Les Darcy "The Maitland Wonder"

[0Rooster4Life0]

Les Darcy
The Maitland Wonder


Born the 31st October 1895 With a record of :46 Wins 29 KOS 4 Losses Les Darcy was a Middleweight From Maitland NSW Australia. Although he was a Middleweight Darcy also held the Australian Heavyweight Title at the same time. KOing Harold Hardwick to capture the Australian heavyweight title.


Darcy in my opinion was the greatest fighter to ever come out of Australia and after studying him one of the greatest middleweights of all time but didnt get the chance to forfill his full portential.


American Fighters Billy Murray, Buck Crouse, George Chip,Eddie McGoorty, George Brown, and Jimmy Clabby. all feel victim to Darcy and all admired Darcy's Courage and power.


During the first world war Darcy was under pressure from the media and public. He flew to America to escape the the presure and to continue his boxing career. In the US Darcy collapsed on 27 April 1917. He was admitted to hospital with septicaemia and endocarditis, he developed pneumonia and died on 24 May.


Dieing at such a young age, a great career was cut so short. If Les had not died i beleave he would have been one of the best.

[Southpaw16BF]

It was shame Darcy had to die so young. Before he died, him and Harry Greb were ment to fight. But the fight didnt take place due to Darcy's death.

Would of been a very interesting fight.

[0Rooster4Life0]

If he had fought Greb it would have Launched Darcy's career. but indeed he didnt make it =(

[mickey malone]

Les Darcy
The Maitland Wonder


Born the 31st October 1895 With a record of :46 Wins 29 KOS 4 Losses Les Darcy was a Middleweight From Maitland NSW Australia. Although he was a Middleweight Darcy also held the Australian Heavyweight Title at the same time. KOing Harold Hardwick to capture the Australian heavyweight title.


Darcy in my opinion was the greatest fighter to ever come out of Australia and after studying him one of the greatest middleweights of all time but didnt get the chance to forfill his full portential.


American Fighters Billy Murray, Buck Crouse, George Chip,Eddie McGoorty, George Brown, and Jimmy Clabby. all feel victim to Darcy and all admired Darcy's Courage and power.


During the first world war Darcy was under pressure from the media and public. He flew to America to escape the the presure and to continue his boxing career. In the US Darcy collapsed on 27 April 1917. He was admitted to hospital with septicaemia and endocarditis, he developed pneumonia and died on 24 May.


Dieing at such a young age, a great career was cut so short. If Les had not died i beleave he would have been one of the best.

According to some sources, it was the fight with Hardwick that eventually killed him..
The fight was allegedly contested without gloves.. One of Hardwicks teeth was inbedded in Darcy's hand.. This is apparently what caused the septicaemia that led to his early death.. This is only what I've been told.. Could someone confirm this story for me?

[mickey malone]

Rooster.... What's the point of posting a thread without answering your respondants???

[Southpaw16BF]

Les Darcy made his boxing debut at the age of 15 against a fighter six years his senior. It was a fight he was not meant to win, but legend has it that not only was Darcy not afraid, he won the bout wearing a smile throughout the entire contest. He didn’t care how big they were, or what their reputation was, he took all comers and was never knocked out in 50 professional fights. He was happiest when he was in the ring, applying his trade. There was an all-encompassing aura surround Darcy wherever he went and his trademark smile was worn proudly. The kid from Maitland was going to be big, the next champion of the world, everybody was entranced by his freakish pedigree and they turned up in droves. The hard-working, devout catholic pulled large crowds each and every fight. If it had not been for the bitter social uncertainty of the Great War, Darcy might have been amongst Mohammed Ali and Ray Robinson as the best boxers of all time.



