boxers

Archie Bradley (4 January 1897 – 27 March 1969) was an Australian professional boxer of the 1920s. Also known as the "Gympie Whirlwind" or the "Gympie Tornado", Archie Bradley was the Australian Welterweight Champion from 1922–to 1924. At the height of his popularity, Bradley was afforded huge publicity with whole pages of magazines and newspapers devoted to his boxing career. It was not uncommon for over 12,000 fans to fill stadiums in Brisbane and Sydney to watch him fight. In the 1920s his stamina and athletic ability as both a boxer and a professional rugby league footballer became legendary. Bradley was born at Wickham Street, Gympie, Queensland on 4 January 1897. He was the seventh of 10 children born to John (b. 1860, Ulverston) and Minnie Bradley (née Gierke, b. 1866, Toowoomba). In September 1917 Bradley had his first professional fight against Joe Healy at the Theatre Royal in Gympie. After 15 rounds the fight was awarded to Healy in a controversial decision. Bradley went on to win 14 fights in Gympie before traveling to Brisbane in 1918, at the age of 21 years, to further his career. In an eight-month period in Brisbane, he had seven wins in seven bouts—against boxers such as "Smiling Georgie" Malouf, Roy Hayward, Bert Secombe, and Jimmy Hill. After a loss to Silvino Jamito on a foul in the fifth round, he went on to outpoint Eugene Volaire and knock out the famous Eddie Lynch after nine rounds of furious fighting.[1] In August 1921 Bradley beat Sid Godfrey on points.[2] In 1922 he took the welterweight crown from Tommy Uren, and was later described as "probably the greatest fighter to come out of [Queensland]".[3] He had a break from boxing from August 1925 – to September 1926, but was out of form on his return, losing soundly to Jim Cox. After his retirement from boxing, Bradley bred greyhounds for racing, and produced champions including "Archie's Wonder", "Bradley's Best", and "Archie's Gift".[3] He also managed a relative of his who was taking up heavyweight boxing,[3] Col Daley, who went undefeated for at least 29 fights.[5] He kept up his associations with the sport until at least the 1950s, attending tournaments at mission stations. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Bradley_(boxer)

RIP champ....the greatest

A very timely image. Nice find. May he rest in peace. I can only conjure good memories and thoughts of him through all the years.

" Many of the Bell's fighters were Indigenous Australians, who Arnold Bell said were not only very good fighters, but were good showmen as well, knowing when to make their opponent look good, and when "to knock him over". Mr. Bell said that the boxing tents were the most popular event in the sideshows, in an era when boxing was a popular sport. "Most of the Australian champions in those days started with the boxing tents. That's where they learned how to fight." The Bell family traveled the country show circuit through Victoria to New South Wales and Queensland and into the Northern Territory, "following the sun". Arnold Bell was a fighter from 16 years old until his forties. Source: www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-16/arnold-bell-and-his-life-a...