BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 227, 18 June 1908, Page 4

BOXING.

AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS. s WHISTLING COMPETITIONS. Tlio semi-fmnls nnrl finals of tlio amateur boxing championships, which were decided at tlio Opera Houso last night, attracted a largo attendance. As oil tlio previous oven-, ing tlio officials got oft tlio various contests with commendable promptitude. On tlio' whole, the contestants, with the cxceptidn of those in tlio heavy-weight division ,gavc fairly creditablo displays. Tlio hero of tlio evening was, undoubtedly, Watehhorn, of Manav.-atu, who socured tlio light-weight: championship after two stubbornly-fought battles. Tlio victory was extremely popular, because throughout both contests ho fought in a sportsmanlike manner. During the, evening the finals in the wrestling competitions were got off, the exhibitions being slightly more interesting than thoso in the first round. —Following is a list of the officials :—Master of ceromonies, Mr- R.- W. M'Villy; stage managers, Messrs, J. L. Day; and J. M. Laing; assistant stage managers, Messrs. T. Taylor and H. D. Smith; official seconds, Messrs., C. E. Bridgs and T. Sampson ; timekeepers, Messrs. A. Laurenson and J. L. Ludwig; referee for boxing, Dr.-Nap-ier M'Lean; referee for the wrestling, Police Sergeant Dart; and secretary, Mr. W. Coffoy, Following are the results: — WRESTLING. Heavy Weights. Two competitors were left in the final — Lanauze (Belvodcro Club) and Templeton (Bolvodero Club). Owing to an injury to his shoulder, Lanauze was unable to appear, and Mundy, who was beaten by Lanauze 011 tho previous evening, took his place. In the first bout, Templeton threw his opponent, by means of leg holt, in a couple of seconds. The second bout, which occupiecl 2min. losec., was also secured by Templeton, who used a leg and neck holt. Templeton was, therefore, adjudged the winner. Light Weights. Lewis (Belvedere Club) and Stewart (Belvedere Club) contested the final in this class. Neck holts were a feature of the initial bout, in which no fall took place. Stewart,. who had been the more aggressive, secured tho judgo's verdict. At tho beginning of the second bout, Lewis ineffectually tried to gain a fall by means of a half-nelson. No fall occurred in this bout ,which went to Lewis. Tho work at the commencement of tho last round consisted mainly of neck holts. _ There was again no fall, and Stewart was adjudged, tho winner by a very'slight margin. Having won two out of three falls, Stewart was, therefore, declared the victor. BOXING. Bantam Wolghts. Semi-finals. Solway (Lane's School), 7st. 121b., v. ICutnor (Tracoy's School), Bst. —In the initial bout, Selway at onco rushed Kutner: on to his own corner; post. _ Kutner-,drove several straight lefts liomo in good style. Just - on'the call of time-Solway, who-had been tho more aggressive, bustled his opponent oft his feet. Hits which fell short wore a feature of tho opening stages oft the second round. Clinches occurred, .fairly frequently. Each got in a good left before: tho gong went. There, were a. number of hard exchanges in tho last round. Selway, who maintained his aggressiveness, had slightly tho best of the round. He, therefore, secured the verdict. Kerr, a bye. Final. Kerrj Bst. lib. (Tracoy's School) v. Selway, 7st.' 121b. (Lane's School).—Kerr asserted himself at the jump, and drove home tlio first bard blow —a straight left. Shortly aftorwards, ho landed' loft and right. Towards the close of tho first round Solway connected with a heavy right swing. Half a minuto after tho second round had commenced Korr bustled Selway,'.-who lost his balance. As Selway was-, gettingon to his > feet Kerr illegally delivered a blow for tho head. Tho verdict was, therefore, given to 'Solway; ■ , Featherweights. Final. Hill, Bst. 33Jlb. (Hill), v.- Porter, 9st. ■ (Blenheim).—ln the first round, Hill had the bye. Porter, who did most of the leading in the initial bout, got in a largo number of blotfs. On one occasion; ho landed six hooks in succession. Hill lanaed-a:few clevor • hooks at close quarters. Sharp exchanges characterised tho second bout. Again Porter-was the-jnore aggressive. Hill used- a loft hook several :,times . effectively. Tho third, round was prefaced'by hard 'exchanges at closo quarters,'in -which; Porter," who again did all the leading, was tho most successful. Porter.gained a well-earned win. Light weights. Soml-finals. Watehhorn, 9st. 111b. (Manawatu), v. Gibbons, 9st. 131b. (M'Leod's School, Petone), — Gibbons forced the 'fighting. Ho swung with both hands\ for noad and body, but his idea of distance was .poor. . Watehhorn got the best of the in-fighting, using a left hook creditably. Thero wero hard exchanges at tho commencement of the second bout. Gibbons got iii : soveral good' hooks, but few of his were successful. Watchho'rn's hitting at this stage was very cloan. Keen fighting took place during the last round, Watehhorn getting tho best of tho oxchanges. Both men wore very tired at tho end of the bout. Amid loud applauso, Watehhorn- was given the verdict. Parry, a bye. Final. Watehhorn, 9st. 111b. (Manawatu) v. Parry, 9st.' 111b. (Belvedere Club). —The initial round was fairly fast. Parry used ,a straight loft effectively, whilst Watehhorn (who was very cool) was successful 'with a left hook. There was sharp fighting throughout tho second round. / Watehhorn narrowly escaped getting oil a vigorous upper-cut. Ho wan tho fresher at tho end of th 6 bout. 1 Early in the third round Parry landed a swing. Half way through, Watehhorn gained tho ascendancy, and from then 011 scored very heavily. . His win was most popular. Welter Weights, b Semi-final. Minifie, lOst. 41b. (Belvedere Club), v. O'Donoghuo, lOst. 51b, (Tracoy's School).— O'-Donoghue had a big advantago in reach.' ; Minifie "got the better of some in-fighting, but O'DoOoghuo landed a larger number of hooks tho next time tho pair got to close quarters. After fighting liad been in progress about two minutes, .Minifie knocked out O'Donoghuo by means of a right hook ; under the jow' as lie was endeavouring to get out of range; , Parry, 9st. lllb (Belvedere Club), boxed an uninteresting bye with Devitt, lOst. 511). ■ ,(Lane's School). Final. ; Minifie, lOst. 41b. (Belvedere Club) v. Devitt, lOst. 51b. (Lnno's School).—Tho initial round opened briskljj, Devitt doing most iof tho leading. The pair then became cautious. Minilio made a detormined rush at tho opening of tho second bout, but subse--1 quontly Devitt drove him to the ropes and ■ inflicted a number of severe blows. Some < hard oxchanges followed, and . when Minilio ■ rotircd to bis corner at tho end of the round, his face wore a gory appearance.. The third bout opened with keen in-fighting. Minifie rushed in time and again, but his opponent was too good- for lnm, and tho referco stopped tho contest, awarding tlio victory to Dovitt.Middle Weights. Final. : Murphy, list. (Lane's School),, and Lec--1 kie list'.- (Lano's school) were the; only 1 competitors left in tlio final in this class. 7 Owing to ail injury to his arm,-Murphy was r uiiftblo to tako part, Leckio was, thcre--3 fore, adjudgod t-ho winner. fc Heavy Weights. ' Semi-finals., Mundy, list. 1011). (Lane's school), v. Busby, list. 81b. (Tracoy's school).—Mundy, 1' who Is it vlght-hnmU'.r, wua much the tullcr. I Both fought cautiously at first. Mundy

