He Made Boxing Fashionable

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 83, 24 January 1941, Page 5

He Made Boxing Fashionable

ND so, for the first time in boxing history a coloured contestant won the heavy-weight boxing crown of the Queensberry realm--and once again Australia, thanks to Hugh D. McIntosh, was part of the fistic map of the world (this was the BurnsJohnson fight, 1908). To him goes the credit of revolutionising the setting of championship fights, "His magnificent showmanship. developed the social angle, brought ladies in evening dress to the ringside, and bridged the century-old gap between "stoush" and society. Such is the stuff of which men like Hugh D. McIntosh are made. And it is the firm opinion of many that these ingredients are to be found in the make-up of Charles Lucas of New Zealand. It is an open secret that in the last few years the public of New Zealand haven’t given boxing the support that the noble art deserves. Many may say that this is due to the fact that we have not had many brilliant stars in our fistic firmament, but, after the recent fight at Palmerston North, surely the New Zealand public will realise the value of our own Maurice Strickland and will see that, despite two years absence from the ring, the American, Hipo Igoe, who ranked him so highly among the heavy-weights of the world, was well justified in his opinion. It should also be apparent that Charlie Lucas has realised the possibility of harnessing Strickland’s merit to create a new boom in New Zealand boxing activities. It is my opinion that what Hugh D. McIntosh did for Australian boxing in 1908 Charles Lucas can do for New Zealand in 1941. And I know that I am only one of many thousands who would be thrilled to see Lucas achieve his ambition of staging a match here in Wellington between Maurice Strickland of New Zealand and Ron Richards of Australia -(Mac’s Sports Talk, 2YD, January 2.)