Noteworthy Boxing History of St. Anthony’s College, Kandy – By A J M Mushtaq
Source : Antonian Newsletter – September 2023
Boxing was introduced to the schools in Ceylon during the first decade of the 20th century. Two Old boys, Messrs. Cyril E. S. Perera (later Queen’s Counsel & MP for Colombo North) and M. J. Taylor, were instrumental in bringing the game to St. Anthony’s College, Kandy, inspired by Mr. L. Mc D. Robinson, a lecturer at the Government Training College. St. Anthony’s was fortunate to obtain the services of the famed boxing trainer, Mr. John Gaye. Boxing had become so popular that it was hard to decide which of the two games, cricket or boxing, was more popular, with a large number of athletes taking up the sport.
In the STUBBS SHIELD tournament, which started in 1914, St. Anthony’s participated for the first time in 1918 and became the runner-up with 13 points, following Trinity’s 19 points. The following year, St. Anthony’s avenged the defeat to win the coveted Shield for the first time. In the year 1919, Jack Glanville, N. H. Keerthiratne (later a cabinet Minister), and Robert Wright, also the Antonian Cricket captain in 1919 and a respected teacher at the College in the latter years, won all their fights.
St. Anthony’s retained the shield in 1920 with Greig Meynert, Keerthiratne, N. Rodrigo, and Jack Glanville defeating all their opponents, while Austin Williams lost in the final. “THE ANTONIAN” the College magazine of 1924, records the excellent performance of the three Ratwatte brothers, especially the youngest, Sidney, who won all his matches. St. Anthony’s finished second in the tournament. Billy Forsyth won the finals of Light Heavyweights.
In 1922, Dicky Tennant, S. V. de Alwis, and N. Rodrigo were unbeaten, and the school came second in the STUBBS SHIELD. In the following year, fielding a side with a number of newcomers, the school was placed third behind the top teams Trinity and St. Thomas’. Ronald Stephens and Rodrigo won in their respective weight categories. The school won the STUBBS SHIELD for the third and the last time in 1924.
Antonian boxers had their heyday during this era, as in a matter of a few years, they reached a very high
standard, and some of them gained recognition as All Ceylon Champions. L. V. Jayaweera, Robert Wright, N. H. Keerthiratne, Jack Glanville, S. V. de Alwis, Dicky Tennant, James Ferguson, Austin Williams, C. Radcliffe, V. Rosayro, Bill Forsyth, Albert Victor, Ronald Stephens, N. Rodrigo, and Bede Perera, to name a few of the Antonian Boxing Ring. St. Anthony’s had the distinction of producing as manyas eleven champions in the Ceylon Boxing Ring since 1921.
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The school produced a “knock-out king” in Robert Wright, who was a dread for the other schools, having
tasted defeat only once in his entire career.
L. V. Jayaweera (also Cricket captain in 1921) was undoubtedly the most accomplished boxer to come
out of SACK. Some of his achievements were:
– 1923 – Featherweight Champion
– 1924 – Lightweight Champion
– 1925 – Lightweight Champion
– 1927 – Welterweight Champion
– Winner of Lightweight – Ceylon Defense Force Meet
– 1928 – Selected to represent Ceylon in the All India tournament
– 1930 – Winner of “Fellows Gordon” Cup for most scientific boxer
Sadly, the game started to fade away from the minds of Antonians in the early 1930s and sank into oblivion thereafter, least expected in a school that was a powerhouse in boxing in the early years.
