Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing Tent is perhaps the best known – and most notorious – of the various travelling outback boxing shows that once went from town to town in Australia. It put on displays of bare-knuckle boxing as well as occasional bouts where locals could try their luck against the professional boxers.
It was a brutal sport, and often exploitative – but it was also one of the few ways a black man could make a living, albeit a dangerous one that might leave you maimed. The outback boxing circuit flourished for a few decades, but it largely faded away by the time of World War Two.
By H. Coates of Ardlethan near Temora, New South Wales, Australia – National Library of Australia – http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3637693, Public Domain, Link
As mentioned in:
Yesterdays — Cold Chisel
Rally Around The Drum — Paul Kelly
Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers — Midnight Oil