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Thomas \u2018Tommy\u2019 Alfred Fairhall, from a young age known as \u2018Nutty\u2019 Fairhall was born in Raymond Terrace, Newcastle, New South Wales on Nov 25, 1902. Tommy went to school in Tomago, NSW and grew up in Cessnock some 35 kms away. Much like every other young boy in the district Tommy was keen to take up boxing, inspired by the feats of all-conquering Les Darcy, who lived nearby in Maitland.<\/p>\n
In 1918, Tommy who had never had a boxing lesson in his life entered a local competition for young hopefuls organised by boxing promoter George Ruenolf. He won all six of his bouts and entered the pro ranks on Apr 4, 1919, defeating one Peter Moran KO 4, in the Strand Theatre, Cessnock. Years later former professional boxer and respected sports reporter Merv Williams in a review of Tommy Fairhall\u2019s career wrote \u201cHe was one of those rare people \u2013 born to be a fighter\u201d.
By the time Tommy embarked on the first of his four visits to New Zealand he was already a star attraction. Immensely popular in Australia, he was not here long before his popularity had grown to similar levels on this side of the Tasman.<\/p>\n
He was first seen in action here on Jun 18, 1923, in the Palace Theatre, Petone, against Paul Hannah who Tommy KO\u2019D in 6. Over a 4-month period he went unbeaten in 7 bouts. Among those he defeated were NZ lightweight champion Les Murray, the fight acclaimed, \u201cone of the most scientific exhibitions of boxing ever seen in New Zealand\u201d, Clarrie Blackburn and Eugene Volaire (FRA) x 2. He\u2019d quickly established himself as another in a long line of exceptional Australian boxers who\u2019d visited our shores. His superb ringcraft, abundance of stamina and perfectly timed punching marked him as someone quite special.<\/p>\n
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Back for a second visit, Tommy defeated Harry \u2018Hop\u2019 Stone over 15 rounds on Mar10,1924, in the Auckland Town Hall. Next up, April 4 in Wellington, he suffered his first defeat in New Zealand, over15 rounds against compatriot Havilah Uren. A third win against Eugene Volaire concluded Tommy\u2019s second NZ visit, (2 – 1) from 3 bouts.<\/p>\n
More than 4 years passed before Tommy\u2019s third visit. In the interim he had 28 fights, (21 – 4 – 2 – 1 NC). Included were 5 against Kiwi opponents, 3 of those against Reg Trowern, all won by Fairhall. Two against Charlie Purdy, the first a draw, the second, the decision went Tommy\u2019s way.
Back home solid performances against the likes of Bert McCarthy and Silvino Jamito further enhanced his reputation, culminating in Tommy being granted a shot at Billy Grime with the latter\u2019s Australian lightweight title on the line. in his 58th professional bout on Apr 18, 1925, Tommy Fairhall and Billy Grime fought one helluva battle, the result as close as it could get, a draw after 20 rounds.<\/p>\n
It took another 3 years and an impressive run of good form (13 – 2 – 1 – 1 NC) before he landed another title fight. This one on Jun 28, 1928, the most important fight of his career against England\u2019s Ernie Izzard, \u2018The Herne Hill Hairpin\u2019 for the latter\u2019s Empire Lightweight Championship. In his 75th career bout Tommy achieved the biggest win of his career relieving Izzard of the title via 15 round decision*. Two more fights in Australia both against quality opponents, the first on Aug 11, against American Larry Avera, W-TKO 3, the second 14 days later against England\u2019s Harry Mason W-PTS 15, WHEN HE preceded Tommy\u2019s third visit to New Zealand.
