In the Ring

Evening Post, Issue 88, 12 April 1924, Page 19

In the Ring

BV'MILO"

'VARSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS

TO BE HELD HERE AT EASTER

SMITH AND DUPEE DRAW.

One of the real sporting attractions of the holidays will be the" New Zealand University boxing championships, which will be decided at ihe Town Hall on Easter Saturday. Boxing in the four colleges is,.' as a tournament event, a post-war addition, though tha Victoria College Boxing Club was in existence long before the big disturbance in Europe, and one of t the most prominentmembers of those far-away days -*as the capable referee of the- Wellington Boxing Association, Mr. Earle ("Mick") Stewart. Easter Saturday will be "the fifth occasion on which the ''champion"- • ships have been contested. Local enthusiasts still have a vivid recollection-of 1920, the first year of the championships which were held in Wellington. .Even' 'then the boxing Was of a high standard, but each subsequent yaar it has improved, and some oJ the college pugilists 'would seriously bother outside amateurs. ■ Always a "feature of then- work is the willingness with which they set about the task before them, and some of the bouts are responsible for thrills rarely seen in contests >. among cleverer town boys. ' " Championships "are to be awarded in each.of the six weights, heavy, middle, welter, light, feather, and bantam, and all four Uni%'ersity colleges are to be represented in every class. The preliminary elimination contests will be fought in tne afternoon, and in tke evening the six finals, a bout between two local amateurs, mid an exhibition by%a duo of professionals will constitute the programme., In view of the fact that tha championships are not only for mdi-,, vldual. advancement, but ako count for' points in the shield competition, it 'seems that every battle will De fought out iv Uie final jjong, and intending patruns can expect sonic strenuously contested encounters. ' . ■ The nnal elimination bouts to decide ■the waul w represent Victoria College were held at the college gymnasium on Wednesday, when the wiiowing repre : sentatives were chosen:—A. 1). Al'Kiie, heavyweigut; " X • C. • Miller, middleweight; V. tf. Coningham, welterweight; is". J. Lewis, jJghtweight; 0. E. Ball, featherweight; and 1. W. Wilby, bantamweight. Al'Eae is tJjp veteran of the team, and won hia "blue" in 1920, white UoniDgham aiid Lewis also have competed with considerable success in • previous tournaments-. Miller, and Ball are two hard-hitting boys who prefer to tight all. the way, while the uantam representative, Wilby> is a fast and clever ■ boxer. It seems that this year, appearing in the own home town, the V. U,C. men.should more than hold tlieir own with the representatives of other colleges^ The only other team of which the personnel is available is Otago, wnose heavyweight king, J. G. LecJiie, k thu Southland amateur champion, and was last year the runner-up in the light-. heavyweight division ot the New Zealand open championships. He is.a member of a noted lamily of. pugilists. The middleweight, H, B. Ifyie, is what is colloquially called "a freak tighter." He stands 6ft 4jin in his socks, is a cool boxer with a tremendous reach, and has a sufficiently hard punch to stop anyone who is unlucky enough to coma within range. -A. L. Thwigg, the welterweight/ has a splendid style, and should be hard to beat. L. C. Cotter is the present holder of the lightweight title, a good man, clever, fast, and resourceful. The featherweight, P.' W. Aitken, is reported to have improved out of sight since last year, so that he should be favourite for the honours. J. E. 8.. Paterson, the bantamweight, is the present championship holder, and will take quite a lot of dethroning. A whirlwind boxer, he has improved hia timing since last year, and now' carries more sting in his blows. He will stoutly oppose any attempt to take away his title. The tournament generally, and the boxing in particular, should this ■ year be eminently successful, and indications point to t^is year's gathering outshining any of tne previous "meetings. ■. • «■

Enthusiasts from all parts of the Coast were treated to a splendid exhibition of-the glove game on Saturday night at \Vestport, t where Freddie.Smith, and Andre Dapre met in a return match over ttie full journey of fifteen rounds. The Frenchman easily secured the honours on the previous • occasion that the pair crossed gloves, but this time Smith showed remarkably improved form, and although the decision, a draw, met with a- splendid reception from a crowded house, the majority were of the opinion that Smith had just shaded Ids opponent. However; the husky young Australian, wlien in conversation with this writer, expressed his satisfaction with the finding, and added that it was, a great fight from the opening gong. He said that the officials gave him <i splendid time, and'he particularly wished to thank Messrs. Parkey and Jenkins, who had worked hard to make his stay a pleasant one. Dupre is now in Auckland, in readiness to catch the boat back to Sydney. - Both Tommy Fairhall and Havilab Uren, who are to meet over a scheduled fifteen rounds course at the' Opera House on Monday evening, worked out to-day, and will now "lay off" until it is time to take the ring. The boys are fit and well, and a great battle should result. ; ■ ' Mark Corroll, holder of the North Island bant*jn-weight title, has at last succeeded in obtaining a match with the Dominion champion, Tommy Griffiths, of Dunedin. The Tracy representative, it will be remembered, along with the other members of the Wellington team, was debarred- from competing in the New "Zealand meeting-, and the title was annexed by the present holder. Carroll was confident that he could beat any other boy his weight in the country, and since then has tried consistently to get into the ring with Griffiths to prove who is the better man of the twain. The Ashburton Association has matched them for 30th April, when they will- "box six rounds for a handsome trophy donated by one of the southern sports. It should be a great little argument while it lasts, and local enthusiasts look to Carroll to carry off the honours. The Wellington boy is also due to meet Childs over sis rounds at Stratford on Wednesday, when the association in this district is holding an amateur tournament. Bert Ristuccia, the young Australian feather-weight, gives every promise of developing into a champion. His .latest victim is the recently-arrived Englishman. George Fox, who was forced lo cry enough after having travelled only seven of the scheduled twenty rounds";it the Sydney Stadium last Saturday cveninc;. The visitor was hopelessly outclassed^ and. was in.a particularly battered condition wheu he acknowledged defeat. Draw- . uoa the ridiculous line through perform-

