BOXING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 132, 5 June 1923, Page 7

BOXING.

, KEENEY BEATS WHITAKER. DECISION IN" LAST ROUND. Full in all parts was the condition of the [ Town Hall last night when the Northern I Boring Association opened its 192:;-24 season with a programme of amateur bouts, and a professional heavyweight contest, in pion (Gisbome) and Cyril Whitaker (New j Plymouth) were the principals. The big i fight was anything but spectacular, both men slogging away in monotonous style for ! fourteen rounds. WnttakPr was very tired lin the fifteenth, but held gamely to ins I Ke'feree Frank Burns stopped the bout half way through this, the last round, declaring I Hceney the winner. A purse of £150 was involved. A CONTEST OF CLINCHES. Like many a heavyweight contest before • it. the fight was a series of long clinches, : with the referee constantly ordering '. "Break, lads !" This, of course, robs a , contest of much of its interest. Both men ' stripped very fit. but at n glance it was i obvious that Hceney was the more power- ! fully built m.-vi. As they warmed to their i irnr'ic it w.ns annii-"il(. too. "that Whitaker. I nlihoogh having the advantage ill height ! and reach, was handicapped by a certain I natural nervousness, his opponent's imper-t-rhabl" style contrasting sharply with the I New Plymouth mans changing facial I expression. Neither submitted to the ■ indignity of the scales, but the Gisbornite I entered the ring at about 14 stone, being i approximately 111!) heavier than Whitaker. At the outset there v.ns a long clinch, and .- ••■> ■• ~ 0 -l 'VMf-v-r drove in two lefts. one on the enr and the other lo the body. , Little elj.e of interest occurred till round two where then- were more clinches, with Whitaker slighily more aggressive. There v.'pri* Severn I resounding t Ji\vfl{*ks. "which I In- crowd took to he solid blows, hut from ! • '' '• ~— -■ -,-., ./i | o un open glove I smacks, and quit" harmless. Ileeney mnln- | fi'neil n coM front, and did not exert him-j ! more frcmjpntly 'n the clinches, his ioneor ! re-ch standing him In good stead in the j tight work. The first bright flash was nected with « resouudiirr wallop on his ! Qh(Jnni**n. Whit;ik**r tly 1 felt this blow, hut leant i'l a minute after. ! !>ml with Pve left-right-Vft blows bore ; Heenev to the ropes. Only for a second 1 was the Oishornc iriiint nt a loni. and then ; with remarkable agility for a his man was i into Whitak.-r in thn mid.lie of t!ie ring. ■riv-'ig him im respite in the course of a ' rwift c\ch«Mge fo blows fiat ended suddenly !-s the New Plymouth man crashed (n .>,,, from a so idly p'-ntel st-iisht r'"-bt. WhitakT remained on th» honrrts till , "four." nijfl th«n Mssnmed th n rPsftne posi--1 Hon on the kn-e HP -nine." It t.«*!: h'ni all ! his time to nans on for the rcmunde-- of this round, in which Ileeney inflicted severe jmnUhmenf. with mil left seines and stingin? uppercufs to th" face. Whitaker's n heavy ric-bt to the' body jiist before the ron<r. and Whitaker looked sick on sitting down. A GOOD RECOVERY. Bi<t not for long was the gro-sy look on his mobile face, for early in the fourth i Whitaker made a vicious lunge with his j quick left, and ITeeney was pleased lo skip ] before the men stood up toe to toe .for a few seconds in a heated exchange, which terminated with a big punch from Heeney's left. They were in another clinch at the gong. The fifth looked promising at the beginning, but it ended in a clinch. Enrly in this round. Whitaker found Heeney - s face with a lightning straight left, that brought applause. Ileeney was not slow to get his own back per medium of a heavily nlanted ! right cross to the body, and Whitnker I grunted. Whitaker was in again with I three short-arm jabs to the body, hut before I the. clißch finished Whitaker's head was I jerked back from a sudden short-arm uppercnt. The best round so far.

BODY BLOWS ALL THE TIME. In a raucous sort of way, the New Plymouth man was frequently advised to "stand off In the midst of a quick oxchan-e of. Mows following a clinch, Whitaker got it rather badly irom a right „„,. *„ the face Ileeney was still ircsh Z the seventhf with Whitaker slogging lawav doggedly. The New Plymouth man came up with his right eye closed in the eighth, but he was still very much on the alert when Heenev tried to drive him to the rones fo" a rMit finisher. Whitaker I slipped out of aiTusly position, and tapped Heeney in the face twice with his left ore another clinch ;^ 1 Whitaker sot in a good right Clrne to I the ribs. lleenoy opened the pmtfl with a swift uppereut that was wide, but a secohd cot home on the point. There were more clinches with a constant slog-Islog-elog of body blows, tiring to receive jand to watch. But the crowd sat up and I took notice when Whitaker got up like a new man in the tenth, and got Ileeney |on the nose with a nicely timed, left, i Breaking from a clinch Whitaker slapped i Heenev on the jaw, but there was little I sting "in the blows, and Hceney, grinning to show his big teeth, was still unmarked. There was applause at the linish of round 'eleven, in which both men mixed it fairly freely. TOWARDS THE END. The Gishorneite's eye was also closed nt the commencement of the twelfth. His reprisal took the form of a heavy straight right to the face, which drew the claret. This round was lively, but it only served to tire the Taranaki man. When tin; "Devil's Number" went up there was a fast opening, in which Ileeney lashed out rather wildly, and missed, the other man's nervous temperament making him elusive. But Whitaker received a heavy right on the jaw that made him reel and stand off till towards the end, when, after eluding a vicious right uppereut rather cleverly, he stOßped that same right in the middle of the ring a second later. The rubber "bite" for his teeth was sent spinning out of his mouth from this blow, which came straight from tlic shoulder. AFTER A HARD FIGHT. give Heeney something of a jar with his left in the fourteenth, but they both hit out wildly several times, and were obviously tired after nil the slogging Ileeney bore into Whitnker in a cool enough way towards the finish, and he sought refuge in clinches. The last-named came up looking seedy in the fifteenth, but ho jumped at Heeney and sent him into the corner. It availed nothing, for Heeney came back with a cruel right in the right eye. Whitaker reeled, and was on th eropes, trying to cover up. Ileeney pranced back and Whitaker stumbled :i bit just as Keferec Burns intervened to hold up Tom Heeney s hand. Ileeney's other arm went round Whitaker to stop him from falling. The decision was popular, and both meu were cheered. Whitaker was carried out of the ring, having collapsed on reaching his seat. PRELIMINARY BOUTS. Bantam-weights.—W. Elliott, 7.11, beat J. Clarkson, T. 12. Feather-weights.—A. Brown, S.G, beat W. Evans, S.G. C. Purdy, 9.0, beat .T. Broadfoot. 9.G. L. Hall, 0.3, beat 11. Collins, 5.13. The Purdy-Broadfoot bout was disappointing. The Waihi champion was outclassed in all departments, Purdy being well up to his old form, and improved in many respects. He gave Broadfoot a boxing lesson, - pure and simple, but as usual received scant applause for a. masterly exhibition..