Drew Jackson (left) is known as Tiny around the family pub in Nanango, but when he steps into the boxing ring as a Brophy boxer he’s Tiny Tim. A big, affable bloke, Tiny hits with the power of a bulldozer.

Ring the bell, bang the drum…let them know Fred Brophy’s in town. At 58, Fred is far from a spent force, even if the tent boxing circuit has now contracted to a few Queensland towns. Fred began boxing for money at five and his name is synonymous with sideshow boxing.

The Brophy troupe can tour almost anywhere (except NSW) without breaching health and safety requirements, but Fred chooses not to, believing that Queensland is the natural fit for the boxing tent.

The Serjeant Major (Ian Haycock) of Fred Brophy’s boxing tent in Nanango, Queensland.

Many of the kids who turn up to fight are street toughs trying to break out of a rut. Boxer Jock Mathews, 15, from Maryborough, is the opposite. Polite and well spoken, he spars with his trainer dad until his name is called.

The tent set-up of Fred Brophy’s boxing match in Nanango, Queensland.

Jimmy Shannon, aka Kid Valentine, gets some advice in the boxing tent in Queensland.

Show day in Nanango dawns full of hope. The annoying showers of previous days seem to have retreated to another valley and by midday, still more than six hours before the first show, the beers are flowing behind the tarps.

Drew Jackson’s father cheeers on during the boxing match in Fred Brophy’s tent.

A close-up of the action in Fred Brophy’s famous outback boxing show.

Workers shift hay bales to prepare for a Fred Brophy’s boxing match in Nanango, Queensland.

Fred, 58, who bills himself as a fourth-generation showman, is quite secretive about parts of his early life, but this much we do know: he was born in 1952 in Perth, but spent his entire childhood on the road, touring the backblocks of Australia either with his parents’ sideshow act or with his uncle Selby Moore’s highly regarded tent boxing troupe. He was boxing for money at age five.

The Smiling Assassin (aka Mehul Narsey) is hurt during a boxing match

ROund 3 of the the Smiling Assassin (aka Mehul Narsey) bout.

Rebecca Burgess and Drew Jackson (aka Tiny Tim the boxer) have a quiet moment out of the boxing ring.

The ‘Smiling Assassin’ (Mehul Narsey) and Jock Matthews show that out of the boxing ring, they can be good mates.

The fight of The Smiling Assassin (Mehul Narsey).

The Sarg preparing for the boxing match.

The Smiling Assassin warms up before the big fight.

David Bainbridge shows off his tough tattoo at the Fred Brophy boxing tent.