'ances, it .seems that" our own Charlie' Piirdy has every claim to be sent to tie Olympic Games after having twice defeated -Ristuccia, when that worthy was an amateur. P. ' M'&enna, a southern heavyweight, who claims victories over A. M'Cormack and Eddie. Parker, the present light-heavy;., and -middle-weight champions, is anxious to' meet M'Cormack in ■a professional! bout! .All that is now needed is some association to match tha -PS?:. ; : * Gene Volaire, Ike Kutner's popular French battler, has been matched to meet Les Murray, the lightweight champion, at Dunedin on, 7th May. The' New Zealander's title will not be in dispute, but the boys will argue for the larger percentage of a purse of. £150. j.iiis _ pair.; previously crossed gloves •- on Wellington, Murray winning on a foul" in the thirteenth round, when he had a slight lead in points. ,The result of this return match will be awaited with interest. ■ ' Another optimistic visitor from the Northern Hemisphere in the shape of the Hebrew bantam-weight, ■ Harry Aarons, was badly handled by George Mendies at the Melbourne Stadium last Saturday night, and, in fact, received such severe punishment that when only three rounds had elapsed, the referee intervened and declared m favour of the local man. The laser/ who hails from Brixton, London, • Should certainly be the classy' boxer he' claims to bo, as in four years he has had one hundred fights, winning seventy.. Ten of the victories were on points, ona on a foul, and the remainder he won by. stopping his opponents. He has travelled'! twenty rounds with Bugler Lake, the youthful ■ex-champion of Europe, and, while on tour of the States beat some-V good men. However, he did not go. very i iar with Mendies, and from the1 sparse ■ reports to hand it seems that he never looked like a winner.. : Bick Nixon is boxing in great form,.' ™,'«1« confident that.he can beat". Jiadie Ivapier on Monday evening. Na-' pier has similar feelings towards Nixon; so that the audience can look forward .to' an interesting encounter;- ' .. : Percy Black, of.the Tracy School isdue to -meet Gardiner, of the same stable," m a return match -under the Wellington', Association at its May tournament •' Uardmer is a strong, hard-hittinsr bovfrom Masterton. , •. "7 '■Thus'the Sydney' "Fairplay " on" Sid.' (Hyam) Brickman, who recently return-'.' ad to Wellington from the Commonwealth: " Sid Brickmah, on the strength of his alleged great Australian■ 'record,"■ is to meet Charlie Cann for th« bantam! championship of New Zealand ' Brick-' man claims_ victories, on this aide over! i'rank Finnic. Bob East, and Sid Shan-' iion. but he will some day wake np tofind it Was only a dream.- He beat Fin-' ni& on points at Leeton over a fifteen-"1 rounds contest. Prior to ttait date Fin-i me had appeared in about three heats "of! a novice tourney, held at "Auburn, andi was beaten in tw o four-rhund contests' at the Hippodrome, where he accounted! for Ccc Whitty on points. For his contest with Brickman^ Whitty travelled1' all night, and landed at the town in; which-they fought at 3.30 in the afte*-' noon of .the day of. battle.. The boy wasnot well, yet for ten rounds he had the" better of his older, better-conditioned;'; a-nd more experienced opponent; ■". buttiring from the tenth" to the fifteenth'; he enabled Brickman to mate up' lost ground, and win by a slight margin. ' ihe Aew Zealander did not meet Shan--nOn," >,He backed out of a- contest with' led Nelson, and another, in -which he was to have met Mick Walker at New--.castle.- As to a meeting with .East, well, how absurd is such a statement is 'shown' by the fact that the last-named is V strong, hard-hitting welter." ■ The Hawkes Bay Association proposes holding .a tournament on: 17th .' May', when several amateur bouts and a■p^ofe'"6-' slonal contest will be staged. •-EugenoYoilaire is to appear'against an opponent"yet to be chosen. In the same way as the shoemaker of pld was firmly . convinced a eandal skin; provided food lor thought, so the modern trainer of pugilistß is equally well versed' in the philosophy of a "rub-down." One particularly .astute manager remarked the other day that ""good fighters'.'", don't' need rubbing,', and bad fighters are" hot: worth it. This"was not his only out-' burst of wisdom, for/ in addition, 'he. gave it out that '.'if a.'man., is; a gbocL boxer he's an idol,, and if.-he is not he's. also idle." There are few ringmen who are fortunate enough to, be in a posi-1 tion; to deny this latter statement,;... .."^ It will be some time before.followers of the fistic- game forget the exhibition thai Fred Fulton, the giant plasterer, gave with his left hand, in his bout with". "Tiny". Herman.... When he,cares to /useit. Fulton has one of the ■ best lefts'of. modern heavy weights'.' and "on this psir-C ticular occasion he,, did care. Out shot the left glove, with something resembling a piston-rod behind it, and—well, no man could be expected to stand up to an animated battering ram. . Ernie Goozeman," well-known in Australia, took a good decision at Chicago recently. His opponent, George Butch,' was badly punished over' ten rounds, and the verdict' t went the only possible way. ' ' ' . Appearing at Boston, Roland Todd,the Knglish middleweight,- was declared the loser to Jock Molone, of St. Paul,- -after ten hard-fouofht rounds. The verdict met with a hostile reception. * Harry Stone-writes to say that he is fit: and well and ready to take the ring with any man in the country. ': He makes no stipulation as to weight, and is prepared' to oblige any association at any time.