RICHARD JOHN ‘DICK’ DUNN (QSM)
19 May 1908 – 7 August 2001
Dick Dunn is, arguably, one of New Zealand’s greatest boxing coaches. Born in Millerton, on the west coast of the South Island, he grew up the hard way. His father, a former wrestler, was a stone tunneller in the town’s coal mines. Dick’s brothers – Henry and Tommy – boxed competitively, so it was little wonder that he too would be drawn to the sport.
By the time he was 18 he moved into training for himself and, in 1929, he moved his gymnasium from Wellington to the Hutt Valley where he set up a club at the Railway Workshops in Moera. Dick had a simple policy on accepting people – it didn’t matter who you were or where you were from; everyone got a chance. He accepted many a troubled youth into the gym, some of them literally dragged there by the local police constable.
Despite the demands of the gym – five nights a week and over 100 pupils – He still found time to compete in the ring and won the Hutt Valley and Wellington lightweight title age 24, but retired shortly after. His tough and determined demeanour in the ring was contrasted by his personality out of it as one of his goals was to befriend as many people as possible.
Coaching brought Dick Dunn great success, not just in the champions he had in the ring, but in the young boys and young men upon whom his knowledge and philosophy greatly impacted. He coached Frank Creagh to heavyweight gold at the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland, Wally Coe to welterweight gold in Perth in 1962 and was manager of the New Zealand Boxing team for the 1966 Empire and Commonwealth games in Kingston, Jamaica in 1968 and was a selector for the 1974 Commonwealth games team for the 1974 games in Christchurch. Lyn Philp, Billy Graham, and the aforementioned Wally Coe were all national champions under Dick Dunn’s tutelage, as was his own son – Tom – at middleweight.
Besides boxing, Dick Dunn’s sporting interests extended to soccer, racing, rugby, rugby league and cricket. He founded a cricket club at the age of 21 and played 52 consecutive seasons of Wellington senior cricket. He also coached men’s and women’s cricket in the Hutt Valley for decades, rising to coach the New Zealand women’s team. He was also the founder of the Stop Out Soccer Club in Lower Hutt.
Dunn retired to Bulls in 1974 but still had the time and energy to found the Bulls RSA Amateur Boxing Club. In 1987 he was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) for community service – an achievement recently mirrored by one of Dick’s star pupils, Billy Graham.
Dick Dunn was a life member of:
- The New Zealand Boxing Association
- New Zealand Boxing Coaches Association
- Riverside Petone Cricket Club
- Stop Out Soccer Club
- Wellington and Hutt Valley Boxing Trainers Association
Refs:
Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 May 1998, NZ boxing great puts making friends first