Australian Boxers’ Tour Cancelled

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30879, 12 October 1965, Page 22

Australian Boxers’ Tour Cancelled

The visit by Australian amateur champion boxers to New Zealand to box at Masterton and Invercargill this week, and in Christchurch next week, has been cancelled.

The president of the Canterbury Boxing Association (Mr E. G. Pocock) said last even-' ing that the New Zealand Boxing Council secretary (Mr C. H. Long, of Wellington) had telephoned him to announce the visit was off. “Mr Long said that the Australians had great difficulty in finding a sufficient number of top-line boys to make the the trip," Mr Pocock said. A Sydney report said yesterday a number of boxers who won titles at the national championships last week were unavailable because they would have had to pay their own fares. A team of eight boxers announced last night by the

Australian Amateur Boxing (Association included only one ; Australian titleholder, the ' light welter-weight, Keith ■ Skuse. Mr Pocock said that the I Canterbury association had 1 agreed to pay £4OO to the box- ! ing council towards the cost of the Australians’ tour and had . hoped to make a profit to be spent on fostering amateur boxing in Canterbury. • “The cancellation Is a great > blow to the Canterbury association. The Australian champions were to have fought the - New Zealand champions at ; Canterbury Court In what amounted to a trans-Tasman ' I boxing test. We have spent a tjlot of money in advertising the . tournament, he said. I “I suppose that if the Aus■|tralian national titleholders 'were not available, then the ; tour would have to be can- , celled. We would want only 'lthe title holders in a test.”