By Jim O’Toole
Fred Brophy has the last boxing tent left in the world. In the video he spars with Karl Stefanovik at Mt Isa Rodeo two weeks ago, lamenting what Australia has become. Fred’s insight into a collapsing country has not been lost on Pauline Hanson, who sat ringside with Fred during the rodeo.
Brophy’s boxing tent has attracted many young rough and tough ringers, rodeo riders, truck drivers, railway workers, pugilistic dreamers and a few famous people over sixty years who wanted to ‘have a go’ at one of Fred’s hand-picked brawlers.
Every now and then an unknown surprise packet would enter the ring and manage to flog one of the troupe’s better knucklemen taking home the prize.
Some years ago this scribe was visiting Mt Isa Rodeo absorbing the buck-jumpers and sideshows when I heard the ominous beat of a drum. I followed the boom, boom rhythm mixed with a cacophony of “step right up” and ended up at a large tent and on a scaffold near the entrance was Fred Brophy, now 74, a name synonymous with regional agricultural shows for decades.
I had first seen the iconic Fred in operation many years ago and having sampled his unique entertainment I stood in the lineup for admission to the huge, well-worn tent.
Then in front of me in the lineup two somewhat bedraggled, inebriated characters yelled out, “there he is” then leaving the queue, one of the pair took a swipe at a rather large show patron walking past. The massive haymaker missed by a mile but the intended victim didn’t miss with a nice right jab square on the nose of the assailant.
It was on and the word went out “don’t bother going into Fred’s tent there’s a better show out the front”.
It didn’t last very long when the would-be Lionel Rose copped a couple more solid jabs realising he got his ambitions mixed up with his capabilities. After his equally inebriated mate picked him up from the ground they staggered off to the bar, forgetting about the boxing event, as the inside crowd surged back into the tent.
A lineup of local brawlers were ringside waiting to take a shot at the title. The Fred Brophy show was about to start.
Fred Brophy is an institution, a no-nonsense ambassador of bush, ocker culture who will be sorely missed when he retires.
Another bush tent show was Gills Bros rodeo ; At the end of each bull riding event where their ferocious bulls had just deposited another courageous rider head first into the bulldust one of the Gill kids would stroll into the ring and call the bull to follow them out ;Gills rodeo animals were the kids pets .
Jimmy Sharman was the name we knew when it came to tent boxing in the bush .