Boxers Have Will, Skill

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30562, 3 October 1964, Page 11

Boxers Have Will, Skill

VEW ZEALAND’S two boxing representatives, T. P. Donovan (lightweight) and B. R. Maunsell (light welter-weight) are probably the hardest members of the team on which to base a forecast. This is no reflection on their ability—the ability of their opponents and the vagaries of judging make boxing one of the biggest gambles at Olympic. Games. Donovan has said, candidly, that.he will be “all out to throw leather” at Tokyo on the ground that the Olympics boxing judges have invariably given the decisions to the “attacking,” “punching” boxers. Donovan, aged 28, still has fast reflexes and is an attacking boxer. Whether he can win by “throwing leather” remains doubtful. The Japanese boxers who fought here were demonstrably faster than the New Zealanders, but it is doubtful whether they can punch as cleanly and as hard as, for example, the Americans and Russians. Maunsell, in many ways, is the opposite of Donovan. He has an excellent defence and works for openings. He can hit very hard with a right cross and left rip, but

is not as, fast as Donovan. He is inclined to shuffle and his footwork is his weakest point. However, he cannot be bustled and has sharpened up his punching speed. If the team consisted of one boxer, with Donovan’s speed and venturesomeness and Maunsell’s headiness and ability to make his punches tell, then New Zealand’s prospects would be much rosier. Nevertheless, with the luck of the game, both Maunsell and Donovan have the will and skill to win a