Part 1: A look at Amateur & Pro Boxing in the early days of Singapore

Reading Straits Times' 13th January article about the upcoming boxing event - The Roar of Singapore - got me intrigued, especially by this line uttered by Mr Syed Kadir, President of the Singapore Amateur Boxing Association (SABA):

"Singapore used to be a Mecca for boxing in the 1950s & 60s, when boxers from across Asia came to Singapore to fight, and events at venues like the Gay World Stadium were held every month..."

Naturally, this got me excited about SABA and I went through my treasure trove of material/memorabilia and dug deeper.

Coupled with some research at the National Library and with the book "Singapore Olympians, as a basis to start on, I began writing and here is what I have so far...

P.S: Those keen to read and know about the Feb 17 boxing event, read the full ST article here: http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/new-boxing-event-aims-to-bring-back-the-roar

Singapore - A "Mecca" of Boxing

Thanks to British rule from 1819 to 1959, Singapore is blessed in many ways. Indeed we have the Brits and their love of sport, to thank for introducing us, the local population, to football, rugby, cricket, hockey and boxing.

Boxing first emerged in Singapore, during the post World War I period, in the 1920s, with SABA - the national controlling body for amateur boxing - being founded in 1927.

The original crest of SABA

A SABA Score Sheet from the 1960s

Canon R.K.S. Adams - then Principal of St Andrew's School - was the main proponent of the "gentleman's" sport and encouraged the Saints (students of SAS) to take up boxing for "discipline and manliness".

The school crest of 

St Andrew's School, Singapore

Principal R.K.S Adams circa 1960s

The jovial Australian was a big believer of sports and was known in local sporting circles as the "fighting padre", for his penchant for boxing.

Principal Adams lead the charge to set up an amateur inter-school boxing championships in the 1930s, which allowed for an avenue for the student boxers to pit their skills against one another.

All this, despite the hullabaloo that boxing  was considered a "dangerous" sport by many parents and some officials from the Ministry.

Truthfully, there were no injuries reported by the Medical Officers in charge of the inter-school tournaments, not of any kind during the 30 years of inter-school competions from the late 30s to the early 70s.

Professional Boxing in Singapore

Professional boxing attracted much fanfare in the 1930s and in the period after World War II.

Happy World Stadium (renamed Gay World in 1965) hosted many bouts with winners walking away with $35 per win (a big sum then, considering a bowl of noodles was between 3 to 5 cents)

The front gate of Happy World Stadium. Notice the Boxing tickets booth on the left.

A triumphant boxer at Gay World

Pre-bout photographs

1965 Tournament programme for 

bouts held at Gay World Stadium

However, professional boxing bouts began to die down by the mid to late 50s but the amateur bouts (contested by schools, the Uniformed Services and community clubs) continued strongly. In fact, students and alumni of SJI and Marist Stella High regularly vied with St Andrew's for the various boxing crowns on offer by the many amateur competitions.

Stay tuned for my next post on boxing where I throw the SPORTLIGHT on our boxing luminaries, including 3 Olympian Boxers!