BOXING.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 21

BOXING.

RINGSIDE GOSSIP. It is confidently expected that the ]t. ■!.- -- i. r.al i-Liitt-.-t of l.'i rounds, be- ' lui-.ii iharlie Purdy, late Olympic repre--ev.t.it.w and A,i-t rala-;an teat her- ' w< r.L-ht champion, and li.-j Trowern. the ■ I,;.! :h.:-.in_- A\:. kl.ind li-l.t -weial.t. who !._•:,;•« t -:_-!it i':.iinij...rn!-'!::|. i f N'.w Z,-a- : '~:. i. v..;; ,:r.i>a a mil :...'.>e on Monday . i. j.:. 1 , . ■: h l».y. aiv in great form, t :::.■ weather n'lia :..•!:> !..i\;!._- made it " i., -..;.;.■ !..r :i.im i.i Train ': ira and con- i ?i-tcN-';y. Tii.-y i-hniiM t r.n ide Am-.;- i i.tr-....-r- with a.. fa-; and a l»>ut > Intain i; i? tli.it the enticement "ill I milt:ii i feeling, .-.in-.' there ha.* l«'tii so ' ri-ii-ir.iJim ti.e re>pi-cti\e m.nt- ot the ! !».•. Hu-.v.-x.-r. it i- writer's upmum i de.;~i.<n. l.is [.rof.'?>ii.iial <aro.-r will not • r .iiV-tlui." that ill.- 'maturity of local ' rii.irj-i.K- i>ntliii»iasts frankly ?tato tv In- 1 highly unlikely. Tin- uliuT twn con- ' ; t.-.-ts.' iViituriiiSj ill.- (v-.l • >|.'. artiiy and .ierry Uliiltiimi-. ami'tin- ! nvii wt-ll'-know n am'at.Mir.-.. .U.-Knigln. <>t * Hamilton, ami Wiilden, i>l I'«liiutsli>ii •= North, should prove mi .Testing. The ' tir.-i-meniioncd pair arc scheduled vi 5 light eight rounds, of throe minima, and ;l I hi' amateurs are exported to {ju a sixround journey. ; t Whenever lie meets with defeat, Paul r Demsky, the Kussian-Qucenslander, gets ' home-sick, and it i= usually just after a ° disappointment in the way of decisions l that he packs his bag?. Demsky has 1 gone back to Australia, following on his I defeat at the hands of Em Baxter. • Last year, when he left New Zealand, - after a not-too-successful stay, lie com- F plained bitterly that "things were too slow." but he left behind a number of pugilistic pals who found that associa- 1 lions were still offering purses. Before a leaving Wellington the other day, Paul - made it known that he was not going to ' let the grass grow under his feet, dur- 1 ing "the off season,'' as a Wellington - writer puts it. The experience of most < ]#op!e interested in New Zealand boxing, ' is that there are as many engagements ' offering during the summer mouths as ( in the winter. A glance at the news- i paper Hies of January and February | last shows that boxing contests were ' hold in several centres dunng than ] period. New Zealanders will always go ] to see a contest that promises to provide ' a thrill. It is all nonsense to talk ' about "off seasons."' T The Southland Boxing Association— t an obscure body to us in the north — ' staged the recent MacDonaid-Rowe contest as something in the nature of a , venture of faith. The association was ■ not born under a lucky star, and finan- ' cially it was not making the progress i expected of it, the Invercargill boxing • public being indisposed to patronise the ' entertainments offered. It was resolved that the "stay-at-homes" should have J just one more chance, and the associa- . tion arranged the MacDonald-Kowe clash. To the great joy of members and officials, a bumper and most lucra- ; live house was the result, and the ' association decided that, after all, the local boxing public did desire good enter- i tamment. Consequently, the associa- ' tion's resolve to stage bouts in a email hall, for the benefit of its honorary members only, will not now be curried ' into effect. The fight itself, says a critic, was not full of the thrills that 1 6ring the crowd shouting; to their feet, ' but it was a strenuously waged battle, ' notable for the amount of infighting and i clean Gaelics. uhen &. draw was do- ' clared. there was a demonstration, one < section of the crowd acclaiming Rowe i the winner and the other calling i ociferouslv for HaeDonald. j: I " I I I

W. H. PONSFORD. The young Victorian batsman who Mp-nalii-pd liis first appearance in Tost cricket by an inninr~ ••* 11(l •»"«»«■*• **»« Englishmen at Sydney last Saturday In the season H'22---2-2.1 lie made the world's record individual score in firstclass cricket with an innings of 4'2S against Tasmania The same season lie played in one interState match for Victoria. making Ins against South Australia. He topped the Victorian inter-State averages last year with an average of SS.lti. and to date he has an average of 105 for the twenty innings played in firstclass crk-ket. having been once not out.

i ■ As an actor Jack Dempsey. heavyweight champion boxer, is a 'riot. in his initial appearances on Broadway as a thespian William Harrison proved it thrice in one day to crowded houses. In his garb, and hi? lines considered, lie 1 showed a lot of nerve, after momentary frustration, if not actual bravery. 'When it was all over, dramatic critics and boxing experts agreed Jack was still the world's heavy-weight champion pugilist (says the ""San Francisco Chronicle"l. ; Jack Kearns, his manager. Marty Cutler, veteran heavy-weight. Jack Sharkey, feather-weight, and Marty Powers have parts in the champion's support. Kearns trips on first, resplendent in white flannels, followed by ' Dempsey, similarly arrayed. The former introduces his "meal ticket.' , and , they do a whirl at rapid-fire patter. : Champion Jack's reformed nose, his : curly locks, and his numerous reported engagements are "kidded." While Dempsey changes into ring attire Kearns does a plea for boxing that causes real tears to trickle down his lean cheeks. One is brought to a realisation of all that the death of boxing would mean to Dempsey's business agent. Audiences get action and some laughs out of the main boxing number, in which Cutler wears a baseball catcher's windpad. pillowy fifteen-ounce gloves extending almost up to his elbows, and doublebarrelled headgear. With this protection Cutler enables Dempsey to show the punches that laid out Willard. Carpenlier, and Firpo. Jack doesn't spill through the ropes as he did before stopping Firpo. nor miss Cutler as often as he did Tommy Gibbons. I