Tom Heeney
Thomas Heeney (18 May 1898 – 15 June 1984) 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.
Tom Heeney | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Real name | Thomas Heeney |
Nickname(s) | The Hard Rock from Down Under |
Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
Height | 5 ft 10 1⁄2 in (1.79 m) |
Reach | 72 in (180 cm) |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Born | Gisborne, New Zealand | 18 May 1898
Died | 15 June 1984 86) Miami, Florida, U.S. | (aged
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 69 |
Wins | 37 |
Wins by KO | 15 |
Losses | 22 |
Draws | 8 |
No contests | 2 |
Biography
Heeney was born in Gisborne, New Zealand, and worked as a plumber until he left New Zealand.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] 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.[3] 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[3] 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:
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 1934, accomplishing a fighting record of 70 professional bouts, 38 wins, 22 losses, 8 draws, and 2 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.[1]
Heeney was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Professional boxing record
69 fights | 37 wins | 22 losses |
By knockout | 15 | 6 |
By decision | 17 | 15 |
By disqualification | 5 | 1 |
Draws | 8 | |
No contests | 1 | |
Newspaper decisions/draws | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
69 | Loss | 37–22–8 (1) | TKO | 10 (10) | 27 Mar 1933 | |||
68 | Loss | N/A | NWS | 10 | 7 Mar 1933 | |||
67 | Loss | 37–21–8 (1) | PTS | 10 | 6 Dec 1932 | |||
66 | Draw | 37–20–8 (1) | PTS | 10 | 25 Oct 1932 | |||
65 | Win | 37–20–7 (1) | PTS | 10 | 16 Mar 1932 | |||
64 | Loss | 36–20–7 (1) | PTS | 10 | 22 Feb 1932 | |||
63 | Draw | 36–19–7 (1) | PTS | 10 | 26 Oct 1931 | |||
62 | Draw | 36–19–6 (1) | PTS | 10 | 5 Oct 1931 | |||
61 | Win | 36–19–5 (1) | PTS | 12 | 10 Sep 1931 | |||
60 | Loss | 35–19–5 (1) | PTS | 6 | 20 Apr 1931 | |||
59 | Loss | 35–18–5 (1) | PTS | 10 | 6 Apr 1931 | |||
58 | Loss | 35–17–5 (1) | TKO | 7 (10) | 6 Mar 1931 | |||
57 | Loss | 35–16–5 (1) | KO | 3 (10) | 16 Jan 1931 | |||
56 | Loss | 35–15–5 (1) | PTS | 10 | 13 Oct 1930 | |||
55 | Loss | 35–14–5 (1) | UD | 10 | 29 Sep 1930 | |||
54 | Win | 35–13–5 (1) | PTS | 10 | 8 Sep 1930 | |||
53 | Loss | 34–13–5 (1) | TKO | 10 (10) | 30 Jul 1930 | |||
52 | Win | 34–12–5 (1) | PTS | 10 | 26 Sep 1929 | |||
51 | Loss | 33–12–5 (1) | TKO | 9 (10) | 15 Aug 1929 | |||
50 | Win | 33–11–5 (1) | DQ | 8 (10) | 29 May 1929 | |||
49 | Loss | 32–11–5 (1) | UD | 10 | 12 Mar 1929 | |||
48 | Loss | 32–10–5 (1) | PTS | 10 | 1 Mar 1929 | |||
47 | Loss | 32–9–5 (1) | TKO | 11 (15) | 26 Jul 1928 | For NBA, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles | ||
46 | Win | 32–8–5 (1) | PTS | 15 | 1 Mar 1928 | |||
45 | Draw | 31–8–5 (1) | SD | 12 | 13 Jan 1928 | |||
44 | Win | 31–8–4 (1) | PTS | 10 | 26 Oct 1927 | |||
43 | Win | 30–8–4 (1) | KO | 1 (12) | 30 Sep 1927 | |||
42 | Draw | 29–8–4 (1) | PTS | 15 | 8 Sep 1927 | |||
