BOXING Brilliant Light-Weight Bout At Titles

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29295, 29 August 1960, Page 17

BOXING Brilliant Light-Weight Bout At Titles

Paul Fitzsimmons, aged 17, scored a sensational win in the final of the Canterbury light-weight boxing championship at the Show Grounds on Saturday night. Opposed to Dion Murphy, recently returned from Australia where he won the Sydney Golden Gloves tournament, Fitzsimmons showed himself to be brilliant both as a boxer as well as a fighter. Murphy who had five knockouts in his previous five fights rushed out from his comer at the opening bell, intent ,on achieving another knockout. He rushed Fitzsimmons to the ropes and with solid rights and lefts sought to end the bout early. Recovering his balance quickly, Fitzsimmons not only weathered the storm of blows but fought Murphy back and it was Murphy who made the trip to the canvas—a right hook and a compulsory eight count. In the second round Murphy stalked Fitzsimmons around the ring firing a series of sledgehammer blows with both hands, but Fitzsimmons, blocking, halting and counter-punching, scored to good effect with solid straight lefts and the right cross. At the end of the round Murphy’s face was covered in blood and Fitzsimmons’s left eye was swollen and closed.

In the third round both men were obviously the worse for wear and understandably leg weary. But the fantastic pace of the first two rounds prevailed in the final round too. Toe to toe, seeking no quarter and

giving none, they hit, hooked and ripped away at each other with the bell bringing to a halt the bout but not the applause. The announcer, striving to make himself heard, was forced to retire for five minutes to allow the cheering to die down. The other finals fought, although not producing the sensationalism of the light-weight division, were all of exceptionally high class. Bruce Johnston, last years middleweight champion retained his crown with two good wins as well as the award for the most scientific display of the night. In his first bout Johnston was opposed to the hard hitting J. Emerson and he was called upon for some solid glove work to keep himself out of the various corners he was driven to by the weight of Emerson’s attack. He did this by neat counter-punching and combination blows.

In his final bout against A. Curran, last year’s light heavy-weight champion, Johnston fought an entirely different fight and his blocking, weaving and footwork gave him the advantage throughout in spite of Curran’s walk-in, two-handed style. Results.—> Fly-weight.—D. Ford (Crichton Cobbers) beat B. Grainger (Waimate). Feather-weight.—K. Newsome (St. Annes) beat N. Williams (Linwood Boys’ Club); C. Sutton (Ashburton) beat R. Crossland (Palmers). Final: Sutton beat Newsome. Light-weight. P Fitzsimmons (Linwood Boy’s Club) beat D. Murphy (Crichton Cobbers’ Club). Light Welter-weight.—M. Samson (Ashburton) beat P. Riordan (St. Annes): L. Gay (Linwood Boys’ Club) beat K. Ferkins (Ait Force). Final: Gay beat Samson. Middle-weight.—B. Johnston beat J. Emerson (St. Annes). Final: Johnston beat A. Curran (Crichton Cobbers). Light Middle-weight.—T. Newsome (St. Annes) beat D. Newell (Crichton Cobbers). Heavy-weight.—G. Mulipola (Crichton Cobbers) beat J. Cox (Linwood Boys’ Club).

Referees.—Messrs M. Drury and B. Kerr (Ashburton). Judges.— C. Winder, V. Davies and N. Britt.