292:, four miles from Warparilla, near Echuca, on the New South Wales side of the River Murray. He had been reluctant to fight Abe Hicken in an antiquated bare-knuckle bout, and his friend Jem Mace discouraged him from accepting the challenge, but Hicken had claimed he was the true Australian champion, and Foley accepted the challenge regardless of the extra risk inherent in bare knuckle boxing under London Prize Ring Rules. Over a thousand spectators assembled at the remote spot to watch the contest for the Australian middleweight championship and a purse of £500 a side. Though not highly significant, he had an advantage of one or two inches and around five pounds on his opponent, and this factor may have influenced the early betting which gave Hicken, already a champion, odds of 2–1. The fight was considered by many to be the Middleweight championship of the world. A constable was sent to arrest both men for the illegal sport of prize fighting, and warrants for their arrest had been completed, but the policeman who attended the bout was ignored, and the fight commenced on time. Foley won by knockout in 16 rounds, in one hour and twenty minutes as Hicken, exhausted and badly beaten, fell. Back home in Sydney a concert and subscription fund were organized for Foley.
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fight. Miller was a considerably larger and more muscular man, with nearly a forty pound advantage in weight to Foley's light middleweight class of around 158 pounds. The contest lasted three hours and would have been called far earlier if held today, as Foley took a great deal of punishment. Though he had a lead in the first hour, the tide turned and Miller's strong and constant left to Foley's face began to take its toll. In the 37th and 40th rounds, a right by Miller knocked Foley to the mat. Around the 40th round, spectators climbed into the ring, and the police were forced to stop the fight, with the referee postponing the ruling or calling a temporary draw til the following day.
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333:, which revolutionized Australian boxing by allowing finesse, speed, and defensive technique to replace much of the brutality more common with the former London Prize Ring Rules. He helped introduce Queensberry Rules at his boxing academy and in the fights held there at his Ironpot Stadium in the back of the White Horse hotel, and he incorporated the scientific, straight-punching methods he learned during his own brilliant career into the techniques he taught his students.
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Wales, earning a reputation as a talented middleweight who in time might fight for a championship. On 2 December 1878, Foley fought a championship bout with Peter Newton, though the recorded dates of the fight vary, as do the number of rounds. The fight was declared a draw as the police intervened in the 40th round, and no decision of a winner was made.
379:, a future Australian heavyweight champion, in Sydney in May 1885. He continued to exclusively fight exhibitions and no decision bouts in 1886, but against somewhat less famous and accomplished opponents. On 30 July 1837 in Sydney, he fought a three round exhibition with his student Mick Dooley, a future Australian heavyweight champion.
409:, as the character Charles, the wrestler. The touring American actress Louise Pomeroy played the character of "Rosalind". He briefly attempted to work as a theatre manager, and later appeared in several additional performances as Charles in Sydney in 1882 and at the Royal Standard Theatre from 1886–87.
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Foley followed his victory over Hicken with a three round win by knockout over Harry
Sellars on 1 July 1879 at Redfern in Sydney, though the dates of the bout vary somewhat. In the following years, though he continued to fight exhibitions and no decision bouts, Foley retired from his defence of the
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street gang in Sydney. On 17 September 1873 he married Mary Anne Hayes. Sporting patron George Hill, a member of the “Fancy”, recognized Foley's exceptional ability and helped set up several exhibitions and prizefights. Between 1872–76, Foley defeated at least six opponents by knockout in New South
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Until his resignation in 1903, he was the official demolition contractor for New South Wales. Since his early days as a building laborer, he was an associate and friend of Edward O'Sullivan, the Sydney
Minister of Public Works, as well as a journalist, politician, and labour party member, who held a
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In 1884, Foley fought exhibitions to large crowds in
Melbourne and Sydney with several of his top rated former opponents including both Miller and Hicken and strongly preferred to use gloves. Continuing a year of exhibitions, on 12 December 1885, he fought a four round no decision bout, which might
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in Sydney, New South Wales on 28 May 1883 for the championship of
Australia. Due to Miller's weight of around 190, the bout was a heavyweight championship. Unofficially declared a draw, the forty round bout and the £500 purse were given to Miller on the next day when Foley conceded he had lost the
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By 1879, Foley had managed two Sydney hotels; first the United
Service Hotel and then the White Horse. One of his responsibilities was tending bar at his hotels, though unlike many of his fellow boxers, he was a tetotaler by most accounts. After his victory over Hicken, Foley opened a boxing
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seat in
Parliament for eighteen years. In addition to his job as demolition contractor, his political contacts put him in consideration for a position as serjeant-at-arms in the Australian parliament, and he later contemplated running for the parliamentary seat for the city of Yass in 1903.
