Promotion of Townsville boxing bout appropriates Mackay’s ‘Rumble on the Reef’ skateboard event brand

Backers of the upcoming super welterweight boxing bout between Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu in Townsville on Wednesday 26th August have been accused of appropriating the Rumble on the Reef brand of a skateboard competition in Mackay.

While not used in the official promotion of the boxing contest, other backers of the event including Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill and Townsville City Council’s What’s On in Townsville website have made reference to the Horn v Tszyu as being the ‘Rumble on the Reef’.

Dean Lonergan, the promoter of the bout, was reported by the Townsville Bulletin as saying while he liked the term when he first heard it, he realised it was taken.

For the past three years, Mackay’s Rumble on the Reef has attracted skateboarders from overseas and across the country with organiser Donny Fraser noting “we know it’s a great name. I can see why people would want to use it.”

In a communication to media outlets this week, including Australasian Leisure Management, Fraser wrote “it has come to our attention that your media outlet has been using the phrase 'Rumble on the Reef' to promote or endorse the upcoming fight of Jeff Horn.

“The Rumble on the Reef is a 2 week action sports festival based in Mackay which has been running for over 3 years.

“These articles create confusion amongst the public and we have received a phone call this morning from a father who had booked flights for him and his son to Townsville instead of Mackay.

“We do not understand why this phrase has been published, The fight promoters have clarified they have not been using the phrase nor encouraged promoting it.”

Australasian Leisure Management has not previously used the reference ‘Rumble on the Reef’ in any of its news reporting.

The ‘Rumble’ phrase was famously used to promote the world heavyweight boxing clash between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1974.

The historic event was known as the Rumble in the Jungle.

The 26th August bout between Jeff Horn v Tim Tszyu as being held at Townsville's Queensland Country Bank Stadium.