BOXING TOURNEY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 590, 19 August 1909, Page 6

BOXING TOURNEY.

LICHT-WEICHT CHAMPIONSHIP. UNHOLZ OUTPOINTS TRAiDT. Standing room was at a premium at the • Town Hal] last night when the third boxing tourney of the season was held. Among interested spectators wexe. the leading officials of the local association,' as well as representatives of most of the associations in both islands. There were also present several members of both, branches of the Legislature, a number of oity councillors, and several clergymen. It is estimated that the attendr anco totalled close on 4000, which must constitute ■ a reoord for the Dominion for a tourney ; of the kind. The chief attraction y was a fifteen-round contcst between Rudolph Unholz,: of America, and Tim. Tracy, of Wellington, for tho professional .lightweight championship, of-New Zealand. It resulted "in Unholz complotoJy outclassing': Tracy throughout the/whole . term of the battle. Prior to the big event, there were several contests between amateurs, • who showed plenty of vigour and a fair amount of abiljty. Dr. - Napier Al'Lean officiated as referee. , - AMATEUR CONTESTS. Lowls versus Coodcr. ;• 'Two pupils from tho Physical Training School—-V. Lewis (7st. 111b.) and E. Gooder (Bst. 61b.) —opened the proceedings with . three ' two-minute .rounds. Gooder had had <6nly twelve months' tuition,'' and "Lewis had '/. been under instruction for only three months. In the first round, Lewis, who was at, a disadvantage in size, was the more forceful. He earned great applause for the clever way in which he side-stepped and ducked. There was further clean, robust boxing in the secorid round, a when both did, creditable work. : At the conclusion, of the' final round both' :' were .heartily .applauded. .' No .decision was '• given'. ' Hutton Excels Ronalclson. One of tho keenest contests that has been geen here for "some time then took place .between two older; lads from the ' Training School)Ronaldsqri,' list; 41b., arid Hutton, : list. 6d. • Both started off at a merry pace, ': 'their:object, apparently,'being not.to evade . blows, but to. see : how ; many they could de- :< • liver. There was ; a .conspicuous. pauso in . ; the middle of .tho second spell, which evoked ". hearty; : merriment from -the onlookers. In the third round Hutton-did particularly good . body work, but Rorialdson was very• effective : at' times in thp out-fighting. . Round four saw the' contestants : extended to their., utmost, v but. Hutton showed .better staying power, and . , most all-round ability.' i Murphy Accounts for Morris. . Item. No. 3 .on .the ,programme .was.-a,six-2-minute round contest between L. Murphy (Wellington), list, lib;, and J. C. Morris . ■ (Levin), list."' 7ilb; Both are well set-up youths, and adopted vtho upright style. - - Murphy used a 'straight-^left'several time's in ' . the . opening; round : very . cleverly.. ~. In - '"the second round.Morris.began to feel more; at home. .••There.;were some hard exchange's in . the, ;fourth •■round,; Murphy being ,vthe more effective. In the succeeding round both saved themselves , for, heavy-.blows. ' Before the'last round had concluded, the referee stopped'.the « ;' contest ..'and decided .in favour of Murphy, v ' As, Morris left the ring he was heartily applaudedfor the plucky showing which he had* ; made/ ■■ v' ;V / Shields Defeats Coward. ■ ' * ' -Two : clever feather-weights, W. ' Coward (Wellington), SXst. 3}lb;, and W. v Shields (Baliherston North),- Bst. 12?1b., were the principals.;in .the'ne>xt contest.. Coward • opened aggressively, but Shields had much tho best of , things;, ; In • the, second round ' , : Shields had . the best of several clashes at ■ close'quarters. - Round three saw " both' wanning to their work; Coward doing well at the cpmmehcemeht, but Shields' levelling-, up . matters later. When the' spell came at-.'the, ■ ' end of ■ the fifth round," Shields in particular ..; . seemed somewhat, glad.. Durjng 'the last round Shields/displayed his superiority ;beyond; a shadow of si-doubt. The referee's.'.de- . "cision, "Shields," was' loudly applauded. ,THE PROFESSIONAL CONTEST. ■ ■■■* Unholz v. Tracy. Every' head' wis turiied towards the ring • as Unholz and.Tracy-made their, appearance in that', 'order. .Attend .Unholz.