Almanac Boxing – ‘Diamond in the Dust Heap’, Episode 6: ‘On the Up’ and Episode 7: ‘The War with Hill’

 

Hot on the heels of claiming the Queensland bantamweight crown, Herb had three impressive victories which built his reputation. He knocked out Alan Wilkie, then Sydneysider Lou Young who ‘went down like a dynamited chimney stack’ and ‘lay as if stricken by lightning and took the full count on his back’. This was followed by a contest with the experienced ‘Snowy’ Hill described as ‘the greatest slug feast in the annals of Queensland boxing over the last decade’.

 

EPISODE 6: ON THE UP

Herb’s next couple of professional bouts saw him really hit his stride.

 

National bantamweight champion Stan Thurbon could not be attracted to Brisbane. Instead, a fight was arranged with journeyman Queenslander Alan Wilkie, probably in the Autumn of 1926 (March, April or May). We know little about this bout, except that Wilkie was knocked out.

 

Next, the Sydneysider Lou Young was contracted. Heading into his engagement with Herb (according to boxrec.com), Young had a professional record of 10 wins, 10 losses and 1 draw.

 

The pre-publicity talked up the prospects of the fight.

 

BARKLE v YOUNG

 

The most important contest to be decided at the mid-week shows for many months is set down for decision tomorrow night, when Herb Barkle, bantamweight champion of Queensland, will make a reappearance, after many months’ absence from the Brisbane ring, in opposition to the brilliant Sydney bantamweight, Lou Young. Barkle is one of the most promising boys who have blossomed out in the game during the past four or five years, and he is a great favourite with fight fans, owing to his ability to punch hard. He is a great little two-handed fighter, whose incessant attack is the predominating feature of his work, while the defensive side of his boxing has not been neglected by any means.

 

Barkle’s opponent, Lou Young, who will make his first appearance in Brisbane, is regarded as the best of the second-rate Southern bantamweights, his form being little short of that shown by such top-notchers as Stan Thurbon, Jimmy Kelly, Les Jackson, Billy McAllister, and company.

 

Lou Young was fighting as a featherweight, and entered the ring with a sizeable weight advantage. But Herb made short work of him. It was ‘lights out’ in the second of the scheduled fifteen rounds. The outcome was recorded in three different newspapers.

 

BOXING

 

BARKLE WINS BY K.O.

 

Queensland’s bantamweight champion, Herb Barkle (8.4), scored a meritorious win over a much heavier opponent, Lou Young (8.11) at the Stadium last night when he knocked out Young in the second round.

 

Young had the advantage of a half a stone in the weights, but it did not assist him against the hard hitting Queenslander. The Sydneysider fought well in the first round but Barkle emptied him very early in the second session and dropped him for the full count later in the round.

 

 

KNOCK-OUT WIN

 

BARKLE IN FORM

 

A large attendance witnessed the Queensland bantam champion, Herb Barkle, and Lou Young, a visitor from Sydney, in action at the Stadium last night. Weighing 8.4, he conceded half a stone to Young. The latter had slightly the better of some open milling in the first round. Then, early in the second, Barkle shook the Sydney lad with a right to the chin. A little later Barkle bailed Young up and in the course of some rapid exchanges found the chin with a well-meant right. Young fell through the ropes, almost out of the ring, where he lay to be counted out.

 

 

MID-WEEK CONTESTS

 

Barkle Wins Quickly

 

Herb Barkle v Lou Young was the feature event at the Brisbane Stadium show on Wednesday night, but it did not last more than one and a half of the scheduled 20 rounds. The Sydneyite, at 8.11, was half a stone heavier than Barkle, but had he been as well-conditioned as the Queensland bantam champion, the weights probably would have been almost even. Young, a 9 to 4 on favourite, held his own in the opening round, but Barkle began to liven up in the second, and the visitor had the worst of a willing rally. A little later the Queenslander crossed a heavy right to the chin, and Young went down for the full count. For his size Barkle is a great puncher. He is to meet ‘Snowy’ Hill on a Wednesday night next month.

 

 

‘The Gamester’ of the Brisbane Courier was typically effusive in his praise for Herb’s performance.

 

 

‘Bombshell’ Barkle

 

Blows Sydneysider Young’s Light Out in Two

 

Brisbane Boy a Real Comer

 

(By ‘The Gamester’)

 

All Hail! For this day a new fistic star has shown his hand over the horizon, and if the fates are kind to us, we are going to see, in the person of Herb Barkle, of Brisbane, Australia’s champion bantam of the very near future.

