Boxing Reports Under Attack

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31462, 31 August 1967, Page 13

Boxing Reports Under Attack

Statements about the medical rules for protection of amateur boxers made by the boxing reporter of “The Press” were attacked yesterday by an amateur boxer, W. McKay.

In a statement, McKay said the statements were “very far from the true facts.”

“First, I was never knocked down at Waimate as the report states. Admittedly, I did stop a right cross which only slightly dazed me, and I was standing unperturbed during the count.

"The referee stopped the bout because he was in doubt about my opponent’s weight—he had fought previously at 11 stone —and the referee thought that if the weight was wrong, I may have had difficulty in handling the extra weight, together with his wider experience. No Injury

“Immediately after the fight I was examined by Dr. Wylie, who had witnessed the bout, and he decided that I was not hurt, and he endorsed my blue book ‘Elightly dazed, no injury, can box without penal-

ty-’ “This decision was also approved of by the referee. “On the evening of the Canterbury championships I was examined by the doctor, who after reading the entry in my book, questioned me about the Waimate fight, and then passed me as extremely fit.

“The report also stated that I am a light welter-weight, and should not have been boxing in the welter-weight division, and should not have been matched with G. Perham.

“I am a natural welterweight As for being matched in the championships with Perham, 1 concede that he is much more experienced, but 1 cannot agree that he is stronger.

“A month ago in Oamaru, 1 fought F. Kisona, of Dunedin. He is a rugged 21-year-old Samoan boxer, weighing 10-11, and is bigger, stronger. and a harder puncher than Perham. After three rounds of hard fighting in which «e both took punishment the newspapers describing the bout as the feature of the evening, I won on a points decision.

“The report goes on to say that I was c 'tpunched and outclassed by Perham, but as the points were fairly even, and I had not been knocked down, how could I be outclassed?

Right Crosses “Mention has been made of two right crosses, and a straight left that I received from Perham, although as reported they did not appear to distress me. as in fact they didn't Actually the punches were of little force.

“Why the referee stopped the bout is beyond my widest powers cf imagination. He was reported as saying, that because 1 had taken heavy punishment at Waimate he didn’t take the chance of me

receiving any more, but as I had taken no punishment at Waimate or the championships, this statement is hard to understand.

“As the referee was not in Waimate, I wonder who told him this untrue statement, and for what purpose. All my fights this season prior to Waimate I have won.

“Nobody will deny that an official who looks after and is concerned with the health of a boxer, is nothing more than a good administrator, but 1 feel that the person who supplied the information about boxers' health being endangered is not so much concerned about the health of the boxers, as he is in endeavouring to discredit the hard working executive of the Canterbury Boxing Association, for his own gains. ‘Not A Must’

“As a young boxer it is not difficult to understand the requirements of a doctor when a bout is stopped. The rules state that the medical officer should recommend four weeks’ rest, but it does not say he must. “The Oxford Dictionary refers to the word should ‘as a result of condition’, and it is the result of the boxer’s condition tha the doctor decides what is best for the boxer’s health, and accordingly enters his decision in the blue book.

“It is common sense that if a boxer’s bout is stopped, because he is outclassed,, and has taken no punishment, and has sustained no injury, a fit boxer does not need a suspension. “1 have boxed in numerous provinces this season, and have been very impressed with the manner in which doctors attending the tournaments have concerned themselves with the boxers’ health, and the effort made by them to ascertain the true state of the boxers’ condition, should their bout be stopped. “The allegation that at the commencement of the season Christchurch has some 200 boxers and as the season progresses this number decreases because of the C.B.A. neglect in not arranging tournaments is by no means correct “Not only as a boxer, but also an instructor in bodybuilding and weight training, this situation is very clear to me.

“It is agreed that two or three tournaments would be very acceptable, but trainees dropping out happens in all sports. “At the commencement of the season, trainees go along full of keenness, some expecting miracles to happen in a week or so. ‘Arm-chair Ride’ “Many youths of today are accepting the arm-chair ride of life, and as they have no experience to work and “fight” for something they want, training becomes boring. With the lack of will

power, not to mention dedication, they drift away to the life of ease, luxury, and ‘getting around.* “This mostly ends in frustration, and the urge to return comes to their minds, but in the meantime a decline in fitness, with the resultant lack of energy, overrides the desire to return, and as the weeks pass by, effort to return becomes impossible. “I have found boxing a very well-organised and wellcontrolled sport, and above all, a good sport. I have found the, executive of the C.B.A'. sincere' men, working hard to foster amateur boxing in Canterbury.”