Almost Booed Out of the Ring.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 302, 21 December 1937, Page 21

Almost Booed Out of the Ring.

DRAB FIGHT.

SPECTATORS INCENSED STRICKLAND V. DELANEY. NEW ZEALANDER QUALIFIES TO MEET FARR. Maurice Strickland, gf New Zealand, d.'HMtod A 1 Delaney, of Canada, after ten rounds ol lustreless boxing at Harringay Arena. Strickland lias now qualified to meet. 1 oniniy Farr for the British Empire hea\y-weight championship, but he will have to discard his somnolent mood if he r'' r better of the Welshman. I he pair wore almost booed out of the rmji by the incensed spectators, states an l.nuhsh critic of the contest, which took place in London on November 19. The spectators did not know that Strickland was no ill with influenza that he should not have been in the ring at all. He was violently ill before the tight and when it ended lie was rushed straight home to bed with a high temperature. Dolaney threatened to do many smart things, but he generally failed in his objective. The Canadian was devoid of variety, and his work was not so convincing as Strickland s. They fought hard and fairly enough, Tint certainly did not box up to their reputation. There was too much dilly-dallying and not enough solid power behind their punches. Strickland did not really wake tip until the final round. Then he made sure of Mr. C. B. Thomas' decision when he carried the fight to Delaney in resolute style. Stoic-like Battle. Delaney, at the start, was full of dynamic force, shooting home lefand rights with quickfire precision. Strickland waited to drive home a powerful right, but Dolaney got in first with a right cross that sent the New Zealander h.icking on to the ropes. The second round saw Dolaney again taking the initiative. He kept punching away with left hooks that baffled Strickland for a while. The latter seemed to be on the plow-thinking side, but his occasional blows carried the more weight behind them. Delaney was crafty and clever, ducking and diving out of danger, and the only time that Strickland was able to nail his rival was when they fought at short range. Delaney was generally on the target, one left hook of his landing right in the pit of Strickland's stomach. Still the latter seemed to be undisturbed, fighting a stoic-like battle. It was evident that flbe quick-witted Dolaney knew- too many moves for Strickland, who was too slow to stop Delaney from scoring with either glove. Once when Delaney was turning his head on one side, Strickland got home a wicked punch on his opponent's jaw. Strickland kept trying to bring his right into useful operation, but he was always a few seconds too late, Delaney invariably jumping backwards out of harm's way. It was not until the fourth round that Strickland was able to deliver a really damaging blow. Then he caught Delaney a couple on the side of the head. The Canadian was dancing around like a chorus girl, and Strickland landed with some nicely-timed deliveries on head and body, one of them being a particularly effective upper cut. Right to the Chin. Delaney's defence was shaky in this round for a while, until suddenly he caught Strickland with a magnificent right on the chin, which shook the New ZfetlSftdePffflr a tfsnple of second*.- Round five saw Delaney taking matters casually for a few seconds and suddenly he opened out, fiercely ripping over a succession of punches that again shook the New Zealander. Strickland was fighting determinedly, but as before was too slow. Delaney had a snappy action and showed ▼ersatility in everything he did. Strickland's main idea was to catch Delaney with one big punch, but he seldom was given the opportunity. The New Zealander was more of a plodder, and fought as though he was out to fight 15 rounds instead of 10. i During the next round Strickland woke up a bit and belted away to the body with some fine blows, his left hand also being nicely timed when he had Delaney backing away, but only for a moment as the Canadian started shooting over right hooks. j , More Action Ordered.

The referee told them to put more action into their work at the beginning of the seventh round. His admonitions did not bring about a great change, as tney still kept on punching away in a humdrum manner. Delaney began pushing rather than punching from the shoulder. Strickland was no better, and there '"C l "® only spasms in which either connected •vwth a solid blow. . " ' \\e a go," shouted a wag from tne gallery. Dclaney must have heard, because fie started smashing away at at top speed. He caught him with -a. left on the jaw. followed up with a right and then punched Strickland clean on the nose. Strickland was stung into action and tried his utmost to brmg overleft and riirht. He succeeded once or twice, but neither of them seemed to have the punch to put the other on the »nv« The ninth round was a repetition of the previous rounds. Ido not know- what was the matter with Strickland, but he seemed to have lost a lot of his pep. He was lethargic and unenterprising. There was a loud cheer from the crowd when the last round was announced—it was a cheer of relief. Strickland seemed galvanised into life at last with half a dozen punches and then Delanev took a hand and evened up the score, but there was no suggestion of knock down, much less a knock out. The final minute was the most exciting of the whole ficht, both hitting away toe to toe for all they were worth. It was a pity that it did not start sooner.

With Broken Arms. Phil Zwick, the American featherweight. who was surprisingly beaten by »hich >v«« . preliminary rounds, although in great pain. In the dressing room alter the faght Zwick almost collapsed.