POLICE STEP IN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 119, 23 May 1938, Page 16

POLICE STEP IN.

JACK STEPS OUT. KENNEDY DISQUALIFIED. ROUGH WRESTLING TACTICS. It was hound to happen sometime. Throughout the season the wrestling has been taking a more and more secondary place to the "rough stuff" of the ringhair and ear pulling, punching, kicking and the like—and through that period the pot of trouble has been simmering.' It boiled over at the Town Hall on Saturday night when Jack Kennedy, making his debut here against Lofty Blomfield, punched his way through several rounds and then, in the eighth round, laid Lofty to rest twice with blows, kicked him in the side, and then used his knee to the chin. The police, represented by Inspector D. Scott, stepped in; the bout was stopped, and Blomfield was awarded the victory. He had already taken a. fall in the first round. Maybe it was that fall that started things—it certainly presaged a fast and tunous match. Right from the gong Lofty took his 10.8 across the ring, caught Kennedy coming in, and levelled his lighter looking 10.4 to the mat successively with five over-proof jolts, and pressed him for a fall. Kennedy demonstrated, wrapped •his toga (i.e., his green dressing gown) about him, with an "1 come to bury Caesar, not to praise him" expression, appeared about to leave the ring—but decided against it. Aggressive Wrestling.

His decision was apparently to "take it out of that so-and-say" for from then on he made the pace. After being held in a iieadlock over the ropes and then a strangle Kennedy applied a lying splits, and then a short-arm scissors which caused Lofty no end of trouble. He finished that off with a punch to the stomach as Lofty used a foot against his chin, and squared up, boxing style, just on the gong. He took the short-arm scissors again in the second, and held it against frenzied efforts until Blomfield got clear with a forward toehold, adding jolts. That Kennedy cleared with a hammerlock, and when that was broken on the ropes, they joined with a fierce jolt exchange, Lofty being 6preadeagled with two forward winglocks. Lofty, answered with a tackle but missed and was underneath at the gong. It was about there that the wrestling ceased, and through the fourth jolting, punching and arm-banging over the ropes took its place. Lowered by a blow behind the ear Lofty was taken in a rocking chair splits, came up in an Indian deathlock, but was toppled in a barred toehold at the gong. So it was, slam and bash, in the fifth with flying tackles (by both), and Lofty head-tossed several times, but repaying when he went down under the feet of a charging Kennedy, hurdling him, and then getting in two tackles to start a fist parley at the close.

Give and Take. The same lovetalk had the crowd on its | feet in the sixth, with Lofty establishing the advantage with a hammerlock at the start, a donnybrook of flying elbows and nste marking the middle portion, and a I neat leg trip and toehold bv Kennedy I made by Blomfield into a Chinese knot, | and then a hammerlock on the Aucklander at the conclusion of the round. The referee, Mr. Jack McLean, was given even more work to do in the seventh. After throwing Blomfield twice in winglocks, | Kennedy followed them with a kidney punch. It was wrestling again as Kenjr'nedy broke a wristlock, by jumping to a headlock. broken with barred toeholds and an Indian deathlock with the arm. Kennedy was again warned for using hie fists, when Lofty was in a body scissors; was held in a lying split*, but took Blomfield in a barred toehold at the gong. Something had to happen—it was the last round. A jolting demonstration opened it, and Blomfield was on top with two headlecks that became strangles, and head-tossed Kennedy three times. Flung off against the ropes at the fourth attempt, Blomfield came in with tackles and was missed badly by Kennedy in an attempted flying toehold. Kennedy came in again, jolted Lofty to a corner, laid him flat with two punches to the head and kicked him in the side. In response Lofty gave, and took, three jolts and was wingloeked twice. It was then that Kennedy used his knee, and then that Mr. Scott came into the picture. Jolts have a definite place in catch-as-catch-can wrestling, but round-arm punching, kicking and the like have a place only in crowd excitement, and will not benefit the sport, even financially, for long. The Preliminaries. In the professional preliminary, K. Ken- | neth, 14.6, and F. Irving, 13.8, provided an exciting struggle that thoroughly pleased the crowd. Mr. McLean's award of a draw pleased most of the audience. Mr. Jim Brown refereed the amateur bouts, which were judged by Messrs, G. Heald and C. O. Browne. G. Holson. 10.2. beat P. Buchanan, 9.10, in straight falls. I R. Jones, 9.10, beat F. Ford, 10.4, with one fall in the second round. C. Harper. 9.2. beat G. Moore, 8.9, by one fall in the third round. YOURIST AND MEEHAN DRAW. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) GISBORNE, this day. A wrestling match on Saturday between Yourist and Meehan ended in a draw, the falls being even. Meehan came off the ropes with a flying scissors in the fourth round, and finished off with a body press. His opponent did not equalise till the seventh, when Meehan went down to repeated jolts, headlocks and shoulder charges. The match lacked science, but furnished plenty of excitement.