Maitland will come together today to celebrate the centenary of the death of legendary boxer Les Darcy.
There will be a number of events today throughout the city where "Maitland's favourite son" lived and worked, and fell in love with sport of boxing which started his incredible career.
Les Darcy was one of the best middleweight fighters in the world and his career record finished at 50 fights with 46 wins before his tragic death at the age of 22 from blood poisoning.
Maitland Mayor Peter Blackmore says 100 years ago the people of Maitland all saw the boxer as someone to look up to and aspired to be him.
"People as I say were looking for somebody that they could support, they could follow, they could cheer on and I come back to the fact that just look at the 22 year olds nowadays. Could they have done what Les Darcy did in that time? 100 plus years ago? It was a sad loss, Maitland's favourite son, Les Darcy."
A service will be held at East Maitland Park at 12.30 today, while a plaque paying tribute to Les Darcy will be unveiled at the site where he used to work as a blacksmith.
"We have two schools that are sending about 60 children each to come along, and think of the impact that will have on those children that in sixty years time they can say I was there for the centenary of the death of Les Darcy, Maitland's favourite son. And it promises to be a spectacle," said Mayor Peter Blackmore.
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| Image maitland.nsw.gov.au |
