Tom Heeney
Encyclopedia
Thomas Heeney commonly called Tom Heeney, was a professional heavyweight
boxer
from New Zealand
, best known for unsuccessfully challenging champion Gene Tunney
for the heavyweight championship of the world in New York City on 26 July 1928.
Heeney was born in Gisborne
, New Zealand
, and worked as a plumber until he left New Zealand. He was a strong swimmer and was awarded a bronze medal by the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand in 1918 for helping rescue two women from the sea off Waikanae Beach, Gisborne. He also retrieved a third woman who did not survive.
He learnt to box from his father and his older brother Jack Heeney, who was the New Zealand amateur welterweight
champion in 1914 and middleweight
champion from 1919 to 1924. He became a professional boxer when he fought Bill Bartlett in Gisborne in 1920. In October 1920, Heeney became the New Zealand heavyweight champion when he beat Brian McCleary
of Dunedin
on a technical knockout. Heeney was also a rugby union
player and played for the Hawke's Bay — Poverty Bay team against the Springboks
in 1921. He boxed in Australia
and won the Australian heavyweight champion title in 1922, and fought in England
and South Africa
in 1924.
Heeney went to the United States
in 1926. He beat Jim Maloney, Johnny Risko and Jim Delaney and eventually ranked fourth among the world's heavyweight boxers. After fighting Jack Sharkey
, later a heavyweight world champion, in 1928 for the right to fight Tunney, on 26 July 1928, Heeney fought Gene Tunney at Yankee Stadium, New York City, for the world heavyweight championship title. Heeney entered the boxing ring wearing a Māori cloak that was given to him by Heni Materoa
, the widow of Sir James Carroll
. The referee, Ed Forbes, stopped the scheduled 15 round fight in the 11th round, and Tunney won. It was said of Heeney:
A week after his defeat, Tom married Marion Dunn, an American. Heeney became an American citizen and boxed until 1933, accomplishing a fighting record of 69 professional bouts, 37 wins, 22 losses, eight draws, one no-decision, and one no-contest.
After retiring from boxing, he owned a bar in Miami, Florida
. He served with the United States Navy Civil Engineer Corps in World War II, and afterward coached boxing and refereed armed forces bouts in the South Pacific. He often fished with his friend, the famous writer Ernest Hemingway
. Heeney's wife, Marion, died in 1980. They had no children.
Heeney was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
in 1996.
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, best known for unsuccessfully challenging champion Gene Tunney
Gene Tunney
James Joseph "Gene" Tunney was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1926-1928 who defeated Jack Dempsey twice, first in 1926 and then in 1927. Tunney's successful title defense against Dempsey is one of the most famous bouts in boxing history and is known as The Long Count Fight...
for the heavyweight championship of the world in New York City on 26 July 1928.
Heeney was born in Gisborne
Gisborne, New Zealand
-Economy:The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and worked as a plumber until he left New Zealand. He was a strong swimmer and was awarded a bronze medal by the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand in 1918 for helping rescue two women from the sea off Waikanae Beach, Gisborne. He also retrieved a third woman who did not survive.
He learnt to box from his father and his older brother Jack Heeney, who was the New Zealand amateur welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
champion in 1914 and middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
champion from 1919 to 1924. He became a professional boxer when he fought Bill Bartlett in Gisborne in 1920. In October 1920, Heeney became the New Zealand heavyweight champion when he beat Brian McCleary
Brian Verdon McCleary
Brian Verdon McCleary was a New Zealand rugby player. He was a member of the All Blacks in 1924 and 1925, playing in the Hooker position...
of Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
on a technical knockout. Heeney was also a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player and played for the Hawke's Bay — Poverty Bay team against the Springboks
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
in 1921. He boxed in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and won the Australian heavyweight champion title in 1922, and fought in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 1924.
Heeney went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1926. He beat Jim Maloney, Johnny Risko and Jim Delaney and eventually ranked fourth among the world's heavyweight boxers. After fighting Jack Sharkey
Jack Sharkey
Jack Sharkey was an American heavyweight boxing champion. He was born Joseph Paul Zukauskas , the son of Lithuanian immigrants, in Binghamton, New York but moved to Boston, Massachusetts as a young man...
, later a heavyweight world champion, in 1928 for the right to fight Tunney, on 26 July 1928, Heeney fought Gene Tunney at Yankee Stadium, New York City, for the world heavyweight championship title. Heeney entered the boxing ring wearing a Māori cloak that was given to him by Heni Materoa
Heni Materoa Carroll
Heni Materoa Carroll OBE also known at Te Huinga was a leader of the Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and wife of politician James Carroll....
, the widow of Sir James Carroll
James Carroll (New Zealand politician)
Sir James Carroll, KCMG , known to Māori as Timi Kara, was a New Zealand politician of Irish and Ngati Kahungunu descent. Beginning his career as an interpreter and land agent, Carroll was elected to the Eastern Maori seat in 1887. He was Colonial Secretary from 1895...
. The referee, Ed Forbes, stopped the scheduled 15 round fight in the 11th round, and Tunney won. It was said of Heeney:
His gritty performance in this fight would have been considered by many observers to have justified his sobriquet of The Hard Rock from Down Under given by renowned writer and journalist, Damon Runyon.
A week after his defeat, Tom married Marion Dunn, an American. Heeney became an American citizen and boxed until 1933, accomplishing a fighting record of 69 professional bouts, 37 wins, 22 losses, eight draws, one no-decision, and one no-contest.
After retiring from boxing, he owned a bar in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He served with the United States Navy Civil Engineer Corps in World War II, and afterward coached boxing and refereed armed forces bouts in the South Pacific. He often fished with his friend, the famous writer Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
. Heeney's wife, Marion, died in 1980. They had no children.
Heeney was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception representing a wide...
in 1996.
External links
- http://www.tunney.org/heeney/