our first official gold medal 

Ted Morgan's family arrived in Wellington from England in 1907 when Ted was barely one. He attended Te Aro School and Wellington College. J.P. Firth, the principal of Wellington College (and New Zealand's representative on the International Olympic Committee 1923-27), was a strong believer in the importance of physical fitness. Boxing was a major sport in the school and Morgan was runner-up in the college bantamweight championship in 1921 and in the lightweight class in 1922.

Ted left school at the end of 1922 to become an apprentice plumber. He won the Wellington amateur lightweight championships and the national title in 1925. In 1927 he was selected for the New Zealand team to compete at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. It was to be a big year for New Zealand boxing as Gisborne's Tom Heeney also fought Gene Tunney in New York for the world professional heavyweight title.

Morgan was a southpaw (someone who boxes left-handed). He had a reputation for constantly going after his opponents and forcing them into mistakes.

During the long sea voyage to Europe Morgan gained weight, forcing him to move up a division to welterweight. On board the SS Remuera a punching bag was set up to allow Morgan and the other boxer in the team, Alf Cleverley, to practice. But Cleverley had been a marginal selection for the team and had to work his passage to Amsterdam. The ship's captain refused to let passengers and crew mix, which meant that Morgan and Cleverley were not allowed to spar.

Morgan's weight gain posed a real problem. He was only three pounds too heavy for his normal lightweight division, but in moving up to welterweight he was nine pounds lighter than most of his opponents. His prospects slumped further a week out from the Games when he dislocated a knuckle on his left hand while sparring. Punching produced severe pain. 

Undaunted, Morgan knocked out his first opponent, Sweden's Selfrid Johannson, in the second round. He then defeated Italy's Romano Canova in an easy points decision. Morgan was head-butted by the Italian on a number of occasions and finished the fight with a black eye. In the semi-finals the Kiwi scored another points victory over the pre-Games favourite, Rene Catalaud of France.

His opponent in the final was the vastly experienced Argentinean Paul Landini, who had a reputation for knocking out his opponents. Morgan's left hand was in a bad way and he could not straighten it. But the New Zealander had come too far and endured too much to let it slip now. He out-boxed Landini for a unanimous points victory. One English writer was moved to describe Morgan as the ‘best boxer at the games'.

Ted Morgan is officially credited as New Zealand's first gold medallist. The New Zealander Malcolm Champion had won gold in the pool in 1912, but he was part of an Australasian relay team.

Morgan turned professional in 1929, but overall his results were disappointing. He lost 11 of his 26 professional bouts and in 1934 he was beaten for the final time. He returned to his trade as a plumber.