Tom Heeney - WikiHQ

Thomas Heeney (18 May 1898 – 15 June 1984) was a professional heavyweight boxer from New Zealand, best known for unsuccessfully challenging champion Gene Tunney for the heavyweight championship of the world in New York City on 26 July 1928.

Biography

left|thumb|Portrait of Heeney in boxing stance

Heeney was born in Gisborne, New Zealand, and worked as a plumber until he left New Zealand. He was a strong swimmer and was awarded a bronze medal by the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand in 1918 for helping rescue two women from the sea off Waikanae Beach, Gisborne. He also retrieved a third woman who did not survive.

He learnt to box from his father and his older brother Jack Heeney, who was the New Zealand amateur welterweight champion in 1914 and middleweight champion from 1919 to 1924. He became a professional boxer when he fought Bill Bartlett in Gisborne in 1920. In October 1920, Heeney became the New Zealand heavyweight champion when he beat Brian McCleary of Dunedin on a technical knockout. Heeney was also a rugby union player and played for the Hawke's Bay — Poverty Bay team against the Springboks in 1921. unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center"

!Result

!Record

!Opponent

!Type

!Round, time

!Date

!Location

!Notes

|70

|Loss

|align=left| Stanley Poreda

|TKO

|10 (10),

|Mar 27, 1933

|style="text-align:left;"|

|69

|style="background:#DDD"|Loss

|37–21–8

|align=left| Charley Retzlaff

|NWS

|10

|Mar 7, 1933

|style="text-align:left;"|

|68

|Loss

|37–21–8

|align=left| Patsy Perroni

|PTS

|10

|Dec 6, 1932

|style="text-align:left;"|

|67

|Draw

|37–20–8

|align=left| John Schwake

|PTS

|10

|Oct 25, 1932

|style="text-align:left;"|

|66

|Win

|37–20–7

|align=left| Hans Birkie

|PTS

|10

|Mar 16, 1932

|style="text-align:left;"|

|65

|Loss

|36–20–7

|align=left| Max Baer

|PTS

|10

|Feb 22, 1932

|style="text-align:left;"|

|64

|Draw

|36–19–7

|align=left| Giacomo Bergomas

|PTS

|10

|Oct 26, 1931

|style="text-align:left;"|

|63

|Draw

|36–19–6

|align=left| Jose Santa

|PTS

|10

|Oct 5, 1931

|style="text-align:left;"|

|62

|Win

|36–19–5

|align=left| Jose Santa

|PTS

|12

|Sep 10, 1931

|style="text-align:left;"|

|61

|Loss

|35–19–5

|align=left| Jimmy Slattery

|PTS

|Apr 20, 1931

|style="text-align:left;"|

|60

|Loss

|35–18–5

|align=left| Johnny Risko

|PTS

|10

|Apr 6, 1931

|style="text-align:left;"|

|59

|Loss

|35–17–5

|align=left| Charley Retzlaff

|TKO

|7 (10)

|Mar 6, 1931

|style="text-align:left;"|

|58

|Loss

|35–16–5

|align=left| Max Baer

|KO

|3 (10)

|Jan 16, 1931

|style="text-align:left;"|

|57

|Loss

|35–15–5

|align=left| Emmett Rocco

|PTS

|10

|Oct 13, 1930

|style="text-align:left;"|

|56

|Loss

|35–14–5

|align=left| Frank Cawley

|UD

|10

|Sep 29, 1930

|style="text-align:left;"|

|55

|Win

|35–13–5

|align=left| George Panka

|SD

|10

|Sep 8, 1930

|style="text-align:left;"|

|54

|Loss

|34–13–5

|align=left| Tuffy Griffiths

|TKO

|10 (10)

|Jul 30, 1930

|style="text-align:left;"|

|53

|Win

|34–12–5

|align=left| George Hoffman

|PTS

|10

|Sep 26, 1929

|style="text-align:left;"|

|52

|Loss

|33–12–5

|align=left| Victorio Campolo

|TKO

|9 (10),

|Aug 15, 1929

|style="text-align:left;"|

|51

|Win

|33–11–5

|align=left| Elzear Rioux

|DQ

|8 (10)