-,. were Turner and Cripp, of Australia, ant). P. C. .. Barnes, his /local .trainer,; whilst' Tracy had , behind , him J.r Wilson,. L. Murphy;' 'and J. ' . Gosling^,Although;Tracy had the advantage in size, .it' - was.: apparent; that ho had in Unholz • the hardest and strongest.. boxer whom he ...had' yet been called upon; to meet. Both wore bandages. ' V . '. , : As soon as the -order was given to "box on," Unholz came.: leisurely anil, smilingly from his;-corner.,. He,- feinted, and Tracy " . skipped Way just'.in. time.- .Half-heartedly . Tracy.'' 'attempted' a left lead which induced'Unholz to "mix .it." Upon the next . occasion : thats-Unholz jumped ; in, ' Tracy, to v the. : amusement of.,the onlookers, ran away. ' Instead, of'.making an opening. in, the usual way, Unholz now 'contented..himself'.' [with walking, head forward, and unguarded, 1 ; right >" into Tracy.;- The crowd 'were moved to.'mers..- -riment; Tracy alone looked serious ;','Sajid the-visitor; beamed as- if he were heartily ' ;;■ glad to; .be ;there.> Now and , again Unholz varied his atactics; by. jumping; in v . but Tracy , made' it' his ibusiness. to', keep.'clear.- >And sc .';• the battle proceeded. ~ '. It' occurred to ;Tracy: once or'iwice in th« second) round ,'tliat •heyshould f.'Kit ; -out;"> On •-.these/occasion he tried ,an upper-cutj'vbut it' proved' ineffective)'. ". Round three " saw Unholz'intro'duce' a right'.ddwn 'swing, whict •Tracy did well to avoid. : 'There I , ; theh'',took 'pla'ce > the'first 'lively bit of -work. ■ Encouraged by supporters to "hit out," Tracy stood, his'/ -.grpund, but when they got to '.close' ..quarters',;.Unholz landed ' three or four blows.: ib'/eyory one which Tracy drove home." Once ' Tracy slipped down, and Unhoiziassisted him to";rise, amid . the plaudits. of..th.fe.;'cr9Tvd/-*-Unholz now used a left swing for the head','well, but curiously only; requisitioned it . on. one' or two occa'Bions subsequently. . ■ During,, the; fourth' -round. Unhblz;;intro- ■ duced the famous lo'o'p-the-loop hit, which Papko . uses -so effectively. , Whenever, the pair came .together, and was leaning i; towards his own right,' Unholz, instead oi hitting for tho lower part, of the back or tli« •hfad'witb his right,'.'would bring it smartly urider.Tracey's arms, aid land on,the op- . . posite side of the .head to that" expected, This blow - had - never ■ previously' been seen "here and it Tvasl.generally regarded --• -'as •••■being pretty 'and_ useful. : When jused', for", 'liridei ■ the chin, it 'is very effective; By aid of this blow Unholz piled up a 'great numbei of points during the' struggle.". In the course of round ,:ix, Tracy,' who . ihadi.Vnbtl.yet shaken off his nervousness, drove a'tarrific upper-cut, but it was not successful in.its mission.' Ever following up, ,' Unholz' landec • a lot of swings, both for Head 'and body and easily. retained . the ascondancy..' was. at this, stage .warned about' boring, buthe alleged'offence was not at .all palpable . Unholz asserted himself in.'round seven,'bui the fairness of his tactics were never opei to question. Round eight saw, Tracy doinj • better, but. he,bad much the, worse'of mat ters. ■ : As in the preceding rounds, it was now "joticeable. that U n bolz. used no full-lengtl. straight blows... When it was. necessary he , ;iras always ; agle on. his feet.' Once or twice ' 5; seemed'as if Tracy was .holding, and the raferee administered a caution. In the tentL , round Tracy had to seek refuge by running away, but unholz never left him, and in th« mix-up which followed there was some fast . hitting. .Both were getting very warm by the time the twelfth round was reached, There was a whirlwind of blows, and' Unhoh retreated a step for a purpose, but. Tracj did. not follow. ... There was a lot of , hard work m the lasl three rounds, but no very effective blowi were delivered. Tracy maintained fine con ' dition, but he was'nothing like a match foi Unholz, who made a point of coming in al the time. Once, when Tracy ran off, Unholi ' stood in the middle of the ring, and th< crowd laughed, heartily with him. Time ant apaiiv Unnolz would heap, on half a # dozei blows when he got alongside Tracy gel , 0 g practically : scot ; free. Unholz. ww

