AMATEUR BOXING

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 240, 11 July 1928, Page 12

AMATEUR BOXING

WELLINGTON CHAMPIONSHIPS NEW TITLE HOLDERS First-class entertainment was provided at the Town Hall last night, when the finals for the Wellington Boxing Association's 11)28 amateur championships were decided. The standard of boxing throughout was of a most creditable standard, particularly the display given by the bantamweight champion, C. Hurne, who was awarded the Jamieson Cup for the most scientific boxer at the tournament. The showing made by L. Turner, of Blenheim, who annexed both the middle and lightheavy championships, was also above the average, while the heavy-weights who appeared were superior to any who have appeared iu a local ring for some years past. The 1928 title holders arc as follow:— Paper-weight—L. E. Higgs. Fly-weight—ll. M. Knopp. Bantam-weight—C. Hurne. Feather-weight—G. Thomas. Light-weight—H. Rathner. Welter-weight—P. J. Stone. Middle-weight—L. Turner. , 1 Light-heavy-weight—L. Turner. Heavy-weight—B. Hooper. The Feathers. G. Thomas (Bst. lOJlb.) met H. F. Thomas (Bst. 1211 b.) in the semi-final of the featherweight division. The brothers got to work right away, and a willing opening round was witnessed. The exchanges were fierce,' and the pace fast, both puttting power behind their blows, a solid left from George brought claret from Harold’s nose in the first round. Harold evened up with nice straight lefts in the second session, but his brother was most pugnacious, and kept after his man all the time. They boxed at a fast clip throughout, and the crowd (enjoyed the clever displaj-. The third round was a thriller, and roused the house to enthusiasm. Though smothered in gore, Harold kept both hands going freely to keep off Lis pugnacious brother. Both scored well with the left in the final session. A willing bout, in which both lads displayed more than average ability, ended in a verdict for George Thomas, the decision being earned by reason of the fact that lie led throughout. • Hearty applause followed the brothers as they left the ring. M. White forfeited to G. Thomas iu the final. Bantam-weight. The final of the bantam-weight class was fought out between C. Hurne (Bst. UJlb.) and M. White (Sst. 21b.). Though Hurne had the advantage in height and reach, his stocky opponent was full ot figtu. and they made the pace so willing iu ihe opening round that,, both bore traces of the fray. Hurne clapped on the pace in the second session, and did some effective two-handed boxing. They traded blows freely in the second session, Hurne being the faster of the pair, but being met'halfway by his plucky opponent. 1 Hurne used his left to good effect in the last round, and scored repeatedly with tjlis weapon, and also brought the right info play towards the close, badly battering his opponent. Hurne. who showed class, won by a substantial margin of points, lint While was warmly applauded for the brave showing he had made. - . ~ ' Ugh t-llca vy-wei gilt. L. Turner, of Blenheim (list. 41b.) and W. I’earee (list. 101 b.) battled out the final in the light-heavy class. They opened at a brisk clip, and there was plenty doing in the first round, of whlc'li the Blenheim man had the better by reason of .good two-handed work. Pearce tried hard to land with his heavily-loaded right, but Turner was too wary. ■ They opened the second round in hurricane style., but soon steadied down to soberer tactics. There was a good deal of clinching in the last round, i’earee tried bard for an uppercut, hut the Blenheim man proved 'himself the cleverer boxer, and won by a comfortable margin. It, was a willing bout. Taper-weight. L. E. Higgs and S. Bloomfield, both of whom scaled list. 111 b., gave a bright little display in the final of the paper-weight, division. The former had the advantage of height and reach, and was also faster than his opponent, and took the verdict wifii points to spare. Fly-weight. The final in the fly-weight class saw H. M. Knopp (7st. 101 b.) and K. Webb (7st. 711 b.) iu the ring. The latter, who won the title last year, struck a Tartar in Knopp, who had a good deal the best of the opening round. Using both hands cleverly. Knopp played a tattoo oh his opponent’s head in tiic second session. Webb warmed to his work in the last round, and evened up a good deal, but 'his opponent fought hack strongly, and rightly received the decision. Welter-weight. J. St’rangc and P. J. Stone, who met in the final of the welter-weight class, both scaled lilst. 71b. Stone was taller, and had an advantage in reach, and ills shorter opponent had difficulty in getting near

