8oz GLOVES TO BE USED

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29017, 5 October 1959, Page 13

8oz GLOVES TO BE USED

Decision By N.Z. Association (New Zealand Press Association) TIMARU. October 4. From next March, all boxers under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Boxing Association will wear Box gloves to bring New Zealand in line with the rules of the International Amateur Boxing Association. This was decided at the annual meeting of the association held in Timaru today. Mr J. Beban (Greymouth) said that 6oz gloves were worn by lighter-weight boxers, and one had only to see the scars these boys developed to know that the lighter gloves were lethal. For professionals, they could perhaps be accepted as an occupational hazard, but this could not apply to amateurs. When the fist was closed, there was a ridge along the side of the glove, and with a little sweat and perhaps some blood on it, the leather hardened to give more punching power than the bare fist. The seconder. Mr S. Ashton (Timaru) said that Timaru officials had recently provided officers for a high school tournament, and saw many boys cut by these gloves. Dr. D. R. Tipping (council) said that the medical commission of the International Amateur Boxing Association opposed 6oz gloves, and he only wished the remit had been carried earlier. The Hamilton association asked for a subsidy to assist it to build its own headquarters. Mr R. W. Healey said that the Waikato Agricultural and Pastoral Association had given land on which to build. Mr W. Percival (Canterbury) said that in Canterbury, public bodies were going to build a stadium, and the solution for Hamilton was to rouse the interest of public bodies in the district. After the motion had been amended to include the figure of £5OO, a card vote was taken and the motion was lost. Venues for Championships A remit from Otago asked: “That championships shall be held only in Auckland, Hamilton and one other North Island centre; and in Christchurch, Greymouth, Dunedin, and Invercargill.” Mr Parker said the main reason for the remit was the lack of accommodation and training facilities in the smaller centres. Sometimes these facilities were well out of town, and training had to be done under most primitive conditions. Mr L. Web (Oamaru) said that it was a poor thing for a major association to say that the smaller associations could not handle championships. The motion was lost. Professionals’ Expenses Canterbury requested that expenses for professionals be bare travelling and hotel costs, and not £35 as at present, and also that purses be limited to £lOO unless special permission was obtained from the council. Mr W. W. Percival (Canterbury) said many boxers were getting £35 expenses when their costs might only be £lO. It was simply a way to increase the size of the purse. Mr Parker (Otago) considered that the only way to get good bouts was to provide good purses. Poor purses resulted in mismatching.

“If either part of the remit was carried,” said Mr J. Beban (Greymouth), “Most professional fighters would hang up their gloves.” The motion was lost.