The postman knocked many times

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Boxers who complain about demanding schedules have probably never heard of Tiger Burns.

He used to do his rounds as a postman on Saturday mornings, ran a long-distance race in the afternoon and fought tough opponents in the evening.

He was known as the Fighting Postman, and he drew big crowds whenever and wherever he fought.

His real name was Daniel Levine and he was also called Ginger. Born in Fordsburg in Johannesburg on November 23 1905, he began boxing at the Tramway Hotel where Jim Turner was the trainer.

According to old reports, Burns has more than 200 amateur fights. He won a novices’ competition in 1926 and won the Transvaal middleweight title when he beat Dan Bushney.

In 1934 he lost to Dicky Barton in the finals of the Empire Games trials. Barton won the silver medal in the welterweight class in London.

A year later Burns was selected to represent South Africa at the Maccabi Games in Palestine, but because of a shortage of Post Office staff he was unable to get leave.

Possibly his most memorable amateur fight was against Ginger White at the HOD Hall in Johannesburg; a classic toe-to-toe battle.

The referee was Cyril “Ginger” Baynes who handled the world bantamweight title fight between Vic Toweel and Peter Keenan on January 26 1952. It meant all three men in the ring were known as Ginger.

At the end of three rounds the scores were even and White and Burns were ordered to box a fourth round. White won on points.

Burns also represented Rand Postals in athletics. Once, after completing his post deliveries on a Saturday morning, he ran a ten-mile (16km) race in the afternoon and on the same night boxed for Transvaal against Western Province, knocking out a provincial champion, Badenhorst, in the first round.

On another occasion he did his delivery rounds, then broke a three-mile track record before boxing in a tournament on the same night.

Burns made his professional debut against Collis Botha at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on January 16 1937 and won on a first-round stoppage.

After stopping Snowy Smith in the fifth round, he lost his next six fights. Among his opponents were former and future SA champions, including Bob Bradley, Teddy Braun, Len McLoughlin and George “Panther” Purchase.

After this bad run he remained unbeaten in his next fights up to June 1940 before joining the army. As a staff-sergeant he serviced in the SA Irish division in North-Africa and did not box between 1941 to October 1945.

After the war he turned to wrestling and participated in many exhibitions with local star Butch Burman, who later opened a book store at 212 Jeppe Street in Johannesburg before moving to 12 Wanderers Street.

It was the best-known sports bookshop in Johannesburg and the only place where once could buy The Ring, Strength & Health, Iron Man Magazine and American comics.

Twenty 20 days before his 40th birthday, on November 3 1945, Burns returned to boxing after an absence of more than five years and outpointed Johnny Pieters over six rounds.

Trainer Harry Best got Burns into top condition for a return bout against Pieters. They fought for the vacant SA middleweight title at the Durban City Hall on April 11 1946. Burns won on points over 12 rounds.

He then lost to Johnny de Villiers and outpointed Bob Bradley before taking on a former British lightweight champion, Eric Boon, whose record stood at 88 victories, 11 defeats and 5 draws.

Boon knocked him out in the second round, the first time Burns had taken the full count in 24 years of boxing.

Only six weeks earlier Boon had knocked one of the finest SA boxers in history, Laurie Stevens, in the third round; only his second loss in an outstanding career.

Boon spent 14 months in South Africa and beat Alf James twice and won against Maurice Ouezman before losing to Giel de Roode from the Netherlands.

Burns fought Bob Bradley in a return match at the Odeon Theatre in Vereeniging in June 1947 and lost the SA middleweight title on a sixth-round stoppage.

He had drop nearly 6kg before the fight and held his own in the first five rounds but was knocked down in the sixth before referee Willie Corner stopped the bout.

In 1948 Burns beat Pieters on points but lost on points to Gerry Mulder on January 26 1949. It was his last fight and he finished with a record of 13-11-1, including 5 wins inside the distance.

His last two bouts were both held at the Clonmel Kennels near Alberton, where greyhound racing took place until the sport was banned. World light-heavyweight champion Freddie Mills had trained at the kennels before his fight with Johnny Ralph in November 1948.

After retiring, Burns returned to wrestling and ran in many long-distance races.

One of the stories about him was that he was hit on the head when someone threw a brick from a building while he was on military duty outside the Johannesburg City Hall during a political riot. Instead of being taken to hospital, he spent the night searching for the culprit.

Burns died in 1974.