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Boxing and Bendigo sit well. In the first three days of December, the Commonwealth Youth Games will bring boxers from 13 countries into the Bendigo ring.

Bendigo City was named after a boxer.

Bendigo, the FIRST

Abednego Thompson, "Bold Bendigo," was the knuckle fighting hero of the miners from the Midlands of England. Those dauntless men sailed in ships to Victoria colony's fresh gold fields in the rush of 1851 - and named the place Bendigo.

The bare-knuckler, Bold Bendigo, was later a famous Methodist preacher, a model for Henry Armstrong, George Foreman and contemporary speak-up Christians, Kali Meehan, Lamon Brewster and Owen Beck, just to name five.

JUSTIN WHITEHEAD, Bendigo's latest champion

Bendigo City has a great boxing past . . but first our Youth reps.
David Browne boxes at 54kg, Joel Brunker at 57, and Lenny Zappavigna at 60kg - all three New South Walers up in weight since the Aussie titles in March.
Brunker beat Will Kickett of WA in a close elimination bout.

Michael Hatwell of WA holds down 64kg, a big light-welterweight he.
Dean Russell of NSW is the 69kg welter for Australia, and Omar Shaick the only Queenslander, in 75kg middleweights.
Omar beat Aussie junior champ, Luke Garrett in Queensland; then, after Jayde Mitchell of Victoria beat Adam Hann of WA, Omar next day edged Jayde for green & gold selection.

MICHAEL HATWELL ... will box for Australia in Bendigo

England, Scotland and Ireland will provide some of the opposition. South Africa and Canada are formidable.

Teenager extraordinaire, Amir Khan, was a Bendigo Youth couldabeen, but he is expected instead to stay at home boxing for England against the USA men. Good news Lenny Zapp.
Eligibles for Bendigo were born in 1986 and 1987.

Bendigo had many boxing names: Brian Cahill and Des Duguid at the Empire Games Vancouver 1954, Duguid again in Rome '60; Bill Fry, Kingston Commonwealth Games '66, Bendigo Centennial champion Bob Duguid, Kieran McQueenie, the brothers George, Jim and Ray Sutherland.

Good Bendigo pros, Len Ermel, Joey Mason, Tom Carruthers. Heavyweight Pat Connelly, the reigning National super-heavy champ, Justin Whitehead on a Bendigo police beat. International Lyndon Hosking, and his brother Scott Hosking, organising this tournament in the Basketball Stadium.

Bendigo gyms (before I go): Leo Forrest at Bendigo YMCA, George KO Brown at Bendigo Rowing Club, Laurie Eames home gym, Greg Angwin, the League gym.

11 into 3 won't go

Now an amendment. We accused the Boxing Australia officials of lopping five boxing divisions off the Games program, because six were less work.

Not fair, we're since been told. Commonwealth Games organisers allotted only three days to boxing; you could not fit all the action into three.

Fair call. Still, why not a full week for boxing? When Arthur Tunstall was running the Commonwealth Games Association, boxing got what it wanted.

Ah well, only one Arthur. They say when his Aussie boxer at Rome was overweight Arthur produced his own scales to pass the boy.
Good one, for mine.