New Zealand lost two of its most famous sporting sons within a few days of each other when Billy Murphy, former world champion featherweight boxer, and Malcolm Champion, first New Zealander to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, passed away at Auckland in August. Bèhind the sporting record of both men was romance.

Billy Murphy, or “Torpedo Billy” as he was known for his destructive work in the ring, was born at Auckland and became apprenticed to the tailoring trade, a trade he returned to when his days as a boxer had ended. Unbeatable in New Zealand and Australia, Billy Murphy travelled to Australia in 1889—a long and not-socomfortable voyage in those days–and in his third match knocked out the “Belfast Spider,” Ike Weir, to win the world featherweight boxing championship. Not only was he the first New Zealander to win a world professional boxing title: he was the only one to do it. Ted Morgan, Olympic welterweight champion in 1928, won a world amateur championship, but Billy Murphy's win in 1890 has not yet been equalled by a New Zealander.

Returning to New Zealand, Billy was asked to defend his newly-won crown against the most amazing of all boxers, “Griffo,” better known by that name than his real name of Albert William Griffiths.

Griffo never trained, but he could box the ears off any of his opponents. “Give me a bottle of rum, a haircut and a shave and I'll beat these fellows” was his simple slogan. When he lost his world title to Ryan, the record books stated: “Griffo drunk.” Of a different type was Billy Murphy. He took the game seriously and nobody could point a finger of scorn at him.

So elusive did Griffo prove that Murphy could not put a glove on him and after 15 rounds of fruitless milling the New Zealander grew so disgusted that he tore off the gloves and refused to continue. He met Griffo on other occasions but could never defeat the amazing Australian. Billy had 100 bouts for 67 wins, 17 losses, 14 draws and 2 no decisions. His last contest was in New Plymouth on August 18th, 1907, when he knocked out an American, Toohey, in the first round.

Billy then retired to a tailoring establishment in Auckland. He had a sign which read: “Billy Murphy, Champion Boxer of the World and Champion Clothes-Presser.” Proud of his boxing ability, even with the passing years, Billy had a standing offer of 5/to knock-out any opponent who cared to put the gloves on with him. Even in the last year or two of his life Billy had claimants for the five shillings, but history does not record of the gallant old-timer ever losing his challenge.

Of a different type was Malcolm Champion. I have already told, in an earlier issue of the “Railways Magazine,” how Champion was not considered good enough to represent Auckland at the New Zealand Swimming Championships in Lyttelton in 1901, and of how he travelled on the Government steamer, Hinemoa, which had to put into Wellington on account of bad weather, and how Champion was able to compete in the Wellington Championships, win the entire programme and gain selection as a Wellington representative after his nomination as an individual entrant had been refused for the National Championships. Champion won every event from 100 yards to one mile that year and repeated the feat in other years.

He represented New Zealand at the Festival of Empire Games in London in 1911, a New Zealand-Australian team being among the three countries represented at what later developed into the Empire Games, nowadays second in importance only to the Olympic Games. Champion won the half-mile and five-mile English titles.

In the New Zealand-Australian team (or Australasian team, as it was known in those days) was Billy Woodger, New Zealand sprinter, who has recently retired from an executive position in the New Zealand Railway service.

Selected as a member of the Australian and New Zealand swimming team for the Olympic Games at Stockholm in 1912, Champion was in the winning combination in the 1600 metres swimming relay, his team-mates being Hardwick, Boardman and Healy. This team set a world record.

In all, Champion won 32 New Zealand swimming championships, a record that would have been improved upon had not the championships been suspended during the years of the Great War.

Billy Murphy and Malcolm Champion represented a link with the old days of sport. Billy's hey-day was when the bare-knuckle fights were going out of existence; Champion's day was the day when the “Australian crawl” was beginning to revolutionise swimming and helping to set figures considered unbeatable…. but, of course, beaten in due course.

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One by one they pass away … none of us is getting any younger. Latest member of the “Immortals,” the New Zealand Rugby representatives of 1905 to pass away is Mr. H. D. (“Mona”) Thomson, who died in Wellington early in August. A few months earlier, Frank Glasgow had answered the Final Whistle. We are at times inclined to forget that 35 years have gone past since the days when Billy Wallace, Dave Gallaher (he found a hero's grave in France), page 62 page 63 Eric Harper, Bob Deans, Simon Mynott, George Gillett, George Smith, Charlie Seeling and Freddy Roberts were the idols of the Rugby public, and it is only when Death leaves a gap that we realise how time is fleeting. But the memory of these great players will never fade. It is imperishably engraved on the pages of our great sporting history.