Hunting Aussies

[vistaman44]

Guys;
I'm about done rating the new boxers for my 1940-50 universe, and plan to do as mark42661 did and post them in small groups for everyone when I'm done.

Meantime, I'm starting to look for photos, and there are at least five or six Australians on the missing list so far:

Aussie flyweight champ Taffy Hancock
World bantam title claimant Mickey Miller
Eddie Miller
Merv "Darky" Blandon
Lightheavy Jack Johnson (also sometimes referred to as Australian Jack Johnson or Jack A. Johnson)

Also, can't quite decide what to do with Jack McNamee (need pic, also) as far as weight class. What do ya say, mates? Thanks in advance for any help.

[Mark42661]

Thanks Mark. I'm anxious to see what you have when you make your fighters available for download. I'm 9 sim years away from 1940 in my 30's universe, so I'm sure I'll be using alot of your fighters. Seems to me from what I've seen with fighters you've posted, you're a very good fighter rater and I would easily be comfortable with your ratings.

Unfortunately I don't have pics of any of the Australian fighters you're looking for, so I can't be of much help there presently.

Mark

[crusadecat]

Vista, Have you checked out pictureaustralia.org ? It might be a help I just ran a search and found 78 pages but the first few looked to be of military boxing matches. So it might not be good but probably worth a check. I found a source to order pictures there as well they can email the image of the Arnold Thomas Collection of Boxing photographs and such but it looks expensive no thumbnails to even look at eithier but defintely right in your era.

[crusadecat]

I wasn't sure if you had or needed a pic of Herb Narvo.

[shane6969]

Vistaman,

I have photo's of ALL of the fighters you mentioned. I'll post them here tomorrow (Aussie time). I also have photo's of a fair few Australian boxers from that era. As for McNamee, I think he was Aussie WW champ at one stage, and eventually got ranked at #8 LHW of the world in 1943. I also looked after an ex-boxer who trained with Jack Johnson under the tutelage of Ambrose Palmer. He said Johnson was a tough and rugged man out of the ring as well. One boxer who interests me a lot from that era is LHW Jackie Marr who beat the great Dave Sands (record attatched).

Cheers,

Shane.

[vistaman44]

Wow, you guys are good!

Thanks for the kind words, Mark. There will be more than 350 new fighters across the main eight weight classes when the additions are all entered and play tested. I've finished most of my researching and have entered and tested about two-thirds of them. Hope to have them complete in 10 days or so. That's why I tentatively made my first foray into picture hunting. Found 30 or so myself, but one-eleventh barely scratches the surface.

I also meant to tell you, Mark, that among those I downloaded of yours and that we had both done there were three or four that overlapped, including one of my personal favorites whom I had asked for TBCB to rank, Alabama Kid. We were almost identical on his MW ranking (I also did him as a LH).

Crusade, good catch. Yes I did need Narvo. Appreciate it. I will also check out the sites you suggested.

Shane, thanks so much in advance for the pics. I had looked at Marr, but wasn't sure I could do him accurately, based on BoxRec. The record you provided has many more fights and guys to use as markers. With Sands, Kid, Buxton, Cestac, Angelo, etc., to compare to, I think I will go ahead and add him. The least I can do in exchange for the pics, eh?

As for McNamee, I'm leaning toward LH for him, since that's where he was world ranked.

Any other guys the experts from Down Under think I should add from that era? There are only three or four in the game, so hope I'm not missing any world class guys. I've tried to be thorough, but over an entire decade and the whole world ... LOL!

[crusadecat]

Maybe Elley Bennett A Bantam and Feather wt. Champion. he was more late 40's I suppose.

[vistaman44]

Bennett's in the game, but don't know if he has a pic or not. Can't check now (am at work). Nice pic, though! Will be glad to add it either way. Thanks.

[crusadecat]

Whoops long night last night. Thanks

[vistaman44]

Another Aussie guy I just noticed I'm missing a pic of is Ron Richards, Australian and British Empire middleweight champion, rated in the top 10 in the 1930s and 1940s by Ring magazine. He was also Australian heavyweight champ.

He and Fred Henneberry, who's rated by TBCB, had some real wars, according to my research and BoxRec info. Richards won their 10-bout, 115-round series, 6-3-1. The odd thing is that there must have either been some really bad blood or a lot of home cooking ... because Henneberry lost five times on fouls!

[shane6969]

Here's Taffy Hancock.
Sorry some of the scans aren't the best, but one of my mates scanned the pics, as mine is kaput.

[shane6969]

Mickey Miller.
Apparently, he chose his ringname after a greyhound named Mick The Miller. His real name was Nigel Shirley.

[shane6969]

Jack Johnson.

[shane6969]

Ron Richards. A truly great MW.

[shane6969]

Jack McNamee.

[shane6969]

Darkie Blandon.

[shane6969]

Eddie Miller.

[shane6969]

Here is Norm Gent. An almost forgotten and underrated LW. He held a win over Jimmy Carter, amongst others. He was very well skilled, but his conditioning (or lack of) let him down.

[shane6969]

Archie Kemp. He died in 1949 after being KO'd by Jack Hassen. He didn't reach his full potential.

[shane6969]

Vic Patrick, one of Australia's best LW's ever.