landed a good body blow with his loft. Thoro was little work in the initial round, which wont in Mundy's favour. In tho second round there was too much clinching. Few blows we're struck, Mundy being most successful. Mundy did some wild swinging in the last round. Once ho got on tho La Blanche hit. Before the round had concluded Busby's seconds throw in tho towel. Woodbridgo, list. 41b.' (Belvedere Club), v. Halo, 12st. 21b. (Lano's school). —On tho previous evening, Woodbridgo had the bye. Hales, who had an advantage in height and roach, fought in a cool manner. Most of his hits were short. Towards tho end of' tho round ho was successful-with a vigorous left hook, directed for tho head. In tho second round there were a number of hard blows, Woodbridgo using a right swing and Hales ft left hook. Woodbridgo fought wildly at times. The round ended in favour of llnles. Tho final bout opened with desperate swings. Woodbridgo rushed his opponent time and again. As a result of a right swing, Woodbridge wont down for Bsec. Hales, who was in tho ascendancy at the conclusion of -tho round, secured tho decision. Final. Hale, 12st. 21b. (Lano's school) v. Mundy,' list. lOlb. (Lano's. School) —In the opening stagos Mundy was the more aggressive. Full length wild swings were u fentifre. At tho end., of tho round botli men, Mundy in particular, wero' tired. In tho second round, during which tho contestants wero unscicntific to a degree, most of tho fighting was for the head. Thoro was some wild slashing in tho final bout. Hale, who gradually wore his opponent down and was having tho tipper hand when tho gong sounded, gained tho verdict.