ON HALF A DAY'S NOTICE.

NZ Truth, 15 March 1924, Page 11

ON HALF A DAY'S NOTICE.

Murray Shows Up Well Against Bradley. Our Sydney contemporary "The Sportsman" rings the praises of Le.s Murray. At the .small Queensland town of Gympie some score and a few odd years ago, a doting Ma and Pa misnamed a bouncing baby boy — they called him Archibald! Had they been gifted with second sight and peeked m on the lad's future perhaps he would have got Battling Buzz- Saw or some other equally applicable cognomen! For Boxer Bradley, the now fullygrown baby aforementioned, is certainly the very antithesis of what ono conceives an Archibald to be. By reason of v decision he was awarded over Tom Uren m Melbourne a couple of weeks back, Bradley is now holding tho exhalted position of welterweight champion of Australia. Those who witnessed that bout aver that h»j earned that boxing distinction on account of his high-class wrestling! That, though, is a harsh conception of Bradley's work. He is rough, no doubt, but the one thought dominating his every move is to wipe the other fellow off the map; obliterate and annihilate him m the shortest, quickest and most effective manner possible He is perpetual action; and mightj ruthless at that. < A fast starter, a stayer, and a fastoi finisher. Bradley has won decisions because of his physique and enJurunce. He swarms all over capable boxers; stultifies their ability and nullifies their hitting powers; overwhelms thorn with his irresistible advance, and galleys them completely with his flailing, hugging and, apparently, tireless arms. Asa boxer he Is not a, beau ideal hi long shots; but he certainly does compel those who profess to be boxers ti show their cMlclency or be on tho wroni r.ide of mutters at the finish. This learaway gentleman wa: matched to meet a man of similar m cllnatlons: Louis Pices. Unfortunate ly for the fans and Stadiums' coffer* Louis collected a blow from the ogn "Gastric-Influenza." on the Saturda; morning of the bout. He wanted t< go on with things; come what may but when Dr. Mcl'hce. at Mr. Munro', request, examined the Belgian. hi quashed Louis's earnest entreaties i: no mincing fashion. So. with half a day to go, tho pro nmter of Sydney boxing was left with out a fixture for his weekly attraction The telephone, telegraph system. un<

other means of communication were rudely assaulted by him, and after several unsuccessful attempts, Les Murray was secured as a foe for Bradley. Pat Gleeson was wired, and offered the contest, but had, unfortunately, | changed his address, so his chance of breaking it for a main event still re- ' clines m a P.M.G. boy's bag. Lucky fellow, this Gleeson, we must say! And Murray, lightweight champion of New Zealand, after fighting i France on the previous Saturday, slopping up freely throughout the week, met Archie Bradley, welterweight champion of Australia. The takings amounted to £527, so all told, things weren't so bad after all. Archie entered the ring wearing his now well-known . cardigan jacket; which has, by the way, been manhandled by moths of late, and weighed 10.0%. Murray, short, chunky and strong-looking, but with a slightly noticeable excess at the waist-band, was 10 stone. Though but. three-quarters of a pound separated their weights, Bradley had every advantage as far as height and reach are concerned. He towered a full head over Les. There was a little delay just before the start, and Bradley champed and fumed m his corner like a fidgety thoroughbred. At last the bell sounded, sweet music it was to him, evidently, and over he shot a la Slip Carr at Murray. > Straight and true into a clinch he dived, and walloped his right hand at the kidneys. Joe Wallis threw a little weight about m separating them, and Murray's pleasing left hand played a neat tattoo on the Bradley physlogomy. Archie was peeved, and the crowd i hilarious with joy; they sympathised i deeply with the man who had accepted so stiff a proposition. as the Gympisite on short notice. They one and all i wanted to see, the game New Zealander i make a good showing. And he did, beyond any shadow of a doubt. "Sportsman," it will be remembered, was the only paper to predict anything even decent , from Murray after his contest against France. — We thank you, gentlemen! Les stood m to Bradley, jabbed his left at the face a couple of times,' then hooked it to the same region, and smiled as though he was actually enjoying the sensation they created. Archie raged at his misses, and was stung to further madness and whirling action every counter Murray placed on him. . He galloped into clinches and belabored the ribs, back and head m an unceasing torrent of lashing leather. In the open he showed improvement on previous form here, and timed his blows fairly well occasionally. The second was also a' spurt from bell to bell. v Bradley evidently considered that to bustle Murray would be to compel the New Zealander to use what little condition he had, and so leave him an easy mark. But what Murray did to Bradley while his meagre supply of stamina lasted — until the end of the third session—Archie would prefer written on mourning paper. The rushing Gympie man was backmoved, jabbed, countered and stung until he raged and fought wilder than ever. Murray's exhibition was absolutely high -class. He swayed the crowd completely his way, and the trifling breaches always committed by the enthusiastic Bradley, generally overlooked because of his pleasing aggression, were taken notice of, and Archie roundly hooted for them. This sent the Queenslander even wilder. He ripped at his ill-condi-tioned foe like an unrestrained animal. Now and again he went as far as to hold and hit, pulled Murray's head down with his left, and ripped the right home, and used the inside of the glove and was duly cautioned by Wallis. The fourth was a bad round for Les. The spurting trio of opening rounds had sapped his strength, and no longer could he move fast enough to evade . Bradley's lashing hail of fast punches. His movements became leaden, and his arms too tired and stiff to hold higher than his waist-line. At times he head-moved Archie's swirling swipes nicely; but on other occasions swayed his tired ■ nadget right into them. He was bleeding and done up; but bravely gave his best, and m the all too brief seconds that he rallied, landed solid, clean blows that have sel--1 dom been placed so frequently on Bradley. The fifth saw a plainly finished Murray. He could do naught but stand and endeavor to sway away from the persistent punishment Archie was firing at him. He saw the round through, but when the referee approached him ' during the spell subsequent to the * round, he nodded his inability to continue. ' Wallis at once pointed to Bradley as I the winner. So Bradley won, and Murray lost. But, strangely, the loser , achieved more good for himself \ than the winner — m the eyes of tHo ; fans; eyes that are all-counting to tKe man who depends on public popularity for a livelihood.