A Knock-Out! The Arnold Thomas Boxing Collection
C.H. Hunt (1857-1938)
Larry Foley (1848–1917) c.1870
ink & wash drawing; 29.2 x 22.7 cm
nla.pic-vn3060380
Unknown photographer
Dave Smith versus Jerry Jerome, Sydney Stadium,
19 April 1913
b&w photograph; 18.8 x 29.7 cm
nla.pic-vn3260495
Unknown photographer
Tommy Burns and Jack Johnson in the Ring at
the Stadium, Rushcutters Bay, NSW, Saturday 26 December 1908
b&w poster; 26.2 x 37.0 cm
nla.pic-vn3638997
Unknown photographer
Jack Hassen forces Archie Kemp on to the Ropes
in their Lightweight Championship Bout at Rushcutter's Bay Stadium, 19 September 1949
b&w photograph; 8.9 x 13.8 cm
nla.pic-vn3670809
Herbert Fishwick (d.1957)
Portrait of
Clarence Reeves, the Alabama Kid c.1940
b&w photograph; 22.0 x 16.5 cm
nla.pic-vn3775271
Arnold Thomas has been a passionate follower of boxing since his early childhood, and throughout his life he accumulated a substantial amount of material relating to Australian boxing history. His collection was acquired by the National Library of Australia in 2003 and many of these ‘knock-out’ images can now be viewed online at http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3046935.
The Arnold Thomas collection is particularly significant as it focuses on the early history of Australian boxing. It includes images of Jem Mace and Larry Foley who were keen promoters of gloved fighting under the Queensberry rules during the 1870s and 1880s. The collection also contains rare original photographs from the ‘Golden Age’ of 1908–1927. It was during this period that Australian boxing reached its peak, with great fighters such as Les Darcy, Dave Smith and Jerry Jerome, the latter being the first Indigenous Australian to win a national title.
Most of the Australian heavyweight champions between 1881 and 1950 are represented within the collection. Also included are numerous champions and contenders from the other boxing divisions, such as Albert ‘Griffo’ Griffiths, who was the Australian and world featherweight champion during the early 1890s.
The earliest item in the collection is an 1877 watercolour portrait of Larry Foley. In 1878 Foley fought in what was arguably the first legal professional match under the Queensberry rules in Australia. Exhibition fights and charity fundraising events had been legally held before this event, but this match seems to have been the first legal ‘prize-fight’ with profit as motivation. Foley’s opponent was Peter Newton, and the fight lasted for 16 rounds before being stopped by the police on the grounds that the noise from the crowds was disturbing the peace. The fight was declared a draw.
Despite the Arnold Thomas collection’s emphasis on early Australian boxing, more contemporary fighters such as Rocky Mattioli, Jeff Fenech and Tony Mundine (senior) are well represented as well. The most recent item in the collection is a photograph of a match between Kostya Tszyu and Hugo Pineda, at Parramatta Stadium in 1996.
The collection also contains photos of Rocky Mattioli’s fight with Jeff White for the Australian light middleweight title on 17 May 1973. One post-match image even shows the boxing ring split in two after it collapsed under the weight of the spectators who rushed in to congratulate Rocky Mattioli on his victory. Unfortunately many of the images taken since 1955 cannot be displayed online as they are still restricted by copyright, but they can be viewed in person at the Library.
The Australian boxing scene had a very good reputation in the first half of the twentieth century and attracted fighters of many different nationalities. As it wasn’t unusual for these visiting boxers to stay in Australia for several years, they often held Australian titles. Many of these international fighters are included in the Arnold Thomas collection, including Clarence Reeves, the ‘Alabama Kid’. Reeves spent 10 years in Australia and fought at least 72 matches here. According to a note on the back of his photograph he even married an Australian girl, but was eventually forced to return to America by the White Australia Policy.
The Arnold Thomas collection also documents internationally important fights such as the highly controversial match in Sydney 1908, in which American Jack Johnson defeated Canadian Tommy Burns to become the first black heavyweight champion of the world. This event sparked racial riots in America when the result was reported. There are also photographs from the 1968 fight which saw Lionel Rose take the world bantamweight title from Fighting Harada. Rose’s success in this match made him the first Indigenous Australian to win a world boxing title.
Tragedies are also represented within the collection, including the death of Archie Kemp, aged 23, from injuries sustained in his fight for the Australian lightweight title against Jack Hassen.
The Arnold Thomas boxing collection contains all these stories and many more. Boxing has always played a significant role in Australian popular culture and this collection will prove invaluable for future historians, as well as for fans and devotees of the ‘sweet science’.
Eleanor Goodwin
Reference Librarian
Pictures Collection
National Library of Australia



