NEW "MIDDLE" CHAMPION.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 248, 18 October 1924, Page 39 (Supplement)

NEW "MIDDLE" CHAMPION.

MCDONALD'S VICTORY. WHERE PARKER FAILED. A SPIRITED PRELIMINARY. (By Teleffraph. -Special to "Star.' , ) DUNEDIN, this day. There wore ringing cheers from a large crowd when it was announced that Lachie McDonald, who held the welterweight amateur championship of Australasia, had wrested from Eddie Tarker the title of professional middleweight of the Dominion, leaving Parker with the right to describe Mmelf as tho lightheavy champion only. Probably one of the most surprised men to find he was losing was Parker, and certainly one of the proudest to find McDonald a winner should be that bright boy himself. He was giving away BJlb for one thing; for another he was up against, in his comparative youth and inexperience, a man of wide experience, who has had victory after victory in his ascent up the bidder of reputation, and further he fought ten of the fifteen rounds with an "eye" open. Fortunately the cut was about an inch above the eyebrow; lower down it would probably have meant victory to Parker, for it was an ugly gash, the result of a collission of heads. It dropped a lot of blood that did not aid the fighter's vision. It was a strange fight, and not altogether a brilliant display, but occasional flashes and persistent uncertainty kept the spectators' interest alive. At the outset Parker did not appear to be taking his opponent seriously. There was a sang froid about his bearing that nettled some people. It gave the impression that he was conscious of superiority, and did not wish to do anything to end the fight before the spectators had had their moneys worth. In those early rounds he lost a considerable number of points which he found himself unable to make up after ho had settled down to serious business. Yet it must not be imagined that McDonald had a runaway victory, far from it. In the close work Parker was worth watching, and he showed himself able to use his left and right at long range effectively, seldom missing when he tried, but he lacked what, in the vernacular of the ring, is called "tiger." There was no sting in his punches, no determined aggressiveness, and it was those qualities, lacking in Parker, that won the fight for McDonald. The local boy was on the attack early, and he kept it up doggedly, taking a lot of punishment in the close work, which it might have been better to avoid more, and alwaye rattling in his strong lefts and his swinging rights when the opportunity offered, and there was "pep" about him. Spectacularly he fought much the better battle, and this may have led some peoj Ie to think that he won easier than he did. In ringcraft, Parker could teach him a good deal, and he could cultivate his footwork and other forms of elusiveness with advantage. He may take it that hi? youthful aggressiveness carried him through, towards the close, Parker did not have a great deal of energy left, and close to the gong in the last round a vicious right uppercut had him "hanging-on." The fight was for a £150 purse as well as the championship. As a preliminary, Hector Leckie and Bobbie Campbell met in a ten-round lightweight contest for a purse of £29, each tipping the scale at 9.5. This was even a better fight than the big event. The men fought spiritedly, but as the rounds proceeded it was evident that Campbell was not so fit as the other, and considering, that he had only eight days' notice of the engagement, this is not to be wondered at. Leckie, true to his reputation, went into the fight as if he meant to win, not letting up for a moment, and Campbell's strongest punches were avoided by the shorter man, who, nevertheless, had to take a lot of punishment.