NOTES AT RANDOM

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 30, 4 August 1923, Page 22

NOTES AT RANDOM

The general display of the team ■which .represented Wellington at the North Island" Championship Meeting at Napier las week was on the whole very satisfactory, although there is absolutely no reason why more than two of the titles should not have been brought back to the Capital City. C. M'Eae, the big policeman, who came out on top in the heavyweight division, and Mark Carroll, the commensurately small North Island* bantamweight champion, are to be commended for their efforts, particularly the J latter, who only tips the bea;» at 7st 101b, and is therefore really a flyweight, but who boxed out of his class to enable Jeffrey, to make-.the trip as t£e\ representative in this division. The lastmentioned did not survive one bout and went down, after a very willing encounter over three rounds, to J. O'Sullivan, of Auckland. Carroll's first bout was' with G. Cemmick, another Auclriander, who in the- opening round seemed to know too. much for the Wellington lad. Eound two saw Carroll using both hands .well, and, maintaining his lead in the third, he gained a popular decision. In the final with R. Froward, of Wanganui, Carroll went in to fight his man, and both lads stood toe to toe, and exchanged punches freely. The Wellingtonian connected with a succession of three hard right crosses to the jaw in-the second round, 'and although Froward replied ■with a snappy left, he was obviously in trouble when the gong sounded. The Wanganui representative rallied wonderfully towards the end'of the.bouj,, and piled up points by his frequent use of a snappy straight left,, but Carroll hit away merrily with both weapons, and gained the verdict, and incidentally the North Island bantamweight title. It ■was a splendid bout, and both boys were loudly cheered as they left the ring. The Petone fighter, W. H. Barnes, created quite a sensation by his unexpected defeat of C. Purdy, of Auckland, the Australasian featherweight champion. Acting on the advice of veteran Tim- Tracy, who officiated as trainer-sec-ond to the Wellington boys, Barnes sprang for. his opponent with the opening gong, swinging freely with both hands. Purdy had to back-move to keep out of trouble, and once. .Barnes got him "on the run" vhe kept him retreating , and would not allow him a- moment's respite in which ..to fair into his stride. The Petone boy swung, hooked, and ripped from every possible angle, forcing his man to ,ihe ropes and connecting heavily as he -rebounded. . The final round saw Barnes very tirod'. but the pace alsn had told on- the badly-punished champion,who co;ild not take advantage of his opponent's lack of energy. The decision in favour of Barnes was the signal for uproarious cheering. In the final with C. Lane, of Hastings, Barnes employed the same forceful tactics, which gained for him the decision over'Purdy. " "He made the fight all the way, and'appeared to_ have won fairly comfortably, but the judges disagreed, and the referee decided in favour of Lane. The house ■voiced its disapprovr.l by much hooting and counting-out.

There was"very little in the bout, between J. Napier, our lightweight champion, and S:;>Hogan, of Hastings, who was somewhat of a comedy performer, but nevertheless had Napier considerably bustled. The Wellington boy secured the decision, but went down in his next tout to I. Scarie, of Napier, who gained the verdict after an unexciting, though nevertheless interesting encounter. A great fight between Val. Gunnion (Wellington) and F. Domini (Gisborne) in the semi-final of the middleweight resulted in a win for the latter by a very narrow .margin; The local boy is said to have put up a splendid exhibition in a bout,\the main feature of which was the Hard-hitting policy adopted' by both, men. There was little between the contestants, although the correct decision went to Domini, who subsequently defeated R. Meale, the Australasian titleholder Domini had the champion groggy on several occasions. There was never any doubt as to whom the judges yrould name.

Our optimistic light-heavyweight, V. Blair, was treated with scant courtesy by A. Firth, the Auckland "k.0." artist, who, thirty seconds after the opening gong' dropped the Wellington man for the count with a. left hook to the midriff. Firth had little difficulty in gaining the decision'in the final with N. Straffon, the Wanganui policeman, who will be remembered as. the chief sparring partner of Australian George, Cook when the last-mentioned ' was in New Zealand. Firth sent his man down for seven in the opening round, and held the upper hand all through the bout by his forceful tactics. Straffon displayed' considerable cleverness; but his rugged opponent carried too many guns for him.

A very feeble resistance was made by S. Lewis, of Napier, against Chris M'Eae, Wellington's pugilistic policeman. In the opening round M'Rae landed a light left-right to the face, and following up by a right to the nose, sent Lewis to the boards, where he remained'on his knees and took the count, amid much exhortation to "get up." The loser's display was most disappointing.

As a result of the meeting, the following are tho holders of the various North Island titles:—Paperweight, J. Young (Napier); flyweight, A. Wilmot (Hastings) ; bantamweight, M. Carroll (Wellington) ; featherweight, C. Lane (Hastings) ; lightweight, J. Smith (Taumaranui); welterweight, A. Hay (Wanganui); middleweight, F. Domini (Gisborne); 1 light-heavyweight, A. Firth (Auckland); heavyweight, C. M'Rae (Wellington).