“He was a man caught between his love of his country, his devotion to his mother and his desire for fame and fortune” ABC Rewind exclaimed in 2004. The precocious kid was just that, a kid. Embroiled in a bitter tug-o-war all Darcy wanted to do was box, and prove that he could be the best in the world. He had beaten some of the best boxers America had to offer and was etching out a career that would in time, immortalize him. The war however, changed everything. His legions of fans started to turn on him. Why would he not fight for his country? His countrymen were dying and all he seemed interested in was making money through boxing. To a war-fearing country it wasn’t right and they branded Darcy a coward and a shirker accordingly. It didn’t matter that he was legally underage and that his mother would never sign the enlistment papers. He was a physically supreme specimen, a superhuman wrecking ball that could presumably win the war off his own back. Darcy should go to war!

On the eve of the conscription referendum Darcy stowed away on a boat en route to America. Inexplicably unable to attain a passport, the besieged Darcy decided to leave his home country illegally. It was a decision that he copped much flack over, and the controversy followed him all the way to the big Apple.

Deprived of strong opponents in his heartland, Darcy hoped to meet the best boxers America had to offer. The money on offer was huge and Darcy was determined to assure his families financial security. He had not escaped the controversy, not by a long shot as journalists continued to throw barbs about his allegiance and his apparent draft dodging. He argued throughout that he would enlist, but his first priority was to take care of his family before taking up a rifle for his country. “Les is but one man and he can only carry one rifle” his friend Mick Hawkins reasoned bluntly.

It mattered not, after traveling to the States; Darcy was banned from fighting in New York. The massive fights that he had lined up in Madison Square Garden fell through and again, Darcy was forced to go elsewhere. It was apparent that this issue was not going to fade away. But why was Darcy feeling the brunt of the anger? Why was he singled out – in the land of the free of all places! After-all there were English actors and sportsmen applying their trade and surely they had more of a responsibility to be at the front than Darcy did. So here was a young 20-year old boy in a foreign country, away from his family and loved ones unable to do what he loved to do. Darcy was not himself; the ever energetic fearless boxer was run-down, lethargic and had a cough he couldn’t shake. It was a far-stretch from his home in Maitland.

The fall of Darcy was tragic, he died of pneumonia far away from home at the tender age of 21. In such a short lifespan Darcy had touched thousands of people and was arguably the greatest boxer Australia has ever produced. The boy from Maitland shook up the boxing world and if he had been born in another era, possibly would have been the best the world had ever seen

[Southpaw16BF]

Pictures of Darcy..............

[El Jesus]

To a great extent Darcy's priority of taking care of his family above all was a concept that was really hard for alot of people to understand at that time. Even now, myself a veteran, in that time while there was fanfare and a parade when you came come, there were little to no programs or jobs when you came back unless you had one in the first place. With an influx of veterans that would return at once, i think Darcy had the right idea, but lived in the wrong generation to take advantage of this. I feel sorry for him in this regard, because he had the right idea, and the just reasoning to do what he did. I read about him about 10 years ago, and now that i have returned home as of 2004, i truely understand why he did what he did.

[BennyST]

According to some sources, it was the fight with Hardwick that eventually killed him..
The fight was allegedly contested without gloves.. One of Hardwicks teeth was inbedded in Darcy's hand.. This is apparently what caused the septicaemia that led to his early death.. This is only what I've been told.. Could someone confirm this story for me?

No, it was actually Darcy's tooth that got broken which eventually led to septicemia after not having it treated properly for so long.

The Darcy story is very sad, and I agree completely that he really could have become one of the greats in the history of the sport. He was destroying top fighters and had beaten many of the top champions and contenders by the time he was in his very early twenties. He had such a bright future, cut so short.

Very similar to the Sanchez story, but Darcy didn't even get that far sadly.

[0Rooster4Life0]

Rooster.... What's the point of posting a thread without answering your respondants???

Sorry mate,


I havent been around the last 2 days. somthing came up.


What you said i beleave was incorrect.

From what i beleave i think he was fighting and had his two front teeth knocked out, when they rivited them back in it got infected , the infection spread through his mouth and adventually killed him.


once again i am sorry.




Rooster