IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2217, 1 August 1914, Page 12

IN THE RING.

" ' [Bi Meeouri.] New Zealand 'Championships. The championship meeting, held at Wanganui last week, was a notable gathering in many respects—largo entries, close contests, and an even more than usual keenness all contributing to tho general success. • Headed by their worthy secretary—W. S. Corby (is there any ono branch of amateur sport that the genial W.S.C. is not intimately connected with), the officials, by a. proper, 'attention to ."detail, made things go 'with a swing that precluded any chance of a hitch. Their hospitality,.too, was' .unbounded, and-the president, of the. iVew Zealand: Council (Mr. L. Cohen),' another Wanganuite, handled the an:nual conference i.of the association in a most able manner. The task of the ijudges was by no/means a sinecure, and '/though Verities have diflered from them ; sharply in a few instances, their work hvas', on the whole, well done, Mr. Allan Hamilton,- as referee, improved as 'the. meeting' went along. > On the first night he was so strict in his interpretation of what constitutes a clinch as to practically bar in-fighting in several bouts, but this over-keenness for clean boxing modified as tho meeting progressed, and his handling of the bouts on the last night was beyond cavilling. Honours Well Divided. ' The honours were well distributed, though Otago and Auckland; with two wins each, headed the list, ■ while Southlaud and Gisbor.no each secdred a championship. Wellington, for once in a while, came homo pointless, though Oliver made a bold Bid for the featherweight title. On the whole, the boxing was well up to the average, ; the poorest 6laesea being tho heavies (as usual) -and the bantams. The fall-off in the quality of the latter class 6ince last year is surprising. Still, with lads like Harrahy (winner), Venus, and Gunn, there was much promise of better-thiugs next year. If the banstam showed a falling-off it can honestly bo said of the feathers that they were*! the best lot, as a class, seen for some years. Tho holder, N. Bennetts, after contesting the best bout of the meeting with G. Barr (Wairarapa), went under in the semi-final to tho ultimate winner (A. Geodmau), after a close , contest. Benson (Gisborne), who lost to Goodman by a shade in the first-roiind, was as good, as-anyone in tho class, and Oliver fought splendidly, right through, boxing iii the opinion of many'.entitling him to the medal-for the most scientific display at the gathering. There can be no doubt that, the best man—James—won, -the light-weight championship, and as a boxer the Aucklauder- would probably, hold his. own with, all but one or two of tho previous holders of the titlo' •' He .woujd probably have been more expended in ■the final had Veruall been his opponent instead of Mussen, the latter being particularly lucky in securing a verdict over the Christdhurch lad in' the second round. ' The Wellington iTaii, E. ■ Stewart, was unfortunate in losing on a foul, but in any case James would have carried too many guns fbr'hini. .'. . Apart from the fact that there were no boxers of such..outstanding class, as Watchorn and Mitchell competing, the welter division was well up ■to' the average, the winner, Heeney, showing good form. Hβ is the first Gisborne man towin a New Zealand championship. . As usual, the heavies wore a poor lot. Savory, who in , build is good enough to stand up against anything, winning fay his size and strength rather than by.his boxing talents. Iggulden gave a fair display, but was too light te have any chance with Savory. While the heavies were, poor,.the middles were; decidedly good, the ■winner, A. Wood,', of Invercargill, being one 'of the cleverest-'boxers at the meeting. It is too much to hope that he will turn out another Dave Smith, but he is a good one for all. that. ■ The Wellington representative, , Finnie, .fought gamely and well, despite his indisposition; The Team for Australia. . : The New Zealand team for the Australasian Championships at Brisbane on. August 31 and September is as follows •—Feather-weight, A. Goodman (Otago) j light-weight, M. Jamee (Auckland); welter-weight. J. Heeney (Gisborne).; middle-weight, , A. Wood (Invercargill). Tho emergencies are: Feather, J. W. Oliver (Wellington); light, N. Vernall (Ohrißtehurch):'welter, L. Wills' (Taranaki); middle, P. Manning (Ashburton).-' ■ Wood and James are the most likely to score, though Goodman and-Beeney will acquit themselves with credit. King too Good for Williams. _ "Mick" King, defeated '.'Nat , ! Williams ("Herb" M'Coy's conqueror) in ten rounds at Brisbane recently. Williams, it will be remembered, came out from' England as a light-weight, but, like many more of hie countrymen,-lie has pilt on weight in Australia', and now lie] is battling as a middle-weight. ' In thisi match King fought superbly, and as early as the first round ho nearly put his opponent to sleep. Boxing with wonderful.coolness, he completely outclassed his opponent all through the remaining nine rounds, his defence, blocking, back moving, and ducking being of a very high class.. King was to. have met Jules Dubourg at Sydney on Tuesday last, and on August 22 he will contest the ( ' Australian middle-weight championship with Arthur Cripps,

