BOXING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1926, Page 25

BOXING.

RINGSIDE GOSSIP.

Two exceptioually well equipped boxers came together at the Town Hall on Monday evening, when Charlie Purdy, the Auckland lightweight, wrested a points decision from Artie Hay, of Hastings, who is holder of the welterweight championship of New Zealand. The title was not at stake, the pair meeting at catchweights for a little matter of a couple of hundred golden sovereigns, or rather their parclunent equivalent, Mr. Winston Churchill's last budget proposals not yet having brought Dominion currency back to pre-war gold circulation. For any young man to attempt to match speed and quickness against Purdy's extraordinary elusivencss in a boxing ring would, in ninetynine cases out of a hundred, be foredoomed to failure. But Hay nearly did it. While essentially an aggressive fighter, Hay is no "roughhouse stoush merchant." He keeps his hardest punch well under control, and if he misses, he recovers so quickly that he leaves little opening for a counterattack. It was this quality in his fighting that Purdy found so hard to circumvent on Monday night, and the fight taxed all the Aucklander's resource and versatility. If Purdy had been content to pursue his old tactics of playing a waiting game, he would have lost the fight. But he was shrewd enough to realise

that a more or less impregnable defence was not enough, and he varied his tactics to the extent of making several excellent bursts of aggression, which gave him a points margin sufficient to wipe out the loss that a defender must inevitably suffer in a running fight, and at the finish he still had a slight margin left in his favour. A section —and quite a large section at that—of the fans lifted their voices in the customary jeremiad of disapproval, but they seemed very good-humoured about it, as if these little demonstrations were all part of the evening's proceedings, which they undoubtedly have been in recent fights. Experienced ringsiders, however, in-the majority of cases, declared unhesitatingly for Mr. Johnston's decision. The fight held more attraction for the expert than for the casual riugsider, who prefers a Donnybrook to a boxing exhibition every time. The two principals, however, were too evenly matched to permit of any fireworks. Nevertheless there were several stirring rallies, notably when Hay forced his opponent back on to the ropes, as he did many times, and then started to lay into him with both hands in a most energetic fashion. Purdy treated these onslaughts in blase fashion in the early stages, but later on had to display a certain amount of alacrity and ingenuity in removing himself to a less torrid scene of action. Hay demonstrated conclusively that he is an attractive two-handed fighter. With just a bit more pace he would represent the ideal type, a combination of fighter and boxer. His left lead is good, and against a less speedy boy than Purdy he would have scored oftener, while his right hand was a perpetual danger signal to the Aucklandcr. At close quarters he uncoiled a first-class assortment of half arm hooks and jabs. To many onlookers Purdy seemed slower than usual, but the explanation lay in the fact that he was opposing a man who fought as a faster rate than appeared at first sight. A lightning dash from long range, followed by a quick, sharp, straight left, was Purdy's best scoring medium all night, and ho used left and right to good effect in the closer exchanges. His unusually clever defence was severely tested, but it stood the strain well, and, heavily out-weighted as he was, the local man came through the ordeal with flying colours. The preliminaries were a show in themselves. They were marked by a lavish expenditure of energy in most cases, and a mighty array of ferocious looking punches, most of which (fortunately) found a billet in thin air. To most of the competitors the advice is tendered to box with a little more judgment, that is, if they really intend to take the sport seriously. It is all very well providing a free entertainment for an only too appreciative crowd, but one or two of the wild and woolly -contests staged on Monday night were not boxing at all—or fighting, either, for that matter. The best display was that given by McGlone, a tall welter-weight, who looked a somewhat unpromising subject when he stripped off, being built more on the lines of a high jumper than a fighter. But he soon proved otherwise. He presently uncoiled a splendid left lead, and a commendable amount of carefully-controlled aggression. Of the others, Smith and Robertson boxed coolly and well. Buckley was very raw, but he.is the makings of a good man, having speed and a punch to recommend him.