 

The kiddy is a dyed-in-the-wool comer. I don’t just say this as cold facts automatically spill the ink from my Parker. Duo-fold. For the past two years he has been knocking at the door of fistic recognition and by his kayoes of Danny McDonald, Jimmy Warren, ‘Nipper’ Peakes and Alan Wilkie caused fans to sit up and take notice. But I don’t think any of us coupled Barkle with national bantam honours till we witnessed his wonderful display against Sydneysider Lou Young on Wednesday night when, starting a rank outsider in the betting, he spilled the dope by sensationally outing the Harbour City youth a few seconds after the starting gong of the second round. The finishing punch was a gem. Young, in view of an impressive first round, came out like greased lightning for the second, with the dire intent of wiping Barkle clean off the map in his eye. The cunning Brisbane lad wasn’t to be bustled, however, as he just took a few light lefts and just as Young started a left hook – it hadn’t moved more than a few inches – Herb slipped in artistically and drove a superb inside or straight right to the vulnerable spot of the Sydney lad’s jaw. The recipient went down like a dynamited chimney stack and he lay as if stricken by lightning and took the full count on his back. Barkle’s finish caused a veritable furore and the big house rose up on its hind feet and cheered him as no victorious boxer in Brisbane has been cheered before.

 

Barkle is only a bantam, but as there is no-one close in Brisbane of his calibre he is going after the feather title held by “Snowy” Hill. The pair meet on Wednesday night, September 15, and I understand a side bet of £25 will hinge on the outcome.

 

Barkle is in the excellent hands of Paddy Schafer and is also carefully watched by Dad Barkle who, on his day, could push the leathers with the best of `em.

 

 

 

EPISODE 7: THE WAR WITH HILL

 

 

For his nineteenth professional engagement, Herb was matched with ‘Snowy’ Hill, the experienced reigning featherweight champion of Queensland. This was to be one the great inter-war fights to take place in Brisbane. The dab hand of Dad Barkle was detectable, with a sizeable side wager in play.

 

The originally scheduled time for the fight had to be pushed back by a week, because Herb had fallen ill with Dengue Fever. A newspaper clipping in Herb’s scrapbook shows that, in accord with the spirit of the times, the delay was only for one week!

 

 

Owing to Herb Barkle being indisposed during the last week with an attack of dengue, his contest with ‘Snowy’ Hill for the bantamweight championship of Queensland, and a side wager of £25, has been postponed for one week, and will now take place on September 22. Both men have lodged their side wagers with Mr Doughty, and consequently the winner, in addition to his cut from the Stadium, will receive £50 on the night of the contest.

 

The bout took place on 22 September 1926, at the Brisbane Stadium. As the fighters were to weigh in at under the 8.6 limit, the bantamweight championship was at stake, but not the featherweight title. There were big expectations ahead of this bout.

 

 

STADIUM NOTES

 

By ‘THE COUNT’

 

The most important mid-week contest that has been decided for many months will take place at the Brisbane Stadium next Wednesday night, when Herb Barkle, bantamweight champion of Queensland, will defend his title, and a side wager of £25, against ‘Snowy’ Hill, featherweight champion of Queensland, challenger. This contest is arousing much interest in local fistic circles, for Barkle is considered to be the most promising youngster developed locally for a long time. Should Barkle successfully defend his bantamweight title against Hill, it is the intention to then challenge Hill for the featherweight title. If such a contest does take place, Barkle will certainly find Hill a much tougher proposition at the featherweight limit.

 

 

TO-NIGHT’S CHALLENGE

 

The best mid-week contest for some time is listed for to-night. Herb Barkle, a country youth and bantam champion of the State, will box Snowy Hill for a side wager of £25. Barkle will be the lighter. He is a straight puncher, with a healthy right. If he elected to do so, he probably could win on points, but the chances are he will go for a knockout. Most of his successes have been gained that way. But he has not yet met a boy as tough as Hill. The latter lowers his head and wades in, swinging punches to the body. Only those who have faced him know how difficult it is to place a punch on his chin. Hill has never been knocked out, though Jimmy McBride once floored him for 8 sec. It is Hill that Barkle has to beat to establish himself. Then he will be in line for a Saturday night.

 

 

Herb was victorious, on points, over fifteen hectic, 3 minute rounds.

 

 

LAST NIGHT’S BOXING

 

BARKLE DECLARED WINNER.

 

One of the most difficult contests in which to award a decision was decided at the Brisbane Stadium last night, when Herb Barkle (8.4½) and Snowy Hill (8.5½) fought each other to a standstill in a 15-rounder. Barkle being declared winner on points.

