Brute strength wins

Press, 10 April 1978, Page 21

Brute strength wins

George Stankovish, a young giant irom Auckland, has completed his coup—and a bloody Oiie at that—of the amateur heavy-weight boxing kingdom over which Bill Byrne (Hutt Valley) l.ud reigned ioi so long. lhe bruising clash of Stankovich is. raw strength against Byrnes courage and experience "as the highlight of the Conin’.. nwealth Games trials at Timaru which supported the international contest between Australia and New Zealand. It was only Byrne’s pluck, and his determination not to abdicate hiS crow n, that enabled him to survive the battering that he suffered from Stankovfch in the first two rounds. Remarkahh. Byrne fought back so effectively in the final three minutes that he lost by only a j 3-2 nuints decision. Stankovich’s overthrow of the! m. n who has w on 10 national; titles in the heavier divisions ‘ has been a gradual process. They.' f -st met two years ago. when j St mkovich was 17. and Byrne! won inside the distance. Byrne again heat Stankovich for the 1977 championship, on points. I but the roles were reversed last: month when Stankovich stopped his rival in the second round of • the first Games trial. What would have been an autom; tic nomination for Byrne—l w ho won the silver medal at I Christchurch as a light heavy-1 in 1974—thus became a desnorate battle tn retain his | ranking. At Timaru it was evident that Byrne can no longer afford to concede weight to an opponent whose skills are, developing M -omplement his physical attributes. ' stinging right from Stanko rich had Bvrne on the canvas in the opening round, but the. Auckland represents five’s victor’ leap was premature. B\ r ne resumed after the mandatory; eight fount and managed to fend off manv of the blows St nkovirh threw in an effort to el'neh the issue. Behind on points. Bvrne sought to get to g r ir>s v \h h’s antagonjser ffom the second hut 1 he was met with straight lefts! and a tank-tike advance f’om 1 Stankovich. TT-pre was still e ery I indication that Stankovich’s body I st-ongth would overcome Rvrne’s Milling spirit. although the natipnal title-holder narrowed' the points deficit when Stanko-i vi'’*! lapsed on defence. T t was almost incomnrehen- ; s’hle that Byrne should come. back so vigorously in the last! round. He had Stankovich .wav-1 ing on the ropes, took more punishment himself, and then' again wrested temporary; ascendancv before thev momentarily boxed themselves out in , ce Are-ring. Stankovich had been slowed b\ • th* unexpected onslaught, and a lo f of Bvrne’s lefts reached their l target. Both m*n were bleeding; at the completion of a round 1 that was distinctly Byrne’s. How 1 ever, not even the extreme valorj s' own b\ Bvrne was enough tn I v in th* votes of a majority of th<* judges It wa« a most successful even Ing fnr the small Auckland squad.: Its other two members. Folasi* no Hight welter-weight’ and' 1 red Taufa i welter-weight).!

gained victories, and Ray no — who does not show the ungainly windmill action of most Samoa! boxers — was particularly im pressive against Barry Slatei i Canterbury). Undoubtedly. Rayno is one o the hardest punchers, weight foi weight in amateur boxing ir New Zealand. Twice in the seconc round Slater was forced to sub mil to standing eight counts. the resuit of being unable to avoir Ray no’s right. Slater never gave in but Rayno would have hac a comfortable points win had < ; cut above Slater’s left eye no; ended the fight early in the thirc round Mr Ron Mitchell. Slater’s trainer, later rated Rayno very highly and he praised Slater aged only just 19. for a cour ageous exhibition. “Rayno is very cagey and has a good variety ol punches: people are becoming aware just how good he is.’’ Mt Mitchell said of the compact Islander who has been in New Zealand only about a vear. A southpaw Taufa, had an exciting bout with Roger Leonard (Timaru) before emerging with a majority 4-1 decision. Taufa and Leonard indulged in many toe-to-toe exchanges, with Taufa moving relentlessly forward and Leonard countering with almost as much effect.

Tony Attwood, a flyweight, went one step better than Leonard and gave the crowd a hometown triumph unanimously on points, al the expense of Michael Colley (Wellington). They started i warily, before Attwood’s probling lefts and advantage in height , and reach placed him safely ahead. Perhaps not enough was seen of the Wellington feather-weight, Jeff Smith to judge his qualities , — even though he appeared twice. Smith needed onh one minute to stop Robert Warren; i (Westport) in an official trial and ' then returned in a catch-weight match with a light-weight. Ray Smith (Otago) who suffered a : head cut and also retired in the opening round. i Results:— Heavy-weight: G. Stankovich ((Auckland) beat W. Byrne (Hutt Valiev), majority points decision; 1 welter-weight: F. Taufa (Auckland) beat R. Leonard (Timaru), I majority points decision: light I welter-weight: E. Rayno (Auckj land) beat B. Slater (Canterbury), jin round 3; feather-weight: J. • Smith Wellington) beat R. War- ! ren (Westport), in round 1; flyweight: T. Attwood (Timaru) : beat M. Colley (Wellington), on ; points: catch-weight: J. Smith ; beat R Smith (Otago) in first ' round