41 | Win | 29–8–3 (1) | DQ | 3 (10) | 4 Aug 1927 | |||
40 | Win | 28–8–3 (1) | PTS | 10 | 24 Jun 1927 | |||
39 | Loss | 27–8–3 (1) | PTS | 10 | 1 Apr 1927 | |||
38 | Win | 27–7–3 (1) | TKO | 8 (10) | 25 Feb 1927 | |||
37 | Win | 26–7–3 (1) | PTS | 15 | 25 Oct 1926 | |||
36 | Win | 25–7–3 (1) | PTS | 20 | 9 Aug 1926 | |||
35 | Loss | 24–7–3 (1) | PTS | 20 | 10 Jul 1926 | For Commonwealth heavyweight title | ||
34 | Win | 24–6–3 (1) | PTS | 15 | 5 Jul 1926 | |||
33 | Win | 23–6–3 (1) | DQ | 5 (10) | 18 Mar 1926 | |||
32 | Loss | 22–6–3 (1) | DQ | 5 (20) | 14 Nov 1925 | |||
31 | Win | 22–5–3 (1) | DQ | 8 (20) | 10 Oct 1925 | |||
30 | Win | 21–5–3 (1) | KO | 4 (20) | 1 Jul 1925 | |||
29 | Win | 20–5–3 (1) | RTD | 18 (20) | 15 Jun 1925 | |||
28 | Win | 19–5–3 (1) | PTS | 20 | 9 Apr 1925 | |||
27 | Loss | 18–5–3 (1) | PTS | 20 | 12 Feb 1925 | |||
26 | Win | 18–4–3 (1) | KO | 4 (15) | 19 Jan 1925 | |||
25 | NC | 17–4–3 (1) | NC | 6 (15) | 3 Nov 1924 | |||
24 | Loss | 17–4–3 | PTS | 20 | 22 Sep 1924 | For vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title | ||
23 | Win | 17–3–3 | TKO | 4 (15) | 19 Feb 1924 | Retained NZBA heavyweight title | ||
22 | Win | 16–3–3 | KO | 9 (15) | 26 Dec 1923 | Retained NZBA heavyweight title | ||
21 | Win | 15–3–3 | DQ | 5 (15) | 10 Nov 1923 | Won NZBA heavyweight title | ||
20 | Win | 14–3–3 | KO | 1 (15) | 26 Oct 1923 | |||
19 | Loss | 13–3–3 | PTS | 15 | 26 Sep 1923 | Lost NZBA heavyweight title | ||
18 | Win | 13–2–3 | TKO | 14 (15) | 14 Aug 1923 | Won NZBA heavyweight title | ||
17 | Win | 12–2–3 | TKO | 9 (15) | 2 Aug 1923 | |||
16 | Win | 11–2–3 | TKO | 15 (15) | 4 Jun 1923 | |||
15 | Win | 10–2–3 | TKO | 9 (20) | 1 Jan 1923 | |||
14 | Draw | 9–2–3 | PTS | 20 | 18 Dec 1922 | |||
13 | Draw | 9–2–2 | PTS | 20 | 12 Aug 1922 | |||
12 | Win | 9–2–1 | TKO | 14 (20) | 22 Jul 1922 | |||
11 | Loss | 8–2–1 | PTS | 20 | 30 Jun 1922 | For Australian heavyweight title | ||
10 | Win | 8–1–1 | PTS | 20 | 3 Jun 1922 | |||
9 | Win | 7–1–1 | PTS | 15 | 1 May 1922 | |||
8 | Loss | 6–1–1 | PTS | 20 | 17 Mar 1922 | For ANBF Australasian and Australian heavyweight titles | ||
7 | Win | 6–0–1 | RTD | 15 (20) | 11 Feb 1922 | |||
6 | Draw | 5–0–1 | PTS | 15 | 27 Oct 1921 | |||
5 | Win | 5–0 | PTS | 15 | 23 Jul 1921 | |||
4 | Win | 4–0 | PTS | 15 | 11 Feb 1921 | Retained NZBA heavyweight title | ||
3 | Win | 3–0 | PTS | 15 | 27 Oct 1920 | Won NZBA heavyweight title | ||
2 | Win | 2–0 | PTS | 15 | 8 Jun 1920 | |||
1 | Win | 1–0 | TKO | 9 (15) | 12 Feb 1920 |
References
- McMillan, N. A. C. "Heeney, Thomas 1898–1984". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- Mackay, Joseph Angus. "Tom Heeney's Bid For World Crown" in Historic Poverty Bay and the East Coast, N.I., N.Z., 1949.
- "Expatriates — biographies", An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 18 September 2007
5. Vogt, Anton: 'Tom Heeney in heaven,' New Zealand Listener, 14 October 1960
Further reading
- From Poverty Bay to Broadway: The story of Tom Heeney by Lydia Monin (2008)
- Kiwis With Gloves On by Brian F O'Brien, published 1960, Reed.