KO questions for a quiz

Boxing fans who enjoy a good quiz, are always looking for some knockout questions.

To show off their knowledge, they can dip into this short list of “did-you-know” facts to compile their ammunition.

The first fight for the SA light-heavyweight title took place in Johannesburg on May 20, 1933.

The contestants were Eddie Peirce and Dave Carstens, who had won a gold medal at the Olympics Games in Los Angeles the previous year.

Peirce won on points over 12 rounds and went abroad later that year. He never defended the title, which remained vacant for seven years.

Rudy Unholz, who was born in Germany but became a South African, was only 1.6m tall, but served in Tommy Burns’s training camp when the Canadian was heavyweight champion of the world.

Amazingly strong and durable, Unholz was paid one dollar a day for his services.

Arthur Douglas, one of the best SA boxers in history, was born in a house in Maitland Road, opposite the Salt River railway workshops in Cape Town in 1885.

The British Oak Hotel was built at the same site and stood for several decades.

Roy Ingram, who represented South Africa at the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, made his professional debut in a 20-rounder.

In his first pro bout, he fought Reggie Hull for the SA welterweight title in the Johannesburg City Hall on December 6, 1924. The result was a draw.

Jack Eustace, one of the most respected amateur trainers South Africa has ever had, took part in 30 amateur fights before a motorbike accident in 1926 ended his ring career.

When Vic Toweel stopped Jack Johnson in the fourth round in Springs on June 27, 1949, his purse was the equivalent of R7.

Willie Smith was regarded as a certainty when trials were held to select the SA team for the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924.

But Smith ran into unexpectedly stiff opposition in the bantamweight finals. His opponent was Harry Tyrrel, whose son Aubrey became a football Springbok and one of the best SA goalkeepers 30 years later.

The first boxers who fought for the SA junior flyweight title were Dexter Dhlamini and Elliot Zondi. They met in East London on September, 30, 1978. Dhlamini won on points over 12 rounds.