|May 29, 1929

|style="text-align:left;"|

|50

|Loss

|32–11–5

|align=left| Otto von Porat

|UD

|10

|Mar 12, 1929

|style="text-align:left;"|

|49

|Loss

|32–10–5

|align=left| Jim Maloney

|PTS

|10

|Mar 1, 1929

|style="text-align:left;"|

|48

|Loss

|32–9–5

|align=left| Gene Tunney

|TKO

|11 (15),

|Jul 26, 1928

|style="text-align:left;"|

|47

|Win

|32–8–5

|align=left| Jack Delaney

|UD

|15

|Mar 1, 1928

|style="text-align:left;"|

|46

|Draw

|31–8–5

|align=left| Jack Sharkey

|SD

|12

|Jan 13, 1928

|style="text-align:left;"|

|45

|Win

|31–8–4

|align=left| Johnny Risko

|PTS

|10

|Oct 26, 1927

|style="text-align:left;"|

|44

|Win

|30–8–4

|align=left| Jim Maloney

|KO

|1 (12),

|Sep 30, 1927

|style="text-align:left;"|

|43

|Draw

|29–8–4

|align=left| Paulino Uzcudun

|PTS

|15

|Sep 8, 1927

|style="text-align:left;"|

|42

|Win

|29–8–3

|align=left| Bud Gorman

|DQ

|3 (10),

|Aug 4, 1927

|style="text-align:left;"|

|41

|Win

|28–8–3

|align=left| Jack DeMave

|PTS

|10

|Jun 24, 1927

|style="text-align:left;"|

|40

|Loss

|27–8–3

|align=left| Paulino Uzcudun

|PTS

|10

|Apr 1, 1927

|style="text-align:left;"|

|39

|Win

|27–7–3

|align=left| Charley Anderson

|TKO

|8 (10)

|Feb 25, 1927

|style="text-align:left;"|

|38

|Win

|26–7–3

|align=left| Jack Stanley

|PTS

|15

|Oct 25, 1926

|style="text-align:left;"|

|37

|Win

|25–7–3

|align=left| Bartley Madden

|PTS

|20

|Aug 9, 1926

|style="text-align:left;"|

|36

|Loss

|24–7–3

|align=left| Phil Scott

|PTS

|10

|Jul 10, 1926

|style="text-align:left;"|

|35

|Win

|24–6–3

|align=left| Tom Berry

|PTS

|15

|Jul 5, 1926

|style="text-align:left;"|

|34

|Win

|23–6–3

|align=left| Charley Smith

|DQ

|5 (10)

|Mar 18, 1926

|style="text-align:left;"|

|33

|Loss

|22–6–3

|align=left| George 'Blackie' Miller

|DQ

|5 (20)

|Nov 14, 1925

|style="text-align:left;"|

|32

|Win

|22–5–3

|align=left| George 'Blackie' Miller

|DQ

|8 (20)

|Oct 10, 1925

|style="text-align:left;"|

|31

|Win

|21–5–3

|align=left| Vic Morace

|KO

|4 (20)

|Jul, 1925

|style="text-align:left;"|

|30

|Win

|20–5–3

|align=left| Johnny Squires

|RTD

|18 (20)

|Jun 15, 1925

|style="text-align:left;"|

|29

|Win

|19–5–3

|align=left| Johnny Squires

|PTS

|20

|Apr 9, 1925

|style="text-align:left;"|

|28

|Loss

|18–5–3

|align=left| George Cook

|PTS

|20

|Feb 12, 1925

|style="text-align:left;"|

|27

|Win

|18–4–3

|align=left| Trooper Jim Young

|KO

|4 (15)

|Jan 19, 1925

|style="text-align:left;"|

|26

|style="background:#DDD"|

|17–4–3

|align=left| Frans Hendrickx

|NC

|6 (15)

|Nov 3, 1924

|style="text-align:left;"|

|25

|Loss

|17–4–3

|align=left| Phil Scott

|PTS

|20

|Sep 22, 1924

|style="text-align:left;"|

|24

|Win

|17–3–3

|align=left| Ern Young

|TKO

|4 (15)

|Feb 20, 1924

|style="text-align:left;"|

|23

|Win

|16–3–3

|align=left| Jim O'Sullivan

|KO

|9 (15)

|Dec 26, 1923

|style="text-align:left;"|

|22

|Win

|15–3–3

|align=left| Jim O'Sullivan

|DQ

|5 (15)

|Nov 10, 1923

|style="text-align:left;"|

|21

|Win

|14–3–3

|align=left| Jim Savage

|KO

|1 (15)

|Oct 26, 1923

|style="text-align:left;"|

|20

|Loss

|13–3–3

|align=left| Jim O'Sullivan

|PTS

|15

|Sep 26, 1923

|style="text-align:left;"|

|19

|Win

|13–2–3

|align=left| Brian McCleary

|TKO

|14 (15)

|Aug 14, 1923

|style="text-align:left;"|

|18

|Win

|12–2–3

|align=left| Jim Flett

|TKO

|9 (15)

|Aug 2, 1923

|style="text-align:left;"|

|17

|Win

|11–2–3

|align=left| Cyril Whittaker

|TKO

|15 (15)

|Jun 4, 1923

|style="text-align:left;"|