BOXING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 192, 27 May 1938, Page 2

BOXING.

WELTER-WEIGHT CONTEST. ADAMS DEFEATS DOWNS. ' i There was a large attendance at the Radiant Hall last evening, when the Ashburton Boxing Association staged a welter-weight contest between Les Adams, of' Ashburton, and Barney Downs, of Wellington. It was a splendid fight, although not spectacular from the patrons’ point of view. Adams was always superior and only in one round—the seventh, did Downs appear to be aggressor. The local boxer is improving with every fight, and on last night’s showing will be very hard to beat in his class. ‘A pleasing feature of the fight was the sporting way in which Downs and his trainer (the veteran Billy Crawford) took the defeat, obvious though it was. One section of the ringside seats was practically filled with visitors from Rakaia, while Timaru was well represented in the hall.

The amateur bouts were of the highest order, and were well received. A popular victory was that of Bob Tonks, Ashburton, over K. Wright, Timaru. Tonks has not had the best of luck in the ring and has suffered some severe defeats. However, undaunted, he fought gamely last night and won against an opponent who was very much In's superior when they last met. J. Wesley, Ashburton, lost to Williams, of Christchurch, but received an ovation when he loft the ring. He lias still much to learn about boxing, but his turn will come. Several country and city visitors last night expressed appreciation "of the music provided by tj*e Association before the tournament and during intervals. They were also high in their praise for the splendid supper provided visiting contestants and officials. The judges of the professional contest were Messrs Fritz Holland and J. B. Cullen, while' Messrs F. Crum and D. Smith acted in a like capacity for the amateur. Mr T. Fairhall refereed the big fight, and Mr H. D. Johnston the amateurs. The Preliminaries. Paper-weights—G. Aldridge (Ashburton), 6.2, defeated J. McDonnell 6.4. This was the usual, clean, midget contest, in which both youngsters were evenly matched, except that McDonnell was on the defensive throughout, leaving the leading to his opponent. Flight-weights—C. Sharp (Christchurch) 8.0, defeated P. Connolly (Ashbutton) 8.0. Although the official weights were each Bst, Sharp seemed to be much the heavier of the two. Connolly led and landed several to the head early in the first round, but Sharp smartly countered with his left. In the second, the Christchurch boy led the offensive and slowed Connolly up, frequently forcing him to the ropes. The third round saw the balance sway to the visitor, and Connolly stopped several fierce onslaughts. It was a great fight.

• Light-heavy-weight—T. Lister (Ashburton) 11.10, defeated F. Hill, (Ashburton) 11.12. Hill was scheduled to fight Fritz Holland, jun., but through some mistake it was erroneously thought that Holland was not present, Lister taking his place. It was an excellent bout to watch and Hill has a. splendid style. Lister is the born boxer and the issue was never in doubt, although the crowd was enthusiastic, both boys having great popularity among boxing fans. It was a foregone conclusion for Lister, whose fistic science was pretty to watch.

Welter-weight—L. _ Williams (Christchurch) 11.9, defeated J. Wesley (Ashburton) 11.3. Williams has a style entirely his own, with an extraordinary windmill action of his arms. Wesley tried to make every post a winning post and was hard at it from the first gong. Weight and superior ringcraft told their tale, however, and although the third round was a “free-for-all” the decision was the only possible one. • 11. Tonics (Ashburton) 10.6, defeated K. Wright (Timaru), 10.7. Wright appeared to he a trifle overconfident and under-estimated his opponent’s worth until it was too late. Tonks fought a totally different fight to his usual effort, and instead of relying on defence, went right in after his man. The decision was very well received. The Big Bout. Les Adams entered the ring weighing 10.4, while Barney Downs turned the scale at 10.6. Harry Freeman was in the formers’ corner and Billy Crawford sponsored the Wellington!an. Round One —Adams opened but they were soon in clutches. Slow fighting

followed the break-nway, both men seeking the others measure. Adams commenced serious business with a straight left that landed with force, to he returned with a. heavy rain of body blows by Downs. It was an indecisive round, with neither fighter properly wanned up. Round Two—Downs made good, use of a left swing, and Adams came in with blows to the head which found their mark, but seemed to lack strength T In frequent in-fighting, Adams appeared to have the upper hand juul his strong left jab seldom failed to connect. He obviously had Downs puzzled thus early in the business.

