Welterweight (≤147 pounds), Men

The lack of international competition during the twenties meant that most sportsmen from New Zealand were unknown quantities when they reached the Olympic Games. A good example of this is the boxer Ted Morgan. Although he had been born in England, his family had emigrated to New Zealand when he was a baby and had never left his adopted country since. On the long boat journey to Europe a lack of exercise meant that he gained enough weight to force him to move from the lightweight division, in which he was national champion, to the welterweights. Arriving in England, where the New Zealanders had based their training camp, he suffered a potentially serious setback when sparring with English professional Ernie Rice. His left hand smacked into Rice’s elbow and he suffered a dislocated knuckle. Although treatment by Arthur Porritt, the former New Zealand sprinter and 100 m bronze medalist in Paris, mitigated the effects of the injury he was unable to use his left hand to full effectiveness throughout the tournament.

Despite his injury, he dispatched Johansson of Sweden via a second round knockout in his first contest; he also outpointed French and Italian opponents on his way to the final. Morgan’s opponent for the gold was Raúl Landini, an Argentinean noted for his ability to knock out opponents. The New Zealander never allowed his opponent enough room to tee off his punches and comfortably outboxed Landini to claim the decision. Morgan had other reasons to remember his Olympic adventure, a shipboard romance with fellow New Zealand competitor Norma Wilson led to one of the first marriages between Olympians.

The American entrant in this division was New York’s Tommy Lown. Lown was noted for singing “Mother Macree”, a popular song of the time, after winning his contests. In Amsterdam he lost his first bout and remained silent.