I him. Stone warmed to it in the second I round, and had all the best of the argument. Strange was inclined to hold, and I one or two of his blows landed low. Stone ' forged ahead so forcibly iu the third round that the referee intervened, and awarded him the verdict. There bad only been one lad in it from start to finish. Light-weight. 11. liuthner (Ost. 101 b.) proved too fast and clever for W. Greathead in the final for the light-weight class. The Petone man, however, was game to the core, and, though battered about in every round, made a great light of it. He was warmly applauded for his game showing. ’ Middle-weight. L. Turner had a walk-over in the middleweight class, owing to C. Waite having injured a hand on the opening night. Heavy-weight, C. E. Pickrang (lust.) met B. Hooper (list.) in the final of the heavy-weight class. Though the Poneke Rugby forward had the advantage of a stone in weight, this was balanced by the superior height and reach of the member of the local police force, who shaped better than any heavy-weight who has appeared in a local ring for a long time. It was a case of a boxer against a fighter pure and simple. The policeman showed good footwork, and hit straighter and cleaner than his husky opponent. Both hit hard during the three rounds, and the big fellows roused the house to a high pitch of excitement as they hurled high explosives at eicb other. In the opening round, the policeman took a lot of steam out of. the Rugby player with a solid right to the midriff. Pickrang was game and vainly strove for a knock-out with the right, but Hooper only allowed this heav-ily-loaded weapon to land once. It was the best heavy-weight contest, seen for quite a while, and was full of thrills throughout. Hooper rightly got the verdict, and deserved it, as he did most of the leading and hit cleaner and straighter. A feature of the tournament was the soundness of the judging, every decision being correct, though many of the contests were close. Mr. Earl Stewart again acted as referee last night, while the judging was done by Messrs. P. W. Woods. B. A. Guise, J. E. Staples, E. Perry, G. Mellish, H. Hull, and A. Maxwell.' . During the evening Harry Casey, professional middle-weight champion of New Zealand, who is to,meet Jack Carroll, welterweight champion of Australia, at the Wellington Town Hall on July 23, was introduced to the audience OTAGO CONTESTS By Telegraph.—Press Association. . Dunedin, July It). The following ' contests have been arranged by the Otago Boxing Association:— July 21—Johnny Leckie v. Norman lU’dford.x July 28 —Tommy Griffiths v. Tommy Barber. August 4—Tommy Griffiths v. Norman Radford. August 11—Johnny Leckie v. Tommy Barber. July 27—Otago championships.

OPENING TOURNEY AT PAHIATUA SOME- SPIRITED BOUTS . Dominion Special Service. Pahiatua, July 10: The Pahiatua Boxing Association held its first tournament in the King's Theatre to-night, Jwlicn the building was packed to the doors, many enthusiasts beiug present from surrounding centres. The form displayed was highly creditable for .-in inaugural tournament, and proved that there is plenty of promising material in the district. Air. Nelson AlcKnight. of Palmerston North, made a capable referee. and the tourney was well managed by the officials of the newly-formed association. - Tlie results are as follow:— Light-weight. The contest between F. Hogan (Daunevirke) and Johnny Beech (Pahiatua) was the best of the evening. The lads, who had boxed a draw recently in Palmerston North, went at each other hammer and tongs,, and had the audience standing up most of the time. A thrilling encounter saw the decision go to Beech. Paperweight.' " A Scrimshaw beat; Paul Robertson. ' Sefton Wnlsb beat George Burgess. ■Birnie Vile drew with Jack Quirk. J. Davies beat George Jones. Featherweight. A r . Price (Feilding) and Candy (Palmerston North) boxed a draw. Jack Crowley and Roy Fowry boxed an exhibition bout, and Crowley gave an exhibition spar with Ted Oxley, a promising Pahiatua boy. Middleweight. I AlcDonald (Te Kuiti) and F/ Halpin (Woodville) boxed a draw. Hepburn (Feilding) and Bob Holden (Ruawbata) met. the former gaining tlie decision on points. '