OUTCRY IN AUSTRALIA Injured Boxer In Hospital

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31551, 13 December 1967, Page 23

OUTCRY IN AUSTRALIA Injured Boxer In Hospital

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) SYDNEY. The Australian fly-weight boxing champion, Rocky Gattellari, was suffering from bad concussion and more X-rays were being sought, doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney said yesterday.

Two neuro-surgeons were called to the battered boxer’s bedside. They, and a team of resident doctors, are caring for Gattellari in the hospital’s intensive care ward.

Gattellari was pummelled unconscious at the Sydney Stadium on Monday night in his Australian bantam-weight championship bout with the title-holder, Lionel Rose. Yesterday morning his face was black and covered with bruises. There was a deep cut near his left eye. Earlier in the day, doctors had described his condition as satisfactory. Gattellari was carried from the ring on a stretcher after being knocked out in the thirteenth round of the 15-round title fight. “Record Gate” The fight drew a record indoor boxing “gate” of about $51,000, and both boxers were expected to earn about $12,000 from it. The two Sydney afternoon newspapers, the “Sun” and “Mirror" printed vitriolic editorials yesterday condemning the “barbaric” and “animal” sport of boxing. Both led their front pages with full-length photographs of a mauled, unconscious, bloody Gattellari. The “Sun” photograph had a banner heading “Blood Sport.” The “Mirror” photograph was headed “Butchered.” Scathing Comment The “Sun's” editorial said: "The battering that game, little Rocky Gattellari took at Sydney Stadium was sickening enough. “But the 'treatment' he received from a large section of an alleged sporting crowd was even more nauseating. “What is it that makes men —and women—behave like animals?

“The 'Rock' started what must surely be his last fight, to the accompaniment of vicious and sustained hooting. He finished it. a bloody and incoherent mess, to the sound of atavistic glee. “The more blows he took

from his opponent, the] lounder, the more frenzied' the cheering. “The spectacle, the atmosphere, the sounds of men almost howling with delight at the sight of a courageous fighter being cut to ribbons must make us all wonder.

“And the way Gattellari’s handlers worked feverishly to patch him up to go out for more punishment must also make us. ponder. “Any Place?”

“Is there a place in a socalled civilised community for this barbaric form of entertainment?

“Last night emphasised, once and for all, that we can no longer dignify it with the name ‘sport.’ “Lionel Rose, the worried winner, summed it up: ‘Why did they hoot him when he was unconscious?’

“Why, indeed, did they hoot him at all on * night we should remember with shame?” the editorial said.