BOXING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 305, 8 October 1935, Page 2

BOXING.

ROBERTSON BEATS CANDY.

AUCKLAND, October 7,

A bright professional boxing test was staged when Watty Robertson, of Gisborne, and Mark Candy, of Wanganui, two welter-weights, met. Robertson was awarded the decision on points at the end of the scheduled 12 rounds.

RAYNER BEATS JARVIS.

WELLINGTON, October 7.. By the strength and persistence of his attack, Clarrie Rayner (Marlborough) beat Jack Jarvis .(Taranaki) on points in a professional light-weight boxing contest staged by the Wellington Boxing Association to-night. Rayner convincingly,avenged his defeat on a foul by Jarvis.

THE SPORT IN BRITAIN. SOME RECENT BOUTS. There is always to-morrow (writes B. Bennison), and Johnny McGrory, the Scottish feather-weight, need not despair because he was knocked out by K. 0. Morgan, the American southpaw, at Glasgow, in the seventh in a recent bout. He has still the opportunity of fighting Dave Crowley for the right to fight Tarleton for the British title. But his downfall before his own folk at Shawfield Park must have been a bitter disappointment to himself and the many thousands of his own folk who looked on. It was the first time

he had taken the count; but if he is not a, stranger to philosophy he will decide that it will'not be the last. There is no occasion for heartbreak, for it by no means follows that tlife young and engaging Scot will be,left any the worse. He is at an age when a bump against trouble is all in the game, and, rather than worsened by the American bomb-shell, he should profit by the reminder that he has jet to learn how best to overcome a fighter who stands right foot first, or, as .we say, the wrong way round. f Freddie Miller, it will be recalled, is, like Morgan, a southpaw, but though every one of our boxers of standing who saw him during his long stay here, professed it was easy to stop him, there was not one'—from Tarleton, our champion, down to .rankers who met him, had more*' than a vague .idea how to master his stance.

In Miller's second fight with Tarleton I had for my nearest neighbour Spike Robson, whose battle with Jim Driscoll in the Icung ago at the National ‘Sporting Club, is still among the liveliest memories of the old guard. “Mister,” ventured Robson, “a southpaw to any finished boxer should be easy. At least, I never met one I could not beat. As for Jim Driscoll, a righthanded fighter would not have put a glove on him. But, nowadays, our boys are all at sea when they are faced with anything unusual. Tarleton, nor any of them, will beat Miller unless they hit straight. That is the root of all our trouble—we have forgotten to punch straight, and, worse, footwork has come to be almost a lost art.”

Off the Straight Path

And Spike Robson and all those who preach his gospel are right. Let me instance Johnny Peters. Before he went to America he took the shortest route to the target: that is, lie punched straight. Round the corner ..punches, or a craze for hooking, had no place in his scheme of things. Altogether he was a delightful little boxer, and when he returned from the States I took it for granted that he would win our bantam title, then in the keeping of Dick Corbett. But, instead of the complete boxer, he had grafted on to, his ways many of the worst features of the American school, and that is the explanation why one of the cleverest lads developed by the London schools remains a commoner.

I do not suggest that McGrory has taken the wrong turning, but "it is obvious that he has a deal more < to learn than I expected was required of him. When I last saw him I credited him with being richer in resources than any boxer of bis poundage produced by Scotland for many years. 'Even now, 1 believe he lias it in him to beat Crowley in the board of control eliminator. If I am not mistaken, he is still being looked after by Alec Lambert, who, in his day., was of the top notchers, and whom I know to be one of the best coaches. Under the tuition he is receiving he should eradicate the weaknesses that cost him defeat by Morgan, who, I take it, will embrace his first opportunity to make acquaintance with the London ring, which is in sore need of newcomers. And if his engagements permit, perhaps McGrory would find it to his advantage to exploit the capital. ,