*VACATED EMPIRE LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE, APRIL 1930. Title defences 0.<\/p>\n
This one a fleeting visit, 2 fights 4 weeks apart, both against old foes. The first on October 30 against Charlie Purdy the second against Reg Trowern, on November 26. Purdy in a display of fine ringcraft managed to achieve what no other Kiwi had done before when he defeated Tommy, via decision over15. Against Reg Trowern, Fairhall made it 4 wins from 4.<\/p>\n
Back in Australia for the New Year of 1929. Tommy L-PTS 15 x 2, on January 19, against 154 bout veteran American Jack Spaw. Also known as \u2018The Wilmington Comet\u2019 Spaw had commenced his pro career 11 years earlier, Jan 16, 1918. Inactive the next 6 months Tommy returned to the ring Jul 19, 1929, defeating Billy Thomas over 15 rounds at Leichhardt Stadium. One month later a fourth encounter against Charlie Purdy resulted in a second win for Fairhall which gave him a slight lead, 2 – 1 \u2013 1, in their 5-bout series.<\/p>\n
Oct 25, 1929, a second encounter with Wally Hancock saw the Liverpool born Australian take out the decision over 15 rounds and level matters with Fairhall at one win each. A rubber match was a natural. Jan 17, 1930, was decided on as the date, Hancock\u2019s Australian Welterweight Title on the line. A tense struggle went down to the wire, too close to call the fight was ruled a draw. A fourth meeting, 7 weeks later on March 7, again with Hancock\u2019s Australian title at stake ended up third time lucky for Tommy. His two previous Australian title fights, lightweight April 1925, welterweight, January 1930 had ended in a draw. This time at his third attempt Tommy finally won the decision and was crowned Australian Welterweight Champion.
Following a successful title defence against Norky Fowler on July 18 and a fourth-round stoppage of New Zealand born Billy Richards on September 4, Tommy embarked on his fourth New Zealand campaign. First up, December 9, in the Wellington Town Hall, Fairhall was matched against Ted Morgan in a fight hailed as being between the welterweight champions of both Australia and New Zealand. In the first of their 4 bouts it was Morgan who got his name up in lights first when he took out the decision over 15.<\/p>\n
The euphoria that followed Ted Morgan\u2019s triumph was short lived. Seventeen days later in Westport, Fairhall, KO\u2019d Morgan in 13. They met twice more, Tommy made even quicker work of Ted third time round when he halted the Wellingtonian in 6. Morgan rebounded from his two crushing defeats to grab a second decision in their fourth and final bout, tying the series at 2 wins each the best result by a New Zealand boxer against Fairhall. Tommy concluded his final visit with back-to-back wins against Reg Trowern, a 6 zero whitewash of his kiwi rival. In addition to defeating Fred Parker TKO 8\/15, he also W-PTS 10 against Charlie Purdie to wrap up their 5-bout series, again in his favour, 3 – 1 – 1.<\/p>\n
Tommy Fairhall\u2019s NZ ring record, a fine one, 16-4 from 20. Against NZ opponents on both sides of the Tasman, 16-3-1 from 20.
Back in Australia, early 1932 Tommy lost 2 of his last 3 fights. One ended in a NC. Ring Record: 106 bouts, 73 – 23 – 8 – 2 NC.
By 1935 Tommy Fairhall had returned to New Zealand with his wife, Christina. They settled in Timaru and resided at the Crown Hotel for many years where Christina was employed. Tommy became a well-known and respected South Island boxing referee and remained active in this capacity up until the outbreak of WW11. He enlisted in the New Zealand Army, Service number 9554 and as a member of the 23RD (Canterbury and Otago) Battalion, 2ND NZEF, 2ND Echelon, served in the Middle East and Crete as a Company Quartermaster Sergeant.<\/p>\n
Tommy and Christina moved back to Australia in the mid 1950\u2019s and settled in Stanmore, NSW. Christina became unwell, she died Jun 9, 1956, aged 55. Tommy spent the remainder of his working life employed as a barber in Petersham. He continued to live in Stanmore. He died on Feb 19, 1986. Aged 83.<\/p>\n
References:
Merv Williams – The Sporting Globe. May 20, 1970.
My Family \u2013 the Fairhalls by Thomas J, Fairhall (1981).<\/p>\n
MP 2025.<\/p>\n
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TOMMY ‘NUTTY’ FAIRHALL1909-1985 Thomas \u2018Tommy\u2019 Alfred Fairhall, from a young age known as \u2018Nutty\u2019 Fairhall was born in Raymond Terrace, Newcastle, New South Wales on Nov 25, 1902. Tommy went to school in Tomago, NSW and grew up in Cessnock some 35 kms away. Much like every other young boy in the district Tommy was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-735","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=735"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":747,"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/735\/revisions\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzbhof.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}