Torpedo Billy Murphy
| Billy Murphy | |
|---|---|
Murphy with National Police Gazette Belt
|
|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Thomas William Murphy |
| Nickname(s) | Torpedo Billy Murphy Australian Billy Murphy |
| Rated at | Featherweight |
| Height | 5 ft 6.5 in (1.69 m) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born |
3 November 1863 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Died | 26 July 1939 (aged 75) Auckland, New Zealand |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 220 |
| Wins | 100 |
| Wins by KO | 76 |
| Losses | 53 |
| Draws | 27 |
| No contests | 40 |
Thomas William Murphy (3 November 1863 – 26 July 1939) was a boxer from New Zealand. An early World Featherweight Champion, he was the first world champion in any class to come from New Zealand. In his early career, he took the New Zealand Lightweight Championship.
He was a prolific boxer who fought more than two hundred fights, with a few going as long as thirty and forty rounds. He was known more for a powerful punch than an exceptional defense.
Murphy was born in Auckland and began boxing there before continuing his career in Australia. He called his deadly right, his "Torpedo" punch, which also referred to his ring name.
On 26 July 1887, he defeated Richard Long in a seventh round knockout at the Opera House in Wellington, New Zealand. The fight was billed as the Lightweight Championship of New Zealand. On 20 August 1887, he defeated John Scotty Fades at the Princess Theatre in a second round knockout at Dunedin, New Zealand, defending his title as Lightweight Champion of New Zealand. On 24 November 1887, he lost a New Zealand Lightweight Title bout with a sixth round disqualification against Ike Fake in Wellington, New Zealand.
He defended the title successfully on 23 June and 1 July 1888 against Joe Molloy and Edward Jones in two fifth round knockouts. These bouts demonstrated the strong punch he had in his early career. In a fourth round knockout, he defeated Jim Saxon in another New Zealand Lightweight Title match on 1 September 1888. On 2 February 1889, he lost to Tommy Williams at the Princess Theatre in Dunedin, New Zealand, in a fourth round disqualification, in what was billed as another New Zealand Lightweight Championship.
He arrived in San Francisco in June 1889 aboard the steamer Zelandia.
In his first fight in America, he defeated Johnny Griffin, an exceptionally talented featherweight, in a third round knockout at the California Club in San Francisco on 12 July 1889.
In an important bout on 30 July 1889, he fought a twenty-seven round draw against English champion Frank Murphy in what was billed as a World 120 pound title match. The bout was fought at the California Athletic Club in San Francisco for a purse of $1,800 dollars. In a close fight, Frank Murphy was down twice in the fifteenth, but had the better of the seventeenth through nineteenth rounds. Frank Murphey was down again in the twenty-second round. The fight was stopped by Referee Cook with the help of the police in the twenty-seventh because neither men appeared to be able to continue the match. Upon examination in their dressing rooms after the match, Billy Murphey was found to have a fracture of the radius of his left arm, and Frank Murphy's wrist was swollen and bruised. Torpedo Billy paused in his boxing schedule for five months to recover. From the twentieth through the final twenty-seventh round, both men appeared fatigued and did far less fighting than the first twenty rounds.
...
Wikipedia