BOXING.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 218, 13 September 1924, Page 21

BOXING.

RINGSIDE GOSSIP. ! After the Auckland footballers had I received such a severe drubbing at the hands oi Hawke's Bay at Xapier, Clarrie i Blackburn appeared in the boxing ring the same evening with blue and white colours gaily fluttering from his waist. Ihis temerity raised some good-natured chaff from the audience, but when Blackburn won one of his Beconds proudly waved the colours from the ring. Indicative of the cloud which hung over Auck- , land's mana was the obvious disinclina- j tion of one supporter of Blackburn to be associated with the city. Xot far from him was a patron who occasionally; encouraged the Frankton man by calling ; ''Go on, Auckland." The other sup-! porter indignantly retorted. "Where is i Auckland? This is a Waikato man." This outburst of local patriotism was! not altogether unjustified. There must j be some limit to what constitutes a man an Aucklander. I By no stretch of imagination can it be j said that the recent heavy-weight con- j tests staged by the Xorthern Boxing Association have been big successes. On , the other hand, they have been some-: what disappointing, although quite sen- j sational enough. On Monday evening the contest between Leahy and Modrich | went into the fourth round, the previous I one between Modrich and Sullivan did j not see the end of even one round, and ' the chances are that, bearing these scraps in mind, the X.B.A. will look around for suitable lightweights when desiring to stage the nest carnival. Leahy is a champion axeman from Australia, and is also claimed to be rather | good as a boxer, but those who saw him . against Modrieh on Monday evening I would incline to tho belief that Leahy is best at woodchopping. He beat Modrich, scoring a knockout in the > fourth round, but when « Modrich j crumpled up the crowd was astounded j because the end came so suddenly, the '• pair, being in, a clinch in the ring, and i there was nothing in the form of sledge- | hammer blows being delivered. Appar- j ently the jabs to the body delivered by i Leahy carried more sting ' than was thought, but Modrich was in the best position to tell, as he was the receiver. The contest was distinctly disappointing j and not worth nearly the money contained in the purse, said to be £150. Tom Gibbons continually rolls a small rubber ball in either hand. He explains that it is to keep his hands flexible by means of the continuous kneading and gripping. Xow we know why Americans chew gum. It keeps the jaws in good nick for resisting a "kayo"!