900,000
Hits
and rising!
You could be missing back numbers by the
dozen. Two hundred stories. All for the price you
pay now. Nothing!
Just click the button, Headliners Archives,
below, and scroll down to start on a feast of reading.
|
| ... Archives |
| |
| ... About FIGHTER |
| |
| ... Columnists |
| |
| ...
Links |
| |
|
|
Home >> About FIGHTER
>> Backstage FIGHTER
Contributors
Front
line Pens |
|
The snapshot we ran of
our Western correspondent, JOHN
MURPHY drew
from him the crack that if you look like your
passport photo you need an overseas holiday. John's
friend, Patricia, said it just was not the man
she knows. Trish sent us this shot of Murphy looking
like William Holden the Hollywood character actor.
|
BOB DRANE
gives us a peep into the unsuspected depths of
WBC contender, Hurricane Paul Briggs, in his sketch
called Sensitive New Age Hurricane up front of
our February issue.
Inside Sport will carry the
main thrust of Drane's investigation of the
Inner Briggs, in April. Bob (Roberto Durane
to his pals) is Australia's best feature writer
on boxing.
Bob Drane has two books coming
out in the Spring releases. He combined with
Kostya Tszyu to write (provisional title) Joe
Everyman's Fitness Book, for Pan Macmillan.
Fighters by their Trade offers Drane's reflections
on some great Australian figures. Lothian Press
is publishing that one, which (judging by a
couple of chapters we read) will make a deep
mark.
The very title sings. Simon
and Garfunkel's line about the man who in the
clearing stands.
The high-performance pro, Drane
took time to preview Peden v Campbell ("Hey
Nate!") for us. And he will cover the fight
ringside, for you.
|
|
MIKE ALTAMURA
closed 2004 graduating from Latrobe University with
a journalism diploma. He stepped into 2005 launching
his own boxing website, Fighter-Network.
The son of 1960s pro, Tommy Mura, Altamura is
talented and industrious. His expose of the stacked
cards in Australian boxing (in 114 import bouts,
111 lost) caused a stir among the paying public
short-changed by contemptuous cable screeners.
[Still are!].
Altamura's Network will act as a boxing agent,
as well as continuing to tell the hard truth.
We wish tomorrow's "Ray Mitchell" good
travelling.
|
Judy Laurie of Toowoomba,
Queensland alerted us in a Punch Line (20 Jan) that
R Laurie in the middleweight ratings was a girl.
Judy's own daughter, Rebecca, in fact. Inquiries
revealed that BEC LAURIE
(in photo with World Champ Sharon Anyos) is a
schoolgirl, extraordinarily advanced after only
two bouts in the female fight ranks. Brought to
mind Ron Clarke, who ran the torch into the 1956
Olympic Games stadium; Ron was 18, the world junior
mile champion.
Trainer Glen Azar expects huge
things inside the ropes from Bec. At 16 she is
beating seniors.
Fighter Online invited Bec Laurie
to fill our deficiency and compile the first Australian
Ratings of Female Fighters.
Quite a task. Watch for
the results.
|
|
WERNER 'Kid' KALIN
can really go, inside the ropes as well. Here is
Kalin cheerful after a dust-up with Duruid Istepho
and Andrew Richards, in the White Collar Boxing
at Dereck Herbert's Academy of Boxing in Mordialloc,
Melbourne. Kalin
won the latest Boxathon at the Academy, clocked
a minute of skipping, a minute of speedbag and
a minute of step-up with medicine ball. The Kid's
winning score - a total of 468 skips, hits and
steps in one three-minute round!
|
|
GRAHAM MURRAY sits
in Melbourne's green academic pasture, the La Trobe
University where he's a library staffer, doing the
intellectuals' pastime . . solving "The Age'
cryptic crossword. 'Bomber' Murray once sat in more
dangerous corners, the boxing ring. He was the fourth
super-middleweight champion of Australia, winning
the 12-stone title against Johnny Layton of Sydney
in 1982.