 

The first sensation occurred when Barkle was down for eight in the third round, and he was still groggy at the bell. He was down again three times in the fourth, Hill once roughing him to the floor. After this Barkle, exhausted from his punishment, and Hill, tired by his own exertions, were both in trouble at times. The points were very close at the finish.

 

 

The lofty expectations of the Barkle-Hill stoush were fully realised. Unsurprisingly, the most extravagant coverage of the bout was penned by the brilliant ‘Gamester’, writing in the Brisbane Courier in late September 1926. It would be hard to find a more fabulous encapsulation of a fight.

 

 

The Fistic Thrill of a Lifetime

 

How Barkle Beat Hill

 

In One of the Fiercest Fights on Record

 

Barkle a Great Boy in the Making

 

(By ‘The Gamester’)

 

The greatest slug feast in the annals of Queensland boxing over the last decade was witnessed at the Brisbane Stadium on Wednesday night when Paddy Schafer’s young protégé, Herb Barkle, Queensland’s new bantam champion, successfully defended his diadem against the onslaughts of challenger Snowy Hill, the State’s featherweight champion. It lasted the full fifteen rounds but the crowd – a wonderful gate of £138 – would have been satisfied if it had been closured in five rounds as at least two of those spasms contained greater thrills than anything ever served up in the history of Stadiums Ltd.

 

THE THRILL OF A LIFETIME. ‘The thrill of a lifetime’ was the description given to the battle by that astute and experienced ringsider, Mr Judy Usher. And probably it was, as I can’t recall anything resembling it for caveman viciousness in my long connection with the sport, covering a period of nearly 25 years.

 

HUMAN DEMONS. It was no more related to boxing than milk is allied to strychnine, yet if this bout was staged again, in opposition we’ll say to another next door, that was guaranteed to reward the onlookers with twenty rounds of the most artistic boxing ever seen, it would undoubtedly result in one of the biggest gates ever recorded at the Stadium. The boxing contest would have as spectators the promoter, the unemployed ring-stewards, and the yarning lemon-squash sellers. That’s what the Barkle-Hill affair amounted to.

 

PUNCHED THEMSELVES TO A STANDSTILL. From rounds one to five when the human bull-dogs mauled themselves to a standstill, it was a case of “Come on, let’s tear the very life out of each other.” There were no skilled lefts, no Billy Grime footwork, and no Hughie Dwyer defence. The pair of little demons in human shape, sharing only 16 odd stone between them, just feasted the packed house with fierce fighting – pile-driving right after right, swing after swing, hook after hook – that utterly beggared description. Sane business men, cold blooded medico’s and well-tempered sportsmen of all classes became a raving mass of humanity, and as the two gluttonous fighters stood toe-to-toe and swapped punches the ringside scene was a veritable Bedlam.

 

BARKLE CLOSE TO DEFEAT. In the third session Barkle was down for ‘8’ and in the fourth he was on the floor on three occasions, but the latter were not the result of clean blows, as in each instance Hill used illegal force to send his man down.

 

HILL KINDLY TREATED BY THE REFEREE. Hill was cautioned each time by Referee Craig, but in my opinion, his second and third illegality could have carried with it the extreme penalty of the law – disqualification.

 

While on this topic I would like to say that this particular law of the game is frequently broken in Brisbane and it would do the game a lot of good if Referee Craig was to make an example of somebody and live up to the letter of the law, which reads: ‘When a knock-down occurs, the timekeeper shall immediately rise and announce the seconds audibly as they elapse. The referee shall see that the opponent RETIRES to the farthest corner, and then, turning to the timekeeper, announcing the seconds to the boxer on the floor. Should the boxer on his feet FAIL TO STAY in his corner, the referee and time-keeper shall cease counting until he has so retired.’ Had this law been strictly adhered to, Hill would have received disqualification on the occasion of his second breach, as he actually used strenuous efforts to break through the barrage which Referee Craig’s huge frame put between him and the fallen boy. In fact, Craig was openly abused by Hill’s second and a certain section of interested betting ringsiders for keeping Hill from glaringly standing over the boy on the floor. I hope we’ll never see a repetition of Hill’s misdemeanour, as such ringside tumults and scenes are not edifying to boxing.