throughout had boxed in a olean sportsmanlike manner, and had never .been extended, was heartily applauded when he was awarded the victory. . .

VIEWS OF THE CONTESTANTS. ; Seen" after the contest, Tracy expressed himself satisfied with tho result. Ho remarked that Unhola eclipsed him, and admitted he was fairly beaten by a olean fighter. He considers that ho would have done better had lie not been overweighted with his opponent's great reputation, but still, if the contest were fought again though he would do very much better, he could have no hope of beating Unholz. , ,TJnholz stated , that ho injured his left wrist - during the '.second round; whilst attempting .a loft body blow. This had left him at a disadvantage for -the remainder of tho "contest. He had desired to win, but it was not his wish to do so on a knock-out. Soon after the contest started, it became apparent to him that Tracy was nervous, and lie ,had. saved: him...punishment where other boxers would not have been so lenient. It was. necessary to go a great deal harder iii America, arid if "an opponent held one of your hands you were permitted to keep on

OPINIONS'■•"OF:;O.OUNCILLORS' PRESENT. ■ ' Among the audience at' the Wellington' Boxing-Association's tournament in the . Town Hall last evening were several mem- • bera'of'the City Council and the town j clerk. They, occupied seats on the choir ! beiiches immediately at the rear of the, ring, and were in,,an excellent position to see every deitail in,connection with the variant bouts. 'As the matter is one of public interest, a Domtnios representative communicated with the: councillors present to get their impressions ;'of f ! the evening's entertainment. ■ ■ , "I don't think,"- said ' Mr. Shirtcliffe, " that any possible exception could be taken bo the'amateur.'portion of the programme. but; 1 professionalv.contests should be barral it-thevTown'i-Hall. ■■ I greatly enjoyed the irstpart of the 1 programme, arid could witie'ss'.Wittf."pleasure' > .inany similar perform? mces r ..'- Vl/havQ'not'changed my' opinion a pit- as'to professional' contests, which, I consider'demoralising and degrading, aJid should je"discouraged. .'l'-'don't think, the Town 3all, should,bemused for such purposes." .'Mr. J.-'P.-'Luke" said: —"It was the first, joxing contest I ha-ve seen in my life, and ! was not at all elevated by what I saw. _ I ti&'feif rancK' impressed by the fine audi•nco, whiqh',,represented all shades of opinjnLin -the-community, and was also very iloased-with the : ;manner in which the ararigements" !.in:. connection with the exhibiions of the 'noble art' wore earned out, in rhich were concerned some of our best o,iti'ens. Still I have not -altered my opinion, ,nd. L. don't iliink the council should allow losing' contests of , any kind in the Town Tall; -Further;''the Town Hall riot being ho. exclusive property of the male element, ho right and sentiment of the. female por-' ion of the community has a just 'claim to is * considered when' the purposes for which ho Town Hall'should be let aro_ considered,, .id 'I am' sure that would weigh against hese contests." » • . .. . "The most-harmless thing I ever saw." was he comment of Councillor Fletcher, who was ilso present... .."It is twenty years'since'l. aw'a.'.boxing',contest, but in thoso of to-, light. I could see nothing .that the most fas-idious-could ..take exception to.. The amaeur business was .very good, and the profesional bout was conducted in a manner that 10 one could take .exception to. Some of the ouncillors have been talking about blood md'gore—well, 1 saw: none of _ it.' Indeed, :he nearest- approach; to'it was in one of the imafeur v ooirfeStSj'- -so' 'why • discriminate - h&-. iWeen' artiateur 1 ' and ; professional - contests as ibnducted.by the association? A very large, ection of the commnnity, attended, and they lave as much reason to be studied as any ither' section; I :confess I enjoyed the perand I noted- 3ome of the itizens of the highest standing were conI'erned in the good'management displayed." "I'm-'not; a-' frequent httender at fights," laid 'Councillor. IVosfc "As a matter of fact, t's the. firstj'iboxing contest I ever saw, and; ! must-confess tliat i saw nothing that any-' >ni could call brutal. I've seen men coming iff, a. football, field in a much worse condiiion: that the boxers last ; night. I'm perectly'satisfied that boxing, as conducted last waning,';.is a.clean, manly sport, and I see lo reason why, the Town Hall should not.be ct for: boxing. If it should not be held in ;he Town Hall, it should not be allowed in Sfew Zealand. Yet, it is legalised in ,a vay, and why should not a legalised sport >e practised in the Town Hall ? If it should lot, then wipe it clean out. _ But, as I said >eforo, personally I saw nothing to object to n.the.contests of last evening."

'There' is some' tails of a match between the' Englishman Clarke (who met Leckie in Wellington a fortnight agoVand Les. O'Don- . of. - Tommy Burns's sparring partners;-' Such a match would be x interesting, as; 0!Donnell was announced nightly at Burng's- show as. the coming champion of Australia.' • • • •