Brian Verdon McCleary (17 January 1897 – 2 July 1978) was a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and boxer. He was a member of the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

in 1924 and 1925, playing in the hooker position. He was also a New Zealand and Australasian amateur and professional light-heavyweight and heavyweight boxing champion.Ron Palenski (2007) ''The All Blackography'', Hodder Moa. p. 287.

Early life

McCleary was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and was educated at

Christian Brothers School The following is a list of the schools, colleges, and other educational institutions founded, run or staffed (in any capacity) by the Congregation of Christian Brothers (sometimes called the Irish Christian Brothers) since 1802. Some schools no l ...

where he played rugby.Lindsay Knight
Brian McCleary
New Zealand All Blacks Player Profiles

Rugby union

Brian_Verdon_McCleary_passport_application

McCleary played for the Christchurch Marist club and then the

Culverden Culverden is a small town in the northern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It lies at the centre of the Amuri Plain. Culverden has traditionally been surrounded by sheep farms. Dairy farms have now become more common as a result ...

club and represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 1920 and 1923. He represented the South Island in 1923 and 1924 and was a New Zealand trialist in 1924. He was selected for the All Blacks in 1923 and 1925. He played in Australia and at home for New Zealand before the Invincibles tour, on which he played in nine games. In all he played twelve games for the All Blacks. All his matches for New Zealand were against regional or representative clubs never playing at international level.

Boxing

McCleary began his boxing career as an orthodox heavyweight. After an unbeaten amateur record of 32 fights he turned professional. On 15 April 1922, McCleary challenged Cyril Whittaker for the vacant New Zealand heavyweight title at King Edward's Barracks in Christchurch. The contest went the full fifteen rounds with McCleary winning by

points decision A points decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. Unlike normal decisions where there are three judges that agree on whic ...

, making him the heavyweight champion. He successfully defended his title in May 1922 against Albert Pooley, while a June challenge from Paul McQuarie ended in a no contest. On 9 September 1922, McCleary faced Cyril Whittaker again, when both men dropped a weight to contest the vacant light-heavyweight title. McCleary beat Whittaker again on points, giving him his second New Zealand boxing champion title. He successfully defended his title in May 1923, stopping Laurie Cadman by

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the seventh round; but lost his title a month later when he lost by points to Eddie Parker. 14 August 1923 saw McCleary face his most notable opponent,

Tom Heeney Thomas Heeney (18 May 1898 – 15 June 1984) was a professional heavyweight boxing, 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 ...

, in a challenge for his heavyweight title. McCleary was beaten by technical knockout in the fourteenth round, losing his title to Heeney who would go on to challenge NBA World heavyweight champion

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

in New York. McCleary challenged for the New Zealand light-heavyweight belt again in 1924, but lost by decision, again to Eddie Parker.

Death

He died 2 July 1978, aged 81, in

Martinborough Martinborough ( mi, Wharekaka) is a town in the South Wairarapa District, in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton. The town has a resident population of The town ...

, and was buried at Martinborough Cemetery.

References

External links

Article from 2011
in the ''Dominion Post'' including a photo {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccleary, Brian Verdon 1897 births 1978 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Trinity Catholic College, Dunedin New Zealand professional boxing champions Light-heavyweight boxers Rugby union players from Dunedin Sportspeople from Dunedin People from Martinborough Heavyweight boxers New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand male boxers Canterbury rugby union players Rugby union hookers