BOXING ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 805, 30 April 1910, Page 13

BOXING ASSOCIATION.

SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETINC. REPLY TO OVERSEAS CRITICISM. ; SPORT OR FAT PROFITS? There was a record attendance at the seventh annual meeting of the' Wellington Boxing Association, which was held in tho Chamber of Commerce rooms last night, Mr. R. W. M'Villey presiding. Remarks by the Chairman. Mr. M'Villey, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet (which has already appeared in The Dominion), said that the financial position of the association must be regarded as very satisfactory. There seemed to bo some misconception as to how the revenue of the association was applied. He had found that since the association was inaugurated the receipts had totalled£423o, and the expenditure £3700. Upon trophies, etc., the association had spent in all £1230, in rent £600, ' in advertising £140, in gear £304, and in wages £212. N<i one therefore could say that tho association bottled up its revenue. It had to be remembered that the better the class of sport provided in Wellington tho higher the quality of boxing in other parts of the Dominion. When in Australia recently he had been amused to hear in one or two quarters that the New Zealand Associations did nothing in the matter of fostering the sport; that all thoy thought about was'good fat profits. In .reply, he had asked whether in the event of a tourney proving unsuccessfully financially a professional boxer who had been engaged would agree to forego any portion of the purse. In that connection he would like to say this: he challenged anybody to show that the association had not only carried out evory contract which it had entered into with professional boxers, but had invariably paid them more than hod been/contracted for. He wished to draw attention to the fact owing to misstatements that ' had been nade in Australia by sonw - boxers who had mistakenly thought that New Zealand lacked nrslxdass exponents; In tho course of his recent visit he had looked out to see ! what talent there was in Australia that might be brought over. There wore a good number of scientific boxera on the other side just now, but he'might say-that the expense of getting any of'them over here would be pretty- considerable. A suggestion had been made 'that the engagement of all professionals- should bo made through the council. That mat-, ter was one upon which the association would have something to say at ■■ the proper time. Li conclusion Mr. M'Villey remarked in' regard to the. "professional light-weight championship he understood- that Unholz was prepared to' defend his title against all 'comers provided a sufficient purse was offered. Di. Izard briefly seconded the motion. \ Replying to a question as to whether the association was barred from using the Town Hall for professional contests the chairman said that it was one of those matters in v regaTd to which the association could not take a sledgehammer and bang at the door, but it could/go to sleep for a time, and then ,'wako up suddenly. ,Tho,matter, would engage the attention of • the incoming committee. , i Without further discussion the motion was then agreed to. Election of Officers. The election of office-bearers resulted as.under:— Patron, the Right Hon; Sir Joseph Ward, K.C.M.G.; president, Mr. R. W. M'Villey; vice-presidents, Messrs. H. Nelson; J. H. Owen, C. M. Montefibre, C. B. Rogers, Dr. H. J. M'Lean, Dr. A. K. Newman, Dr. A. W. Izard, Dr. A. L. Napier-M'Lean; managing committee, Messrs. J. L. Day, E. Blundell, H. D. Smith, A. Laurenson, T. Sampson, C. E. Bridge,' F.' H. Taylor, li'ordham, B. A. Guise; hon. •,medical .examiners, Dr. Herbert, Dr. Gilmer, Di. P. James; hon, solicitor, Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P.; hon. auditor, Mr. W. C. S. Levers; representative in Australia, Mr. W.'-F. Corbett;. treasurer, Mr. W. Beauchamp-Platts; secretary, Mr. W. Coffey. Mr. Organ moved that it bo a recommendation to the inooming oominittee that the office of secretary be a paid one. He thought that in view of tho wide activities of the association, the hon. secretary (Mr. Coffoy) appeared to be very poorly paid by a bonus of twenty guineas per annum. It was his opinion that the position was worth at least £50 per annum. . , .Referring to this matter, Mr. M'Villey said that he could not support'the proposal if it meant shelving tho present hon. secretary, who was ono of those who from the inauguration of tho association had helped to bear the heat, aiid burden of the day. Mr. Organ (in reply) said that ho hoped that in the ovent of his recommendation being adopted Mr. Coffey would be elected to 'the position. The motion was. carried by 13 votes to 9. Acknowledging, later, bis re-election to the office of secretary, Mr. Coffey said that ho did not think he would accept office, as a paid secretary of an amateur- body. Last year he had thought, of . resigning because some members of the committee had not done their full share of the work. There was not enough work for a paid secretary, who would require a fairly large salary, but if an hon. secretary irxeiyed the assistance that should bo gi von him he could get through the work all right. . ' Othor Business. 'Upon the motion of Mr. Guiso it was agreed that it bo a recommendation to the incoming committee that all member's who are unfinancial on a given il.ito should be struck off the membership roll. Mr. Coffey drew attention to a statement in the annual report of the New Zealand Boxing Council to the effect that the principal contest during the p-.st season was tli3t between • Cripps and Griffon for the heavy-weight champ::mship of New Zealand, _ The state-' P'cnt, ho remarked, contained a good deal of Canterbury flavour. As a matter of fact, howovor, tho match between Unholz and Tracey attracted i,iie largest attendance that had ever been experienced in New Zealand. "It would-not have mattered," added Mr. Coffcv, "if they had said that the Un-holz-Tracey contest was amongst the biggest held last season." (Laughter.)