Boxing tournament named in honour of Tye Curtain to be held in Hobart

After a Sunday night eating KFC and watching a movie with his young son, a much loved local sportsman went to sleep and never woke up. Now an event has been named in his honour.

Tye Curtain and his son, Jacob, 7

He died in his sleep after eating KFC and watching a movie with his young son on a Sunday night _ much-loved football, fishing and boxing figure Tye Curtain will be honoured at a boxing tournament named in his honour in Hobart on Saturday night.

Teen machines Tyler Wordsworth and Jett Ford will lock horns in a featherweight bout that will be the main event at Glenorchy Boxing Club’s annual Fight Night at KGV Oval’s function room.

Rod Curtain, of the GBC, was forced to delay the event after the sudden passing of his son Tye, aged 43, last month.

Teenage boxers Tyler Wordsworth and Jett Ford with Rod Curtain. Picture Supplied

“It was an unexpected, tragic passing, that’s for sure,” Rod said.

“He passed away in his sleep.

“He came home a few days earlier from a tuna fishing competition at Eagle Hawk Neck where they had done very well and collected about $7000 in prizes.

“On the Friday I visited him, and he looked drained and thought he had a touch of the ‘flu.

“But on the Sunday night he passed away in his sleep after having KFC and watching a movie with his young son.”

Teenage boxers Tyler Wordsworth (Glenorchy) and Jett Ford (Brighton) with the Tye Curtain Memorial Trophy they will fight for at KGV on Saturday night. Picture Supplied

The autopsy revealed he had Covid-19.

“He also had an enlarged heart and also a very low lung capacity,” Rod said.

“Tye passed peacefully in his sleep after he went to bed at 10.30pm.

“His son went to wake him up at 7.30 the next day to take him to school but was unable to wake him.”

“He was 43-years-of-age, but he led an extensive life – he had done everything 10 men would normally do.

Tye Curtain. Picture supplied

“He did a lot of fishing, a lot of hunting, a lot of football and boxing, and remained a supporter of boxing.”

Rod described Tye as a maverick.

“He was a larrikin but he had a lot of friends,” he said.

“When we had the funeral we had to have it at the Derwent Entertainment Centre because it was too big for Millington’s [funeral services] _ we had 2500 people there.

“The books that you sign when you arrive, there were five of those books filled up with signatures.

“Afterward we went to the Granada [Tavern} – it’s the only time I’ve been to the Granada where you’ve had to line up to get a beer.

“It was a great send-off.”

In the semi-main event, the speedy Connor Flakemore, of GBC, will go up against Sam Malone, of Brighton Boxing Club, in a contest tipped to be a highlight of the night.