William Miller (16 December 1846 – 11 March 1939), also known as Professor William Miller, was an Australian athlete, the only athlete to hold Australian championships for boxing, fencing, wrestling and weight-lifting. Miller was born in

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, England, the son of Alexander Miller, a wine and spirits merchant, and his wife Sarah Anne, ''née'' Hatton (W. Miller was partly of French heritage). At age 5, William Miller arrived in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia with his family. From 1862 to 1869, Miller worked for the

Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne. The proposal met ...

as station-master and telegraph instructor. Miller became proprietor of the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Gymnasium, and instructor to some the leading Melbourne schools. Miller won the Australian broadsword championship in 1872. In the US from 1874 to 1880 he defeated cosmopolitan champions in boxing and wrestling, out of 72 matches, he had 55 wins and 11 draws. In 1879 he defeated Duncan Ross walking over 102 miles (164 km) in 24 hours and drew with the champion weight-lifter Richard Pennell, both lifting 1550 lbs. (703 kg) of iron.

Australian heavyweight champion, 1883

He met Larry Foley, who came out of boxing retirement to fight a gloved battle using the newer and somewhat safer Marquess of Queensberry Rules against him in Sydney, New South Wales on 28 May 1883 for the championship of Australia. Due to Miller's weight of around 190, the bout was a heavyweight championship. Unofficially declared a draw, the forty round bout and the £500 purse were given to Miller on 29 May when Foley conceded he had lost the fight. Miller was a considerably larger and more muscular man than Foley, with nearly a forty-pound advantage in weight to Foley's light middleweight class of around 150 pounds. The contest lasted three hours and would have been called far earlier if held today, as Foley took a great deal of punishment. Though Foley had a lead in the first hour, the tide turned and Miller's strong and constant left to Foley's face began to take its toll. In the 37th and 40th rounds, a right by Miller knocked Foley to the mat. Around the 40th round, spectators climbed into the ring, and the police were forced to stop the fight, with the referee postponing the ruling or calling a temporary draw til the following day. Miller lived in Baltimore from 1917 and died there on 11 March 1939. After his death, ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' described him as 'one of the greatest all-round athletes in the world'.

Championships and accomplishments

Professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

Australian Heavyweight Championship The Australian Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first Heavyweight professional wrestling championship in Australia. Title history See also *Professional wrestling in Australia Professional wrestling in Australia makes up a sma ...

Professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

(1 time, inaugural) ** American/World Graeco-Roman Championship

External links

''Health, exercise and amusement : athletic sports and now to train for them, with reminiscences of the world's athletes / by Professor Miller ; Edited by Andro of The Sportsman''
at National Library of Australia

at CyberBoxingZone

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, William 1846 births 1939 deaths Australian wrestlers Australian male weightlifters Australian male fencers Australian male professional wrestlers Bare-knuckle boxers English emigrants to Australia Australian male boxers