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By John Murphy

I can just hear Richard Davis, secretary of Boxing WA, and my critics in the pro boxing field chortling.

A while back, I went crook at amateur and pro fight organisers for our poor old eardrums hurt by playing loud taped music in the intervals between fights, and even between rounds.

Ah for those good old times when the only sounds to be heard in our fight arenas here were the thump of leather and fans’ raucous cheers and boos.

This I was thinking as I was going through files of a 1934 "West Australian" newspaper studying publicity for a pro fight show being staged that night at Perth’s long-gone Unity Stadium.

And what was this? Surely not! The bottom paragraph read: "A dance orchestra will entertain with popular music during the intervals".

Further study showed the orchestra was at every show that fight season.