When Wayne Mclennan was growing up in the sleepy Australian mining town of Cessnock in the 1960s, the most exciting event of the year was the arrival of the agricultural show and the most thrilling part of it was the boxing tent. Boxers would stand on a raised platform in front of a canvas mural, challenging the local men and boys to fight for a cash prize, but also challenging their preconceptions about Aboriginals, who made up the majority of the tent boxers.
After many years of overseas adventures, Wayne McLennan returned to Australia to find to his surprise and delight, that a few boxing tents still existed. Using his own experience of boxing professionally, McLennan travelled the length of Queensland working with one of these boxing troupes as a driver, referee and roustabout; and in the process of finding out what makes a man take up the challenge, he ended up learning a lot about his countrymen.
