Remembering Pat Ford: the fight that created a legend

“Pat was a happy, go-lucky bloke, a great boxer and one of the best I’ve ever fought.”

At 90 years-of-age, former CYMS (the Catholic Young Men's Society) boxer Dan Dougherty recollects the glory days and the last-minute boxing match with his mate, the late great Patrick “Pat” Ford — who would later become an Australian boxing legend.

While visiting the newly-unveiled Orange Regional Museum exhibition, Pat Ford: Pride of Orange, Dan and I spoke about the “Boxing Butcher” before the young fighter had begun his extraordinarily-brief fighting career.

“It was the good old days. Pat and I were about 16, we were really good mates... good old Pat and I were. About 50 years of friendship... it has certainly gotten away pretty quickly,” Dan says with a quiet laugh.

As we carefully glance over the rare, curated images, film footage, and memorabilia throughout the display, Dan recalls a story prompted by the unique exhibition, and one which might have bene the catalyst for Pat’s amazing professional boxing career.

“I joined the CYMS Club when it first opened. I never thought of joining the boxing team for CYMS... until they were short of a boxer one night.

“The bloke that was supposed to fight Pat, had bailed-out. They asked me, out of the blue, if I wanted to get in the ring with Pat... so they could still have their fight,” he says with a laugh.

“Otherwise, that would have been the main match taken out of the program. I said, ‘I guess I’ll fill in for the other bloke’... straight off the street. I was out of condition at the time too,” Dan says with a grin.

As the former boxer elaborates, “I didn’t even tell my father I was going into the ring with Pat, and my father was up at CYMS that night... and saw me getting ready to go. He said to me, ‘What the bloody hell are you doing in here.’ And I told him what was going on and shortly after that, the fight was on.

“Three rounds are a bloody long way to go when you’re boxing against Pat, even more so when you’re not in good condition to fight. Somebody yelled out when I was getting a bit tuned-up during the second round, ‘Dan must have had too much cheap plonk.’ Because they had seen me down at the pub with an uncle of mine the week before drinking beers. That’s the reason I was knocking-up,” Dan admits sincerely.

The story had a happy ending for Pat, not so much for Dan though: “Pat was very fast in the ring, very fast. I was lucky to score a punch on him. Because most of the time, when you swung a punch, he was gone, looking at you from the other side of the ring.

“He was bloody quick. We both enjoyed the fight that night. I was so glad that it wasn’t four rounds in the ring, three was enough for me. I don’t remember if there was any blood drawn... well definitely none drawn from Pat. But I made 10 shillings that night... my father gave me the coin for losing the fight,” Dan pauses with a smile across his face, laughing softly.

“Pat said to me years later, if I had beaten him, he wouldn’t had taken up professional boxing. Not that I was a bad boxer myself by any means, but Pat was the only one that could give me a hiding. Two years after that faithful boxing match, Pat went professional,” Dan concludes.

Pat Ford went on to win the Australian Lightweight Title and his achievements recognised by Victorian Past & Present Boxing Association, the Orange Sporting Hall of Fame, and the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame.

Pat Ford: Pride of Orange is on at Orange Regional Museum until the end of October. 

Capt: Original CYMS Sports Club Member, Dan Dougherty looks-over the exhibition for local boxing legend, and his good friend and former fight partner, Pat Ford.