BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 53, 26 November 1907, Page 6

BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP.

HANLEY (N.S. WALES) v. GODFREY (NEW ■ ! / A WIN FOR GODFREY; The final meeting .of .the season, .under. the auspices of the Wellington Boxing Association, was held iii the, Opera .House last-night'. When the doors wero opened at seven! o'clock large numbers, were awaiting admittance, and half an hour later standing ronm was.at a premium. Among those Who occupied-'scats on the stage were His 'Excellency the. Governor (Lord Flunkct) and party, a number' 'of members of both Houses of Parliament; oflicihls'of the Now Zealand Eosing Council, and the various ccritres. Apologies' wore received' frriiii the Premier (Sir Joseph Ward) and Hon. ,'J. Ai Millar, wiio were unable to" be present. The first item .011 the.'programme was an exposition of catch-as-can wrestling by Constables Skinner and Stephen's. As Stephens was a pupil of Skinner, it had been agreed that only a "pin" hold should count. Skinner's weight was list. 61b., whilst his opponent turned tho scale at 14st. 31b. The contest, which lasted close on thirteen minutes, was fairly even. Skinner's generalship enabled him to place his opponent at a disadvantage 011 .1 number of occasions, but Stephens as often turned the tables, and on regaining his freedom was heartily applauded. • The fall was obtained in the following manner. Stephens endeavoured' to roll Skinner from a half-Nel-son, when the latter caught Stephens's left arm with his right leg, and "eventually brought Stephens 011 to the bridge. "Stephens resisted for fully half a minute, but could not prevent his opponent from pinning him . down. As the contestants left the platform they were given an ovation. A six-round spar between. T./Tracy, Dst. 131b. (New Zealand), and T. M'Gibhon, 10st. 51b. (formerly of Australia), then took place. The latter, who had an advantage both, in height and reach, was suffering, from ,';i heavy cold, and only occasionally showed glimpses of his skill. He used a clever smother 'with his left, and not infrequently was' able to score by making a back hand blow as he broke «waj\ itis chief fault was taking up aposition which loft him exposed and unable ', to deliver a blow. Throughout, Tracy gave.-.a fine exhibition, and never missed an opportunity to make the fighting. No decision was given in this contest, i /' At 9.20, the contestants: for- the FeatherWeight Professional Championship of the Dominion entered the ring,; amidst;' much applause. Hanley is in' every respect- a smaller lad than Godfrey, but he made, it-clear that he docs not' lack stamina. *-The Australian's weight was given as Sst.\ Sib./whilst that of the New Zealander was stated to. bc 'Ost. The contest,'which lasted the specified number of rounds (viz., .fifteen), resultediri a win-for Godfrey, on points.'.-Throughout, Godfrey made tho-fiphting, but he was unable, to bustle the little Australian,' who was 1 equally scientific. In the first few rounds,; H an ' e 3' allowed Godfrey to pile up the points to • such an extent "that, although lie put'in; a considerable' amount of highly creditable work, subsequently, especially" in the last four rounds, he was unable to wipe off the deficienccy beforo the time was called. Undoubtedly Hanley hit much harder than his opponent, and was more skilful in fighting, a'■ feature, of his -work in th'is department being right-hand jabs, which were, -however, not always,.'accurately placed. Both.used straight lefts to advantage, Hanley's hitting being at times exceedingly' clean, but "Godfrey scored more actual; hits,' although he scorned afraid .at times to risk making a fulllength blow. The contest. throughout was fought in the most friendly;,spirit, the referee not haying to call on the men .'to'break more than a few times. ' On 110 occasion was either of the contestants knocked down; Soveral. times Hanley was unable' to- avoid Godfrey's rushes, and, in consequence,-fighting close to the ropes insured, but, as a rule, he was successful in fitting out of the way by clever-side-stenping. More than once wild hitting was indulged in, especially- during the course of the last few rounds, which were, at times, fairly warm. The result appeared to give general satisfaction, but there were many who were of the opinion that if Hanley had led more frequently in the early stages of the contest he would have secured the verdict, seeing that, taking all three factors into consideration, ho was, if anything, superior to tho New 7,colander, -i; I '-•.-■•p Soon the referee (Dr.' Napier ■ M'Lean) .stated that he had 110 difficulty in arriving at his decision. _ He considered that Hanley had erred in taking matters too easy at the start, that Godfrey had greater speed and scored a larger aggregate of hits, and that Itanley's harder punches were nullified by his opponent's excellent timing. 1