Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

While there a myriad of sports books penned in New Zealand each year, there have been few autobiographies written by a Western Bay resident. Western Bay character Dennis Enright, known to all as Denny, has put together a riveting read of his battles in and out of the boxing ring.

The foreword to ‘Born to be a Fighter' is written by New Zealand boxing historian Sir Robert Jones, where he states: 'We lived in a age in which young men whimsically decided to try their hand at boxing, flirt with some amateur bouts although not often, then months later engage in their first professional bout over four rounds before small audiences of 200 spectators. Such contests understandably went unreported in the news media. It certainly wasn't like that when Dennis Enright was boxing”.

Denny was trained by his father Bill, who won the New Zealand amateur middleweight title in 1939 and was selected for the 1940 Olympic Games, which didn't take place because of WW2. In Timaru in 1970, Denny joined his father in winning a national amateur crown, when he beat Fusi Feau, from Wellington, in the final stanza of the light welterweight class.

However, it is his 14 fights in the ‘paid to punch' ranks that held the attention of boxing fans in the country. Trained in Invercargill by his father, there was standing room only at the Civic Theatre and RSA Hall in Invercargill in the 1970s, when Denny traded punches with the best welterweights from New Zealand and Australia.

While Denny was denied the opportunity to fight for the New Zealand welterweight title, but one of his most outstanding performances came when he whipped the then national titleholder Billy Fatu, in a non-title fight at the Civic Theatre in Invercargill. A big Samoan presence in Invercargill had Fatu as the hot favourite, with many of his supporters believing he'd knock Denny out. That was all the motivation Denny needed, winning almost every round on the way to a unanimous points decision during the 10 rounds.

Just two losses (in Australia) stain the Enright 14-fight record. Both losses came against two of the best welterweights of the time across the ditch. Denny's first defeat was against Italian/Australian Rock Mattioli, who later won the WBC World light middleweight title – while the second time he didn't have his hand raised in victory, was a meeting in Sydney with Steve Dennis.

‘Born to be a Fighter' is much more than a boxing book – it also lays out a candid and honest account of Denny's battle with depression and survival from a savage dog attack. There are also plenty of boxing anecdotes that include his time with Australian legendary trainer Jack Rennie, where he sparred with world champion Lionel Rose. There is also a good yarn on his trip with a Kiwi supporters group to Vegas in 2000, to back David Tua in his unsuccessful quest to beat World Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis.

This is a book well worth a read; and is available at a few selected shops around the Western Bay for under $20 a copy.

Seeya at the HRV Cup Games.