325:
as well as the lesser known Dan
Creedon and George Dawson. He was known worldwide for the quality of his boxing training, and acted as a promoter as well at times, helping to mold the career of his most gifted student Bob Fitzsimmons, who would become a champion in three weight classes.
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in 1907-8 in Sydney. The first was a three round exhibition at Queen's Hall, and the second was a four round charity bout at Manley
Skating Rink. Still a contemporary figure in some ways, Johnson was posthumously pardoned in 2018 by President Donald Trump for his 1912
438:. He was survived by a son and two daughters from his first marriage and three sons and a daughter from his second. His funeral was well attended and due to his years of public service included the Mayor of Sydney, and a number of aldermen and city officials.
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group. His first fight, lasting seventy-one rounds, was believed to have been on 18 March 1871 against Sandy Ross, a leader of the Orange gang, which only ended when police stopped the fight. He was known as 'Captain of the Push' after the
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in Sydney. In his career, Foley acted as both a discoverer of
Fitzsimmons' enormous talent, and as his boxing instructor from his earliest days in the ring. He fought an exhibition with another of his gifted students, Black boxer
33:
309:, who trained Foley for his championship bout with Hicken, helped open the school and continued as an instructor. At his gym at the White Horse, Foley taught, trained and guided the careers of the great boxers
280:
Having abandoned street fighting, he moved into prizefights and exhibitions, winning or drawing all but one of them, including a gloved exhibition in 1877 with former
English champion
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and eventually as a sub-foreman and building contractor. In his youth in Sydney he joined a Catholic or 'Green' street-fighting gang, often fighting members of a rival 'Orange' or
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Foley died of heart disease on 12 July 1917, at Vincent's Hospital in Sydney and after a mass at St. Mary's Cathedral on July 15, he was buried in the Catholic section of
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and Australian champion Mike Dooley. Due to his success as a boxing champion and internationally acclaimed instructor, and for introducing his country to the modern
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arrest. In one of his last known exhibitions on 2 May 1910, Foley sparred with onetime world and Australian heavyweight champion, American
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Flush with earnings from his lucrative year of exhibitions he married his second wife Mary Hoins on 12 November 1887 in Randwick.
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academy at his White Horse Hotel on George Street, though he likely held matches there earlier. Former English champion
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He knew O'Sullivan since his early days as a building laborer in "When Sydney's Larry Foley was Captain of the Push",
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At the advanced age of 39, Foley came out of boxing retirement to fight a gloved battle using the modern
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Foley fought two very short exhibitions with the first black American world heavyweight champion
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First appearance in 1880, starring American actress Louise Pomeroy and later appearances in
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in Sydney, who would become a friend and mentor. On 20 March 1879, he fought Abe Hicken
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with the expectation that he would join the priesthood, although this never happened.
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Foley was born to an Irish schoolmaster, Patrick, and his wife Mary (née Downs) in
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203:. An exceptional boxing instructor, his students included American champions
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He was a teetotaler in "When Sydney's Larry Foley was Captain of the Push",
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Weights of boxers and fight coverage in "The Intercolonial Glove Contest",
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Foley's greatest contribution to boxing was as an advocate for the modern
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Foley returned to Sydney where, at the age of 20, he worked as a building
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on 12 December 1849. He was baptised a few years later on 2 May 1852 in
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Jackson and Burns were students in "Larry Foley Dies in the Antipodes",
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The former middleweight champion also first appeared in October 1880 at
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be considered an exhibition, against the incomparable English champion
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219:, he is often referred to as the "Father of Australian Boxing".
924:, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, pg. 8, 23 December 1908
211:, the incomparable English-born triple weight class champion
1037:
Horton, W.M. (1972). "Foley, Laurence (Larry) (1849–1917)".
