I was a young boy of thirteen and I was fighting men whose wives and children were in the audience. I felt great about this but it was not doing me any good.

At that time you had to be 18 years old to fight professionally. So at thirteen we lied about my age and I tu

I am approaching 70 years of age very quickly and I have been dieting since I was thirteen years old.

To look at me now you would not think that I have been a professional boxer or a marathon runner.

My younger brother and I were often mistaken for twins when we were ten years old. He grew up to be tall and lanky at 6 feet. I grew partly up to be short and chunky at 5 feet 5 inches.

Now younger brother is very thin and I am not. It has been said that my brother looks as though there was a famine in the land ... and I look as if I caused the famine.

I was not obese when I was thirteen years old but I was an accomplished boxer. I trained hard 7 days a week 52 weeks a year. I was fit and thin but...I was a growing boy and was always trying to "make weight" for a lower division. Not my choice but the decision of my elders who in those days did not know the damage they were doing.

I had won the schoolboys championship and the intermediate championship and could not get opponents in my weight division or age group. The opponents I did get were adults. I was a young boy of thirteen and I was fighting men whose wives and children were in the audience. I felt great about this but it was not doing me any good.

At that time you had to be 18 years old to fight professionally. So at thirteen we lied about my age and I tur

e were ten years old. He grew up to be tall and lanky at 6 feet. I grew partly up to be short and chunky at 5 feet 5 inches.

Now younger brother is very thin and I am not. It has been said that my brother looks as though there was a famine in the land ... and I look as if I caused the famine.

I was not obese when I was thirteen years old but I was an accomplished boxer. I trained hard 7 days a week 52 weeks a year. I was fit and thin but...I was a growing boy and was always trying to "make weight" for a lower division. Not my choice but the decision of my elders who in those days did not know the damage they were doing.

I had won the schoolboys championship and the intermediate championship and could not get opponents in my weight division or age group. The opponents I did get were adults. I was a young boy of thirteen and I was fighting men whose wives and children were in the audience. I felt great about this but it was not doing me any good.

At that time you had to be 18 years old to fight professionally. So at thirteen we lied about my age and I tu

as if I caused the famine.

I was not obese when I was thirteen years old but I was an accomplished boxer. I trained hard 7 days a week 52 weeks a year. I was fit and thin but...I was a growing boy and was always trying to "make weight" for a lower division. Not my choice but the decision of my elders who in those days did not know the damage they were doing.

I had won the schoolboys championship and the intermediate championship and could not get opponents in my weight division or age group. The opponents I did get were adults. I was a young boy of thirteen and I was fighting men whose wives and children were in the audience. I felt great about this but it was not doing me any good.

At that time you had to be 18 years old to fight professionally. So at thirteen we lied about my age and I tu

oice but the decision of my elders who in those days did not know the damage they were doing.

I had won the schoolboys championship and the intermediate championship and could not get opponents in my weight division or age group. The opponents I did get were adults. I was a young boy of thirteen and I was fighting men whose wives and children were in the audience. I felt great about this but it was not doing me any good.

At that time you had to be 18 years old to fight professionally. So at thirteen we lied about my age and I tu

I was a young boy of thirteen and I was fighting men whose wives and children were in the audience. I felt great about this but it was not doing me any good.

At that time you had to be 18 years old to fight professionally. So at thirteen we lied about my age and I turned professional. Within two years I became rated as the third in Australia in the flyweight division (under 98 lbs.)

When the Australian Champion retired there was to be a fight-off between the top three contenders. I was supposed to be a certainty. However, I was still a growing boy and I was going to have difficulty making the weight. I weighed 4 lbs. over the limit with a week until the weigh-in. It did not matter if I won or not if I weighed more than 98 lbs I was out of the championship.

I was then given to help me to lose weight the most dangerous instructions that could be given to a fifteen old boy.

I was to "dry out". In effect, I was to cease drinking fluids for the whole week. No water, no tea, no softdrink. I was to chew gum which would produce saliva which I was to spit out continuously. (Yuck!).

And I had a turkish bath each night. Fluids were my enemy and when I got really thirsty I was allowed to suck the juice from an orange with a hole punctured in it...and boy was I thirsty!

While this was going on I trained hard and ate littl