 

HILL GREAT, NEVERTHELESS. Apart from his breaches, Hill put up a remarkably gritty display, especially in view of the fact that he badly damaged his right hand, which was afterwards medically treated. Throughout the gruelling early rounds he took enough punishment from a boy who is a terrific puncher to have sent half the boxers in Australia into dreamland. It was just wonderful how he assimilated Barkle’s punches and stayed in the fight to nearly write off the points deficit over the closing rounds.

 

BARKLE A CLEVER POINTS WINNER. There was not a scintilla of doubt about the fairness of Referee Craig’s award in favour of Barkle, as Schafer’s boy, up to the tenth, had the points of victory in his safe keeping, but despite his big lead, he went perilously close to defeat in the last five rounds. His legs became leaden and it was only by calling on the reserve of his great fighting spirit that he survived the gruelling ordeal of the closing rounds.

 

BARKLE’S PROMISE. Taken all round, Barkle’s performance was particularly fine and it stamps him as a boy of wonderful promise. That he can punch there is not a doubt, that he is remarkably game has also been manifested to us and that he is a lad of great potentialities is evidenced in the fact of beating such a tried and tough boy as Snowy Hill undoubtedly is.

 

SIDE BET INFLUENCES. Probably the side-bet influences helped to make the fight the fierce affair it was. Barkle staked his own money and valued it like he did his life. Hill also had a share in his side-bet to the extent of a tenner and he died gamely for it. And I feel sure that Mr Danny Elborne, the well-known bookmaker, who made up the balance of the £25 aside, did not begrudge losing his fifteen pounds, as he saw his protégé fight one of the gamest fights ever seen in Queensland. The weights were: Barkle 8.4½, Hill 8.5½. The betting was even money throughout.

 

 

Other newspaper accounts of the fight were more pedestrian, but still conveyed the hectic nature of the contest.

 

GRUELLING STRUGGLE

 

Barkle Narrowly Outpoints Hill

 

Herb Barkle (8.4½) and ‘Snowy’ Hill (8.5½) figured in a gruelling and exciting 15-round contest at the Brisbane Stadium on Wednesday night. There was a sensation when Barkle was dropped for ‘eight’ in the third round. He received further stiff punishment on rising, and was in a bad way at the bell. Barkle was floored on four occasions in the fourth term and, in his anxiety to stop his man Hill, flouted the rules. He was lucky to escape disqualification. It is worthy of note, however, that Barkle also transgressed by supporting himself on the ropes when he was down near the end of the round. The pace slackened from the fifth onwards, Hill being arm-weary and Barkle weak in the legs. Both lads exhibited rare gameness, and, although Barkle won by a narrow margin, a draw would have pleased many. It was announced that the contest was for Barkle’s State bantam title, but championships in Australia must be decided over 20 rounds. Some time back when Frank Locke and ‘Sylvie’ Green fought for the State welter title the scheduled distance was 20 rounds, and consequently it is rather inconsistent to call a 15-round contest a championship affair. If last Wednesday’s bout had been over 20 rounds, Hill would have won. In addition to his share of the ‘gate’, Barkle collected a side wager of £25. Herb is a solid little fighter, but it will surprise if he develops into a top-notcher.  

 

Why ‘Snowy’ Hill is Not Champion

 

Herb Barkle hung on to his bantam championship title on Wednesday night, but it was only by the skin of an eyebrow, as ‘Snowy’ Hill, who had essayed the task of loosening him from it, failed because he started slowly and thought ditto when he had the honor within his grasp.

 

Barkle stared off at a fast bat and he took the honors of the first three rounds, but he spent 18 seconds of the fourth on the floor. Twice he had been knocked down and he was ripe for a well-timed punch and the title of ex-champ, when Snowy went berserk. Instead of trying to knock Barkle down again he took to roughing him, which earned him four cautions and the disapproval of the crowd.

 

A couple more sessions found both boxers looking as if their gloves were blacksmith’s anvils, so tired did they become, and with leaden feet and hanging arms they floundered round the ring. Any kindergarten kid could have laid both of ‘em like linoleum at this stage.

 

Over the latter stages Hill did much the better of the pair, and making the body his objective, he didn’t miss very often. Barkle was in a bad way again in the concluding (15th) round, but he remained erect to the end, and it was his arm that the referee hoisted as gaining the decision.

 

It was a near thing for the champ, and the huge crowd which nearly bulged the walls of the Stadium will certainly saddle up when the pair put ‘em up again.

 

 

‘Snowy’ Hill, it should be noted, went on to become one of Brisbane’s top boxing trainers.

 

 

Read all of the episodes of Diamond in the Dust Heap HERE

 

 

All images provided by Dave Goodwin.

 

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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