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Kiwi of the Week
Today in History
4 July
1902 NZ Boxing Association formed at Christchurch
The New Zealand Boxing Association was formed to promote and foster amateur boxing in this country. Having drawn up the rules for fighting, the Association staged the inaugural New Zealand championships at Christchurch later in 1902.
The winner of the heavyweight division that year was Bob 'Ruby Robert' Fitzsimmons of Timaru. Fitzsimmons held three world titles in three different weight divisions between 1891 and 1905 and became one of New Zealand's first sporting heroes. He was considered to be 'one of the hardest punchers and greatest fighters in the history of boxing'.
It was in boxing that New Zealand won its first individual Olympic gold medal in 1928. Ted Morgan, a virtual unknown, overcame the handicap of dislocating the first knuckle of his left hand to win gold in the welterweight class at Amsterdam.
Image: Bob Fitzsimmons (BBC)
1868 Te Kooti escapes from the Chathams
Te Kooti and 300 of his followers captured the schooner Rifleman and sailed for New Zealand, eventually landing at Whareongaonga, near Gisborne, nearly a week later.
Image ref: A-114-004-2, Alexander Turnbull Library
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