BOXING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 135, 14 July 1914, Page 3

BOXING.

CANTERBURY CHAMPIONSHIPS. POOR REFEREEINQ. There was a very fair attendance at the. Theatre Royal last evening, when the Christchurch 'Sports Club held the ! first portion of its Canterbury amateur • boxing championships' tournament. Although the general standard of boxing was not high, the crowd appeared to get a good deal of enjoyment out of the proceedings. Unfortunately, the' evening was marred by -bad refereeing. Mr T. E. Robson, who acted as referee, allowed one competitor to win his bout on a so-called knock-out obtained by a throw. Another boxer was allowed to use the heel of one of his gloves continually without being warned, and the time-keeper was permitted to put the count on men who were leaning oil the ropes with both feet on the floor. Altogether Mr Robson's -handling of the bouts was decidedly poor. " Competitors in only three classesbantam, light, arid welter-weights—ap-peared last uiglit. The feather-weight • divisioii—4n which there are only tWoentrants—will be decided to-night,» as well as the middle-weight championship and, the other; finals. In the heavyweight class W.-. Robertson (Christchurch) has a w&lk -over, he being the - only entrant. - i It would be.well if the club 's,officials! would see that the rules regarding costumes anil hand-bandages are enforced this evening.' Details of last night's bouts are: ap.r pended:— ' BANTAM-WEIGHTS. W. M'Minn' (Coalgate) €st 021b v. V. Thomas (Oliristcliurcli) Bst 21b. W. M'Minn managed to get a. win over V. Thomas, although. he should Have been disqualified. These lads started at a pretty fair pace, but they swung rather wildly and" missed tcftKoften. . M'Minn was shifty, and he landed a few heavy blows and got away again without a return, but. three or four times Thomas met him with a fair left as he came in. M'Minn was not boxing his -man properly; he "was using his feet too much, getting too far away before coming in, and then swinging wildly, only to as a rule. In the second round M'Minn tired a good deal, but Thomas did not know enough to bustle him and make his lack of condition tell more and make him easier to beat. Once or twice in the third round M'Minn tried the proper tactics of boxing his man, but only to go back to his wild way of fighting. About halfway through the round M'Minn swung his right to the back of Thomas's head and then, coming in to a clinch — or, rather, a wrestle —threw Thomas so that the latter fell on his face with a thud. Instead of disqualifying M'Minn for throwing his opponent, the referee allowed Thomas to be counted out. Then he consulted the judges, after which he announced that M'Minn was the winner. G. Gunn (Timaru) 7st ll|lb v. G. Munt (Christchurch) Bst 21b. G. Gunn beat G. Munt on points, in three rounds of neat boxing. Although a lad of only 16 years, Gunn boxed his older, taller and heavier opponent well and coolly, and had little difficulty in annexing the balance of points. He used his left nicely, except -that he was rather too fond of leading with it from) where he stood, instead of coming in as he hit. His work was much more varied than Hunt's, and his defence was much sounder. Munt was allowed to use the heel of his left glove time after time with" impunity. LIGHT-WEIGHTS. N. Vernall (Christchurch) 9st 71b v. J. Dempsey (Christchurch) 9st 91b. N. Vernall beat J. Dempsey—Dempsey was formerly known in the ring as Notman—on points. The first round was poor, both lads missing too frequently, especially Dempsey, who swung wildly. Vernall was not boxing up to his previous form. The second round was a little better, Vernall, however, leading well on points. When Dempsey did try attacking lie was unable to penetrate his opponent's smother or guard. Now and again Vernall would back-move and draw Dempsey into swinging wildly and missing. Most of the work, however, was done head to head, with Vernall forcing the fighting. The third round ! was. much the same as the second, Vernall finishing with a good margin of ! points. E. Morris (Christchurch), 9st 9Jib v. : C. W. Henderson (Kirwee), 9st 111b. The referee stopped the bout between • E. Morris and C. W. Henderson at the < end of the first round, and awarded it to Morris, it being easily apparent that Henderson had no possible chance ; of winning. Henderson was plucky, but : had very little conception of the art of boxing, and he was far too gentle in his <

methods. He -danced, round and poked out his left haiid occasionally, but showed no idea whatever of blocking, or even of putting any speed and weight into his attempts at • punches.

WELTER-WEIGHTS. j B. Toner (Christchurch), lOst 7flb v. C. ■ Grey (Christchurch), lOst s|lb. j Oue of the ;funniest bouts ever seen j in a New Zealand ring was that between B. Toner and Charles Grey, . but a referee . who . ..was overzealous in this case., cut it short tool soon. What both men knew about j boxing would not occupy a couple of lines of large print. Their antics were " ' grotesque, especially when Toner wrestled Grey to the floor and then . tripped over him and fell. Toner was swinging in any old way, with Grey usually a couple of feet out of reach. Now and again Grey tapped him; The | : datter had a good chance of winning if ).; Toner flid. not drop his wild swinging!, methods. . But in the second round, j Grey, in his own corner, received a I light smack from Toner, who then j stepped back. Grey hesitated -for a • fraction of a second, then dropped, to i. one knee, pulled out some false teeth, . which lie slid along the canvas to his t second, and <.then-- rose to resume the . bout,, only to. be disqualified, ap- j, parently for going down without being j; knocked down.- The crowd was vastly j displeased with the:referee. j:

J. Penrose (Christchurch), lOst 81b v. Roy Bradley; (Christchurch) lOst 81b. J. Penrose beat Roy Bradley iu;sule two rounds, but did not show particularly good form in doing so. For the greater part of the first round he took things .too easily/ and allowed Bradley to score some points by boxing him. Towards the end of the round Tenrose livened up, and began dealing, out some lusty punches, to which Bradley responded gallantly. Bradley w'Sn't" down f or. nine seconds, but on rising -he carried the fight to last year's lightweight champion. Bradley was pluclcy, but inexperienced, and the, towel went in when he was on tlie canvas for the second time in the second round.

J. Sloaii (Christchurch), lOst BJib y. W. Hayes (Christchurch), lOst 3ilb.

J. Sloan and W. Hayes slogged away at each otherf. Sloan has been showing very good form in his recent appearances, but last night lie did not box as coolly as usual, and his judgment and timing were often bad, while his hitting was not so straight as it should be. Hayes was full of fight," and he gave Sloan a merry time of it. But now and again Sloan steadied down a. bit and then he dealt out some hefty punches, Hayes taking the count of nine. At the end of the second round Hayes was rather groggy, and in the third round Sloan waded in until the referee stopped the bout and awarded it to Sloan. E. M'Minn, holder of the championship, drew the bye, and sparred it with J. Heatley. DRAW FOR THIS EVENING. The draw for this evening's contests is as. follows: Middle-weight—E. G. "Norman v. P. Manning; L. A. Cade a bye. Welter-weight—J. Sloan v. B. Tonor; E. M 'Minn v. J. Penrose. Light-weight—N. Yernall v, E. Morris. Feather-weight—C. Chisnail v. L. Grant. Bantam-weight—W. M'Minn v. G. Gunn.