679:. The Freeman's Journal, pg. 12, 19 July 1917. 19 July 1917
753:, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, pg. 8, 22 May 1879
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Stopped by police, but believed to be a championship bout
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Also fought twice, July 1886, Foley's White Horse Gym
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He was three inches taller, and thirty pounds heavier
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847:, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, pg. 4, 13 May 1879
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196:(12 December 1849 – 12 July 1917) was an Australian
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989:, Sydney, Australia, pg. 24, 19 October 1963
872:, Sydney, Australia, pg. 24, 19 October 1963
843:Illegal activity in "The Late Prize Fight",
1087:Sportspeople from Bathurst, New South Wales
937:, Muncie, Indiana, pg. 6, 19 September 1917
920:Second bout with Johnson in "Bass Viola",
834:, Boston, Massachusetts, pg. 5, 6 May 1879
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898:, Hilo, Hawaii, pg. 5, 14 September 1917
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1063:, Melbourne Australia, Landsdowne Press
885:, Sydney, Australia, pg. 8, 29 May 1883
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749:"Great Prizefight in New South Wales",
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569:Middleweight Championship of Australia
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1122:19th-century Australian sportspeople
122:5 ft 8.75 in (1.75 m)
751:Sheffield and Rotherdam Independent
602:Australian Heavyweight Championship
337:Australian heavyweight championship
110:Averaged 147 lb (67 kg),
1040:Australian Dictionary of Biography
536:Poorly publicized bout with gloves
77:Sofala, New South Wales, Australia
58:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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1132:Sportspeople from New South Wales
1047:: Melbourne University Publishing
276:Middleweight world champion, 1879
1127:Colony of New South Wales people
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1019:1900 interview with Larry Foley
587:Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
235:. At three his family moved to
1102:Australian bare-knuckle boxers
1092:Sportsmen from New South Wales
806:"Larry Foley, by Robert Drane"
728:. Sport Australia Hall of Fame
673:"The Death of Mr. Larry Foley"
239:, and at fourteen he moved to
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594:Marquess of Queensberry Rules
405:in Sydney in a production of
351:Marquess of Queensberry Rules
331:Marquess of Queensberry Rules
642:"Larry Foley, Boxing Record"
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16:Australian boxer (1849–1917)
296:middleweight championship.
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559:16 Rounds, Won by Knockout
355:"Professor" William Miller
1059:Roberts, Kenneth, (1963)
974:The Sydney Morning Herald
922:The Sydney Morning Herald
883:The Sydney Morning Herald
790:The Sydney Morning Herald
508:4 Rounds, Won by Knockout
413:Work in the public sector
229:Bathurst, New South Wales
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1014:Larry Foley career stats
909:The Victoria Daily Times
556:Echuca, New South Wales
505:Sydney, New South Wales
562:London Prize Ring Rules
534:42 Rounds, ruled a draw
511:London Prize Ring Rules
290:London Prize Ring Rules
1097:Australian male boxers
859:, pg. 5, 21 March 1879
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194:Laurence 'Larry' Foley
954:. W, The Vapour Trail
531:Melbourne, Australia
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935:Muncie Evening Press
933:"Sports Snapshots",
1107:Middleweight boxers
1061:Captain of the Push
830:"The Prize Ring",
726:Sport Hall of Fame
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300:Training champions
677:Freeman's Journal
646:Cyber Boxing Zone
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112:In early career
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812:. More Sport
810:Inside Sport
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148:Total fights
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86:Australian
72:(1917-12-07)
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1082:1917 deaths
1077:1849 births
709:Horton 1972
550:Abe Hicken
528:2 Dec 1878
499:Sandy Ross
470:Opponent(s)
398:in Sydney.
396:Tommy Burns
345:Will Miller
209:Tommy Burns
83:Nationality
25:Larry Foley
1071:Categories
612:References
264:Rocks Push
259:Protestant
241:Wollongong
223:Early life
164:Wins by KO
99:Statistics
50:1849-12-12
1051:18 August
774:19 August
770:. wix.com
106:Weight(s)
485:Duration
480:Location
392:Mann Act
353:against
307:Jem Mace
282:Jem Mace
255:labourer
131:Orthodox
999:The Age
987:The Age
870:The Age
857:The Age
845:The Age
768:wix.com
233:Penrith
958:7 July
816:7 July
683:7 July
652:7 July
465:Result
458:1 Loss
454:1 Draw
450:2 Wins
321:, and
271:Career
248:priest
237:Sydney
207:, and
172:Losses
127:Stance
119:Height
648:. CBZ
576:Loss
522:Draw
490:Notes
430:Death
201:boxer
180:Draws
1053:2013
960:2019
818:2019
776:2013
734:2020
685:2019
654:2019
547:Win
496:Win
475:Date
156:Wins
67:Died
40:Born
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288:by
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