Statue of Torpedo Billy Murphy in Ponsonby, Auckland

onsonby bronze for battlin' Billy
by Steve Kilgallon, Sunday Star Times, 6th June 2010.

 

BACK IN the days of bare knuckles and 40-round bouts, 52kg battler Billy Murphy became the lightweight world boxing champion.

He remains, 120 years later, the only New Zealand-born world champion (Bob FitZSimons was born in England and David Tua, Jimmy Thunder and Maselino Masoe in Samoa) thanks to a 14th-round knockout of Ike 'Spider' Weir In San Francisco.

His great-nephew, Dillon Kennedy, reckons that's reason enough to produce a lasting memorial to Torpedo Billy, and has raised $10,000 towards the estimated $90,000 cost of a lifesize bronze cast.

Kennedy has approached Auckland mayor John Banks about the prospect of siting the statue 10 Western Park, Ponsonby - not far from the Arch Hill suburb where Murphy was raised with his nine siblings before beginning a remarkable 220-fight career which took him to the US, Australia and South Africa. The local community board and business association, as well as the Auckland Boxing Association, have all leant their weight to Kennedy's proposal. He hopes to have the statue placed by early next year.

Billy Murphy. certainly deserves his own footnote in history. He was legendarily tough: he once knocked out three contenders in one night, and fought the final 25 rounds of one 40-round bout with a broken hand.

He was thrown out of school as a young teenager, says Kennedy, for bashing a teacher. The temper clearly remained: In one 1893 fight 10 New Jersey, reported the Boston Globe, Murphy was disqualified after accidentally punching the fight referee James Stoddard and the pair then brawled until a police captain split them.

Murphy finished his career by touring a boxing booth around the North Island offering to fight allcomers.

SHANE CAMERON may have had his last heavyweight fight - for now - after stripping down to 96kg and taking a cruiserweight fight on the undercard of Danny Green's July 21 contest against Paul Briggs In Sydney. Cameron agreed to the contest with 19-3 cruiser Daniel Ammann (to be fought at a catchweight) after a fresh approach from Green's manager, Justin Manolikos, confirming their interest in a fight before the year's end.

- Steve Kilgallon

bout the sculptor

 

Mr Mark Whtye is a well known New Zealand sculptor based in Lyttleton, Christchurch.

Mark will also be making the individual bronze maquettes (smaller replicas of the larger statue).

The maquettes are 300mm high , made of bronze and will retail for $3200.00 (NZD) each, inclusive of GST.

They will be available early August and already there have been firm orders for six of these.

A limited first edition of 50 will be produced.

If you would like to place an order for one of these maquettes please contact us.

Find out more about these Billy Murphy maquettes

Make a donation towards the statue