Round Three- —Adams gave, three straight lefts to: the' jaw at the opening, while a death-dealing upper cut by Downs missed by a. fraction of an inch. Adams was feinting to good effect, but neither were showing much inclination to lead. Adams was obviously and wisely keeping in as dose to his opponent as possible to avoid the dangerous right and left swing at which Downs is a past-master. It was now obvious that Adams would he unlucky to lose.

Round Four. —Adams again drew first blood with a straight left to the jaw, but Downs came in with a beautiful right swing. With right and loft crosses to the jaw Downs chased Adams, who came with his characteristic left lead.

Round Five—Things began to liven up and both inflicted swift punishment, Downs landing several right crosses to the) head, but Adams had his opponent held. Round Six —Both appeared to be after a K. 0., but there was repeated in-fighting, Downs taking every possible opportunity that came his way. Adams excelled on the defensive, however, and it .was still his fight by a wide margin. Round Seven —This was Downs’ round;. With three right crosses to the jaw he had Adams thinking hard, but the latter was quickly on his mettle and unruffled. Downs fought a great round, and his stocks rose rapidly, hut on his next showing, very temporarily. Round Eight.—Downs came in with his right swing, but repeatedly failed to land. Adams, leading his straight left, in a persistent manner, soon had the upper hand again and Downs appeared to lose heart. When they retired at the gong, Adams was obviously wearing the better of the two. ' Round Nine—Downs led the struggle only to be forced to the ropes by his opponent, who was now fighting with a will 'and seldom missing his objective. Downs blows to the body were numerous, but appeared to cause his opponent. title concern. Without aK. 0., it was now apparent that the fight was Adams’ and interest waned. Round Ten —Adams started like a traction engine and he seemed to know that victory was his. On occasions he left himeslf open to attack, but fortunately Downs’ terrific swings failed in their mision. It was one of the fastest rounds of the battle, and again Adams emerged with colours flying.

Round Eleven. — With the end in sight both tried to catch the judges’ eyes and their opponents at the same time. Adams delivered a series of telling lefts to the head and Downs was staking all on a knock-out. He missed by narrow margins and Adams was still keeping close in. A decisive round for Adams. Round Twelve —-Fittingly this round was the liveliest of the lot, and enagain rose. D'owns fought wildly, his swings leaving openings which Adams was not slow to take •advantage of. Watching his chance for a decisive blow, Downs took heavy punishment and as soon as the final gong sounded the public had already correctly assessed thq winner.

HAMILTON BEATS. RAYNER.

BOUT ENDS IN SECOND ROUND,

WELLINGTON, May 26. Billy Hamilton, the light-weight professional boxing champion of Victoria, made an auspicious first appearance in the New Zealand ring to-night, when he disposed) of Clarrie Rayner (Marlborough) early in the second round of a 15-rounds contest at the \Y ellington Town Hall. Hamilton had. the advantage in height, reach, and weight, scaling 9st 81b to llayner’s 9st 51b. Hamilton is fast, and he early proved that lie was a good two-handed puncher. He at . once rushed “Rayner into a corner and dealt out heavy punishment, while Rayner did his best to smother up. Ordered to break, Hamilton at once attacked in purposeful fashion, showing nimble footwork. The Victorian had Rayner through the ropes in quick time. A snappy left hook put Rayner down for a count of eight. No sooner had the second round opened than it was seen that Rayaier was outclassed. Hamilton scored as he liked, and sent Rayner to the canvas with a heavy right cross. On rising at the count of nine, Rayner again went down under a fusilade of blows, and this time stayed down, claiming lie had been hit low. There was some delay in securing a doctor, and meantime a shower of programmes and coin were thrown into the ring. Eventually Mr G. Broad announced that Rayner had. been medically examined, and the doctor had found no traces of a foul. The contest was awarded to Hamilton.