NORTHERN BOXING ASSOCIATION'S CARNIVAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 174, 23 July 1907, Page 3

NORTHERN BOXING ASSOCIATION'S CARNIVAL.

Tie preliminary heats in connection, ■with, the provincial championships promoted Dy the Northern -Boxing Association -were brought off in the Boyal Albert Hall last evening, before a large audience. The' pro-, gramme was a most interesting one, and in. all sefen i contests were provided. -Two -m, the bantam, one in the feather; weight, one in the lightweight, one in fhe mldaJeweight, and two in the heavyweight divi■sions. • Mr Brown officiated "as referee, ana Messrs Hamilton and, De Lisle ; as judges, this method of deciding the competitions giving the utmost satisfaction. Messrs F. Burns and J. Ford were timekeepers. The conduct of the evening's sport was admii" ably carried out by ' the large "committee, neaded by the manager, Mr J. Trudgeon, to-whom the success attained is in a large measure due. BANTAM WEIGHTS. Proceedings opened with a heat of the bantam division, the contestants being vv. Butland, Bst 2Jlbs, and J. Ward, last season's champion; Sst 41b. Butland has an enprmoraly long reach for a bantam weight, and in the first two rounds had much the. best of the exchanges. Ward .seemingly being unable to get to close quarters. In the third round Ward showed to ; much better advantage, but he was unable to wipe off Butlarid's lead, and the latter secured the verdict ■ ■ ' ■ The next pair were also In the bantam -.class, Gibson, Sst 21bs, and Montague, Ss£ lib, the pair being -r»ell matched as regards height, etc. Gibson forced the pace from the gong, bnt appeared to be only able touse his left, and Montague easily kept him off, showing a considerable knowledge of ring craft, and the first two rounds ended in his favour. Gibson evened up matters a bit In the final round, but was unable to get on terms, and the verdict, Montague wins, was a' good aaa. FEATHEK-WEIGHTS. ' Tfie' contesting pair In this class were Hosan, Sst 131b, and Bartley, Sst Sib. Hogan, who was considerably the younger of the two, ■ made matters very lively from the Jump, and almost had his opponent out after a minute and a halfe fighting, when the towel was thrown in from Bartley's corner. LIGHT-WEIGHTS. Dean, 9st 101b, and Webb, 9st 131b, were the pair drawn in the lightweight division, aDd an interesting bout it proved. Dean sailed in from the start, Webb apparently having no knowledge of ring work, but he proved himself to be the gamest of the game, and he took enough punishment to satisfy half a dozen ordinary men. Dean did not, however, have matters all his own way., and Webb stood and mixed it with him throughout, but Dean was mnch the cleverer, and secured the verdict. MXDDLE-WKIGHTS. McCoy, list OJlb, and W. MUlen, 10st 121bs, stripped in the middle-weight class. Millen had much the best of the first round, and after 55s of the second round had been fought, McCoy went down, striking his head on the floor with such force that he was unable to continue. HEAVY-WEIGHTS. This division provided two excellent bouts, that between McNeil and Lewis especially being a good display. Hunter, 13.3, and E. Thornton, 12.7, were the first pair. Hunter showed to most advantage in the first two rounds, bnt Thornton, fighting with great determination in the final, wiped off the deficit, and secured the verdict by a narrow margin McNeil, 12st, and Lewis, lOst 101b, were the next pair, and they put up a rattling fight. McNeil, who was much the heavier, made the pace from the start, but Lewis kept him going, principally by aid of a straight left, by which he managed to keep McNeil off. The first three rounds were very even, and the judges were unable to separate the pair at the finish, and another round was ordered. Lewis' superior condition telling, he had the best of matters and he got the verdict by a very narrow margin.

The finals will be contested in the same nail on Monday evening nest.