BOXING

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27750, 30 August 1955, Page 12

BOXING

CANTERBURY TITLES

R. MITCHELL AND M. DRURY IN FORM

Although the Canterbury boxing championships, concluded at the Repertory Theatre last night, did not reveal an outstanding champion, the bouts were keenly contested and gave promise of a fair measure of success for Canterbury boxers at the New Zealand championships to be held next month. The championships were held in two sessions, several preliminary bouts being decided in the afternoon before a meagre attendance, with the finals last evening. Several withdrawals because of sickness and failure to make the required weights reduced the number of competitors in several classes, but there were still plenty of bouts to provide first-class entertainment at the two sessions. A first-class performance was given by R. Mitchell, last year’s light welter-weight Canterbury champion and runner-up in the New Zealand championship, who retained his title after contesting three bouts. In the first bout he was altogether too good for R. Elvin, the fight being stopped in the second round by the referee (Mr A. Thomson). Mitchell won his second bout on a technical knock-out after ' being fully extended in the first round by R. Williams, a promising young boxer from the Linwood Boys’ Club. Williams showed the greatest gameness, but he was beaten by a more experienced fighter at the top of his form. In the final Mitchell boxed excellently against F. McKay (Timaru), and the pair provided orie of the most interesting bouts in the whole tourn*merit. It was Mitchell’s third fight of the day, and he quickly demonstrated the effectiveness of a straim left, frequently hitting McKay’s right eye. He followed this favourite punch with solid rips to the body. McKay’s right swings to the head frequently put Mitchell off his balance. McKay gave his supporters encouragement when he carried the fight to his op. ponent with vicious body blows, but Mitchell’s response left him clearly ahead on points at the end of the second round. McKay was game to the end. K. Sheard, a stocky bantam-weight, was much too experienced for his opponents, R. Tennant and D. Green, and he refrained from inflicting unnecessary punishment. In the featherweight division M. Drurv, an experienced boxer, 'showed a knowledge of ringcraft in beating C. Herrett in the final. Drury’s clever footwork and ducking were an example to all young boxers, and he had a clear-cut win over Herrett, who shows great promise and would beat most men in the feather-weight class. R. Liddicoat had to battle hard for his title, for although he was not fully extended in his first bout with I. Cague (Ashburton) he was all out to beat D. Henett, and it was not until the third round of a hectic flight with D. Brennan that he won. The two boxers were evenly matched in the first round, and in the second round

Liddicoat used a straight left, from which Brennan had little protection. In the third round Brennan began to feel the effects of the solid pace, and Liddicoat attacked with renewed vigour. The referee stopped the fight near the end of the round. Two Fast Bouts B. Maunsell won the light-weight division after two merry bouts. The first, with J. Williams, opened with very warm exchanges, a period of infighting being varied with occasional bursts of quick and clever hitting by both men. In the second round Williams scored with hard rights to Maunsell’s. head, but Maunsell’s left was always a source of trouble to Williams. Maunsell became relentless on attack, and Williams was clearly outpointed in the final round. G. Shaw, who met Maunsell in the final, received several cautions for illegal punches on the back of his opponent’s neck, and the referee awarded the bout to Maunsell before the end of the first round. Up till his disqualification Shaw proved a vigorous fighter, and it is doubtful whether Maunsell would have weathered the storm had Shaw not offended.

One of the closest bouts of the championships was fought between H. Ellis, who had previously beaten R. Ayson and L. Ashton, of Timaru, in the light middle-weights. Ashton attacked with heavy rights and lefts to head and body, and although he had the better of the last round. Ellis had piled up sufficient points in the early stages to ensure victory. Following are the Canterbury champions for 1955:

Fly-weight: C. Ross. Bantam-weight: K. Sheard. Feather-weight: M. Drury. Light welter-weight: R. Mitchell. Welter-weight: R Liddicoat. Light middle-weight: H. Ellis. Light heavy-weight: I. McCormack. Heavy-weight: B. Dalliessi. Results were:— Bantam-weight (Bst 71b). —First round: K. Sheard (Crichton Cobbers) beat R. Tennant (Palmers); D. Green (Crichton Cobbers), a bye. Final: Sheard beat Green. Feather-weight (Bst 131 b). —First round:, C. Herrett (Crichton Cobbers) beat W. Shaw (Bates’s); M. Drury (Palmers), a bye. Final: Drury beat Herrett. Light-weight (9st 61b).—First round:,B. Maunsell (St. Anne’s) beat J. Williams (Linwood Boys’ Club); . Shaw (Bates’s), a bye. Final: Maunsell beat Shaw. Light Welter-weight (lOst).—First round: R. Mitchell (St. Anne’s) beat K. Elvin (Palmer’s); F. McKay (Timaru) beat G. Kempjes (Palmer’s); R. Williams (Linwood Boys’ Club), a bye. Second round: Mitchell beat Williams- McKay, a bye. Final: Mitchell beat McKay. Welter-weight (lOst 71b).—First round: • D. Brennan (Kaiapoi) ; beat W. Gill (Palmer’s); R. Liddicoat (St. Annes) beat I Cague (Ashhurst); D. Herrett (Crichton Cobbers), a bye. Second round: Liddicoat beat Herrett. Final: Liddicoat beat Brennan. Light Middle-weight (list 21b).—First round: L. Ashton (Timaru) beat D. JacJt (Crichton Cobbers); H. Ellis (St. Annes) beat R. Ayson (Palmer’s). Final: Ellis beat Ashton. Light Heavy-weight (12sL 101b).—I. McCormack won by default. Fly-weight (Bst 71b).—C. Ross, won unopposed. Heavy-weight.—B. Dalliessi won unopposed. SAMOAN BEATS ROSS JENKINS (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) , , APIA, August 27. In a heavy-weight boxing contest last night, the Samoan, Fosi Schmidt, scored a fifth round knock-out victory over thS' Australian, Ross Jenkins. Both boxers took heavy punishment in a bruising fight, but in the fifth round, Schmidt rocked Jenkins with two lefts to the jaw and floored him with a right to the head for the full count.