Boxing Betham lucky to retain title

Press, 5 December 1981, Page 11

Boxing Betham lucky to retain title

PA Auckland Monty Betham retained his Australasian middle-weight boxing title with a split-point decision over the Australian. Steve Dennis, at Stanley Street, Auckland, on Thursday night, but the stunned reaction was one usually reserved when a crowd feels the home town boy has been robbed. The announcement of the verdict in favour of Betham was greeted with more boos than cheers, especially as Betham had twice been down and taken an eight count. Betham ended the bout a bloodied, bewildered mess, whereas his opponent looked remarkably fresh and virtually unmarked. Betham struggled throughout to come to grips with the southpaw stance of his rival and only rarely did Betham look to take the initiative. Midway through the sixth round Betham was left groggy by a left-right combination from Dennis and was given a mandatory eight-count. Almost inevitably, Betham went down again, this time in the tenth round, but he bravely rallied to see out the bout. Two judges, Hugh O’Neil (235-233) and Ray Annas (237232), gave the decision to

Betham. Adolph Johansson scored it 236-232 in Dennis's favour. Both John McColl, Dennis’s trainer, and Dennis said afterwards they were disappointed with the result and would be seeking a return bout with different judges. Betham acknowledged that it was one of the toughest contests in his long career. Another split decision went against the Christchurch professional. Eric Briggs, when he lost to Fred Taufua. Although Taufua maintained his unbeaten nine-fight record, some — including Manny Santos, the judge who voted for Briggs — disputed the verdict. Taufua had to overcome the bustling tactics of Briggs and in the early stages was often upset by the hard short rights and solid rips of the southerner. But, later, Taufua stepped up his work-rate and by the last round had asserted some authority in a thrilling finish. In other bouts the light heavyweight, Sai Gaiso, had a winning debut, beating Taula Liufau in the sixth round, and the Australian heavyweight, Steve Aczel, beat Young Sekona when the referee stopped the fight in round seven.