Graham Murray is another
of those 'Boxing Brains' who give this electronic
magazine its cachet. He is also the workplace
delegate and vice-president general staff, of
the National Tertiary Education Union's branch
in La Trobe University.
The second picture of Murray shows him guiding
a beautiful inside right upon Reno Zurik. The
beautiful picture was by the master cameraman,
Bob Remnant. Our Ring Rembrandt 'read' the punch
sooner than Reno.
|
|
DENIS
BUCHANAN wrote penetrating pieces for
FIGHTER from Perth, where he was general manager
of the Hilton Hotel. Buchanan ran Hiltons in Toronto
and Vancouver, Canada, and opened a Hilton in
Africa ("..had to open that one a second
time when it was blown up").
He's a hotel consultant now,
flying to New Zealand, PNG, Java and the Solomon
Islands. Denis, onetime golden glover, is the
second Hall of Famer to write for Fighter
Online.
He was inducted into the Queensland Hotels Association
Hall of Fame in 1993.
|
|
DAVE
WELLINGS is probably the only boxing
trainer to have had three of his boxers at once
ranked in World Boxing Council ten tens, who can
also himself write in the world top ten. His boxers
were Langton Tinago, Kilimanjaro and Stix Macloud
in Zimbabwe. Wellings is a professional writer contributing
to world magazines from his home in Queensland.
|
|
Inventors of the cartoon character,
Cecil Peabody are CLEM PARKINSON
and LAURIE GUNN, a couple of cards.
Parkinson is a country singer and composer on
Larrikin Records, who calls square dances.
Clem boxed novice threes on West Melbourne Stadium
cards topped by Len Dittmar, Dave Sands, Andre
Famechon. For fifteen shillings a bout. Laurie
Gunn is a former cricketer, now muso who's played
trombone in Britain and the USA. Boxing ties?
"Manny Santos attended my daughter's wedding!"
The PaGu has a tonne of laughs coming.
|
|
JOE BRIDGES
enjoyed his last Summer holiday yachting on the
Queensland Gold Coast. No holidaying this year.
He's head down in South Australia, shaping the twelfth
edition of his revived all-Australia magazine, Amateur
Boxer.
Magazine inquiries to Joe Bridges,
call: 08 8325 2702, or
e-mail : joeb123@tpg.com.au
|
|
PATRICIA GOUGH is a
Perth-based journalist writing for India's leading
newsmagazine, The Week. She covered the Sydney Olympics
and graduated MBA (Master of Business Administration)
from Curtin University, Perth. Ms Gough is in the
Directory of Indian Women.
Today as the first Bihari woman journalist.
Patricia's father was an amateur boxer. She interviewed
Shannan Taylor for a human interest story. Her
friend, Michael Jones sketched Elvis and photographed
Patricia.
|
|
BRIAN
SCHOFIELD is seen on Graduation
Day at the University of Queensland in 2001. He
took a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Literature
and Communications. The Melbourne fans knew boxer-fighter
Schofield as "the Doveton Demon." He won
the Australian junior-lightweight title from Dennis
Talbot in six rounds in 1983 and retired as champion.
Schofield is in advertising on the Gold Coast.
|
JOHN FAMECHON won the
WBC world featherweight championship in 1969 London
against a flash fighter considered the pound-for-pound
best right then, Jose Legra, "the little Ali."
(Ali himself was under ban).
Fammo out-thought Legra.
Famechon wrote
two books - his autobiography, Fammo, and
a manual of boxing, The Method, both
with Frank Quill. Fammo brushed with death a decade
ago, hit by a car. His column, Fam's Fair began
in the print magazine last year.
|
|
BRETT CROCKFORD
has brought his professional camera to the FIGHTER
cause. Brett married Kathleen recently enough to
post this wedding picture for BackStage. |
ANTHONY RYAN
is a rugby playing tertiary lecturer in automotives
in the ACT. The editor's nephew stepped in to
cover the AIS Challenges at short
notice. His writing was spicy, you're sure to
read more. |
|
|
|
|
