100 years ago on 17 March 1923, the first international sport's event to take place in the newly formed Irish Free State played out in Dublin city. It was a world boxing title championship between the current holder who was a Senegalese-born Frenchman and a Clare-born boxer. I have just written about this sport's contest on the RTÉ Brainstorm website. Read it here.
Photo of Battling Siki in training. Image source.
Battling Siki (1887-1925) (real name Amadou M'barick Fall, also known as Louis Fall) was a larger than life individual who achieved worldwide fame when he beat the French boxer and current title holder, Georges Carpentier (1894-1975), on his home ground in France to claim the world Light heavyweight boxing championship title in September 1922.
Photo of Battling Siki (center) after his win over Georges Carpentier. Image source.
Ireland was chosen as the venue for Siki (who was also referred to as 'Singular Senegalese') to defend his title after he was allegedly refused a visa to Britain. The world's press was watching closely to see if Siki could retain the title. Leading up to the fight, newspapers contained news of the preparations and some expressed fears that the Irish Civil (which was still going on at the time) could stop the match from going ahead or at least delay it. After the match, reports appeared in newspapers all over the world (as can be seen in the selection reproduced below, containing Swiss, French and American newspapers).
Front page of French sport's magazine, Le Miroir des Sports, 22 March 1923. Image source.
Inside page of Le Miroir des Sports. Image source.
Front page of the Richmond Planet, 24 March 1923. Image source.
Description of the match in the Richmond Planet. Image source.
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