Ellis Again. After being down for nine in . the first round, Frank Ellis clearly outpointedl George Taylor in the remainder of,' their twenty-rounds contest at the. Sydney. Olympia, and gained the verdict. What Now Zealanders would like to see now is Ellis up against such cracks-as "Jimmy" Hill and Frank Thorn. His performances of late establish his claim for a match with one or the other. Hill, by. the way,'will shortly be leaving on.a trip to America, and patriotic Australians are buoyed with the hope_ that he will make amends for the failures of "Bill" Squires, "Hock" Keys, "Dave" Smith and Co. Able to scale the feather limit with ease, Hill should have a pto:fitable time in America, for, apart from' champion "Johnny" Kibbane, the American boxers of this family are not. of any great class, so to speak. A Private Cablegram* Great interest was being evinced in the return-match; between Fre3 Kay and Milburh Say lor, which took place at the Stadium last Saturday. Saylbr had shown in hia battlo with Shugruo that he was fighting as well as ever, and in hie work Kay displayed wonderful form. A private cable' message received by a Wellington enthusiast. states that Kayreccived the verdict on points. Welling and O'Neill. When "Joe" Welling w as awarded the verdict in his Sydney contest with Sapper O'Neill, the disturbance raieed by the disappointed crowd, who wore for O'Neill to a man, was second only to the storm that greeted Harold Baker's verdict in favour of Fritz Holland a fortnight ago. Tho opinion of the critics on that occasion' was generally in favour of O'Nfiill, but that there would not have, been very much wrong with the decision is now' evidenced by the fact that in their return buttle at Melbourne the ollieinl veidint was a draw. ■ '

English Notes

Latest, files from Bngjnmi convey some mteresting boxing iie'we. "Willie' , Ititehie in arranging his match with "Freddie." Welsh insisted on Ost. Dili, at 2 p.m. in,place of the recognised AinorioHn weight of Ost, 71b., at which "Kid"

Lavinge, Franke Erne, "Joe" Gans, "Battling" Nelson, and "Ad" Wolgast, and lastly Ritchie himself, won their titles. The only reason for this would have been that Ritchie would find it impossible to make the old weight. The tact, too, that everything Was fixed for 2 p.m. instead of ringside, is a ( radical departure from the hitherto unbroken practice in championship contests. It all shows the. need of some controlling authority which will have the power to enforce its rules.

"Harry" Stone bumped against a Tartar in "Jerry" .Delaney, whom he met in London recently. Undismayed by Stone's peculiar dancing footwork. Delaney kept on the forward move all the time, and gave "Harry" a rare lacing. Hβ did what neither "Matt" Wells nor "Harry" Summers could do— he cornered ;Stone. If his form in this contest is av.true index of his powers, Delauey should be a formidable opponent for "Freddy" Welsh.

"Sid" Burns, who since his return to England has blossomed forth into a full-blown- niiddle-woight, received the father of all hidings from Young Ahem, nick-nanied the "Dancing Master." Clever boxer as he is, Burns was outpointed, and finally knocked but within five minutes of the start} and it was a further five minutese before he came round again. The most' marvellous feature of_ Ahern's . movements ill the ring is his footwork, which one critic describes in this fashion:— "His footwork was really the poetry of motion. The slightest'sway of the body, the very smallest shift of his head, and a fratcional movement of his feet carried him' right away from Burns's line of attack. It was all little short of marvellous. Hβ is really a Griffo on a more generous scale, but With a.'punch' of weighty merit added to splendid skill"— all of which, if true, makes Ahem' a boxer whose presence will be urgently desired in Australia. He and "Jeff© Smith, for instance, would be a wonderful draw. ; ..' .