page_title: Sydney Stadium
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Sydney Stadium / History
caption_attribution_description: Dave Smith versus Jerry Jerome, Sydney Stadium, 19 April 1913. Jerry Jerome is on left. Sitting in the audience behind row 'B' is boxer Black Paddy.
context_page_description: The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, New South Wales, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the construction of the Eastern Suburbs Railway.
context_section_description: Sydney Stadium was built in 1908 on the site of a former Chinese market garden that was leased by boxing promoter Hugh Donald Macintosh as a venue for sporting events.
  Macintosh originally built a temporary open-air stadium to promote a World heavyweight boxing championship title fight between Canadian world heavyweight champion Tommy Burns and Australian champion Bill "Boshter" Squires on 24 August 1908, which Burns won by a knockout in the 13th Round. It also hosted the biggest sporting event in Australia's history up till then, where over 20,000 crammed in the stadium on 26 December 1908 to see Tommy Burns fight the African-American Jack Johnson. This fight captivated the world because it was the first time that a 'black' man fought for the prestigious World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, with Johnson winning to take the title.
  In 1912 an octagonal structure, with a roof, was built to a design by Thomas Pollard Sampson. The new venue had raked wooden seats facing the central stage and could accommodate as many as 12,000 people. It was mainly used as a venue for boxing matches until the mid-1900s.
caption: Dave Smith v Jerry Jerome at Sydney Stadium in April 1913
exif: {}