I remembered a letter I had received from Timaru, New Zealand, from Betsy McKenna of the Club Hotel, whose mother was the patroness of the New Zealand Sports Association and whose father for many years was a prominent sportsman in the South Island. Shortly before his death, his daughter had invited me to visit Timaru if I went to the Olympic Games. This decided me: I would take a trip to New Zealand where famous American boxers had performed in the days of Eddie McGoorty, Jimmy Clabby, George Chip, Jeff Smith, and Billy Papke. I would visit Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Timaru. So on to Auckland I flew, a six-hour flight from Sydney; and from that point in the North Island as my headquarters, I headed down south, my final destination being Timaru, the home of many of the Fitzsimmons family. Everywhere I went, friendly hands greeted me. Radio recording was a must in each of the cities where I stopped. I was on the air, on radio and television, a total of twenty-nine times, including six special recordings for the Government-controlled national radio—so great was the interest there in international boxing. Timaru was my objective because of the many entertaining hours I had spent with Bob Fitzsimmons during his stage career. I was out to gather material about the Fitzsimmons family, and I obtained what I was after. Two of the greatest boxing figures made their start in the Southern Hemisphere. Fitzsimmons in Timaru and Les Darcy in Maitland, New South Wales. These fistic stars were idolized in their homelands. Mention the name of Darcy or Freckled Bob in any pub, and you’ve started a discussion that may last for hours. In my journeys through Australia and New Zealand, I met many sports enthusiasts who knew Les and Bob. Some at three score and ten have vivid recollections of the early days of these men whose names occupy a niche in the Fistic Hall of Fame. When I visited Maitland to unveil the Darcy Memorial and spoke to a gathering of about 5,000 who had come from all parts of the Commonwealth to honor the memory of their idol, I thought I had met all of the pugilistic celebrities of the past and present who had any part in keeping boxing alive in that part of the world. But my subsequent trip to Timaru uncovered still more. Timaru is a small dot on the southwestern coast of the mainland in the South Island of New Zealand. It is seldom in the itinerary of the tourists, and receives little attention even from New Zealanders. Yet this little city of only 23,000 inhabitants, in the sheep farm district 100 miles from Christchurch and about 200 miles from Auckland, can stand on its own as an historic athletic center. It has a unique claim to fame in the sports field, having produced five of the world’s greatest athletic performers.