IN the Ring

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 83, 4 October 1924, Page 19

IN the Ring

EURDY RETURNS

UNSATISFACTORY CONDUCT OF OLYMPIC MEETING

YLEWS OF THE AUSTRALIANS.

Br "Milo."-

"The Post's" London correspondent has the following to say concerning' the activities of Purdy at' the Tailteann Games: —"ln the draw for the semifinals or the boxing, Purdy met Pat O'Hanrahan, England's best in the welters. The latter was outclassed in all phases of iis bout. Purdy was conceding weiglit {to his opponent, but this apparently was', no handicap. He gave one of the best exhibitions in the finer art of boxing that have been witnessed_ by' the prssent generation of enthusiasts. O'Hanrahan never could get near enough to his man to land a decent punch, while, on the other hand, Purdy was in and out like a piston, dodging, side-stepping, and swinging. Wizardry, says 'The Irish Independent/ would better describe his display. "In the opening round Purdy gave a. grand exhibition of side-stepping, and his general ringcraft puzzled O'Hanrahan, who hardly landed a "clean blow. Purdy, oh the other hand, was ' quick in landing and getting clear. The next round was a repetition, and the -New Zealander's cleverness at v times made O'Hanrahan look a mere novice. Purdy slipped to the floor a couple of times during the period. In the last he outboxed O'Hanrahan at all stages, and played a tattoo' on his opponent' 6 head without a return. Th e Englishman never troubled the New Zealander, who was the easiest of winners. "Purdy nest met P. Dwyer, the Irish champion, in the final, and won as he liked from him. . According to 'The Irish Independent,' his display stamped him as a past master in the. art of scientific boxing. His footwork and ringcraft made Dwyer look a novice. / The latter at times seemed mesmerised indeed. He took a lot of punishment and stuck gamely to his task, and occasionally he was seen to 6mile when he found that the New Zealander was not in that! part of the ring where he. had aimed his punch. ■ Purdy, who boxed lightweight at the Olympic Games, looks like developing into a heavy-weight if appearances go for anything. He is ideally built, with fine chest deevlopment and tapering - legs, which he, uses to play the part of 'will-o'-the-wisp' when in the ring. ■ "In the actual contest. Purdy wasvery, nippy on his feet, and made Dwyer miss repeatedly. He played with both hands to the head iii quick succession, and each time got clear.' His' duclSng and waiting for Dwyer to. lead, was a feature of the. session. Dwyer seldom landed a decent punch in the secbnd session, while his opponent was in amd out, jabbing and swinging' at will. He would vary his tactics, and play a tattoo on Dwyer's head. Dwyer caught his jaw a couple of times in the concluding round, but that was the only showing he had, and Purdy was an easy winner on points." All the boxers who competed in the Olympic Games seem to be agreed that the treatment they received was anything but fair. Purdy's complaints have already been ventilated, but, as yet* New Zealanders have heard very little as to the grievances of their Australian cousins, several of whom are absolutely disgusted with the Games and everything connected therewith. Prior to ■ the departure of the Tahiti for Sydney on Tuesday, this writer interviewed Roy Jones and Colin Sinclair, members of the Commonwealth boxing team, and they had much to.say about the general conduct of the.Olympiad. Joues, a well educated young man, of good address/ said that they would, have some difficulty on their return in. convincing their own people as to really how bad the conditions were.' "I know it. is 'rotten' to have to say it," he went on, "but those French judges were absolutely biased. I fought an American middleweight named Funck, and at the finish I was absolutely sure that I had won, but evidently the judges did not think sq for they gave the decision against me. Imagine it, I was supposed to fight at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, andj of course, I had; my'meal several hours beforehand, and Was ready to take the ring at the stipulated hour. However, it was not until after 2 o'clock the next morning when I crawledthrough the ropes. I had waited ten hours, unable to eat and expecting to be' called upon at;any moment. If that wouldn't give a man 'nerves' I don't know what Would." Another point which worried the Australians was the question of diet. They had previously been expected to have four week* in Paris, in which to train; but owing to a mishap to their boat, they were delayed for a. Week. This meant that they had three weeks in which to become acclimatised, and inwhich to train off all the superfluous flesh accumulated during the voyage. Sparring partners were at a discount, and there was hardly one of the Colonials who had the gloves on more than three times before going into the ring. As a matter of fact, Jardine, the heavyweight, was obliged to travel about ten miles out of town for his sparring, and then he had to pay for this out of his own pocket. "In Paris," declares Jones, "they don't know what a piece of steak is. How caii a man fight on salad for breakfast,, salad for luncheon, and more salad for dinner. I was absolutely pining for a thick piece of steak, but all that I could get seemed to be salad, heavily dressed with olive oil. It certainly was not a fighting man's diet, though some of the French dishes are very desirable from the non-combatant's point of view. However, the upshot of it was that I was visited by a plague of boils, which resulted in my developing two poisoned legs., The only thing which induced me to go into the ring under these circumstances was that I would have been ashamed to say I did not even 'start!' Then to cap it all I was robbed of the decision." Sinclair nodded his corroboration of all that had been said by his confrere. "I don't 'back and fill,' " he declared in his pure Australian dialect, "I am going to tell them everything when I go back and if they ever send a team away again, I hope it will be with. a proper manager for' the boxers alone." During the time that he was away, Purdy had numerous offers of contests from big promoters, but, of course, as he was away on New Zealand's business, he could scarcely avail himself of these. As to his prospects in the future, Purdy has little to say except that it is his' intention to join the ranks of the professionals and he will recommence training under his old manager, Henry Donovan, as soon as he has had a chance to regain his land legs. It is understood that the. Wellington Association has already made overtures to him in regard to a match, but it is only natural that he will desire to make his initial appearance as' a money-maker in his own homo town. Auckland.. In bis time he lias beaten some really good amateurs, and it does not seem much of a, ■ gamble to-, predict that as a professional, he will reach the vary top of tht pugilietic "tree. 'T don't wani.to Job tp> aw cf the

fruits of victory, but I do think that the present amateur' lightweight champion of the world should be Charlie Purdy." Thus spoke Mr. 0. G. H. Merrett, Vnanager of the Australian Olympic Games team at the civic reception tendered this combination -upon its return by the Tahiti. Mr. Merrett had much to say upon the splendid way in which the New Zealand boy. conducted himself both on the voyage over-and when on the Continent. "During our stay in Ireland, he was' the idol of the country, and no matter where we went/ everyone wanted to know, 'Where's Purdy? Which is Purdy?' He proved himself to be, without a doubt, a brilliant boxer,"

• "*? °T, ?** rdy him*elf, he cannot speak «» wo high terms of the fine way in which he was cared for by Mr. Merrett,but, of, course,.after all this gentlemanwas really the manager of the Australian team only and it was by his courtesy ' that Miss Shand and Rurdy were travelling with the representatives from the Commonwealth. Purdy's main regret is that he did not have someone to train him someone whom he'could confidently"' trust to work him down to his proper : weight and put him in the ring fresh and vimful,,not stale and tired .. .... It was wholly because..of this- lack.;. of a trainer that the New Zealand boy decided to box m the lightweight division and not to attempt to make the feather Imnt. On his own, he .would, not take the risk of trying to take off weight, and it must be admitted that he showed' good judgment in giving away a -few" pounds and fighting at his best, rather; than taking off-, ever so little weight anriV bemg, m cousequenc, weak and not him-' self. However, to this writer," the mainpoint seems to be not so. much in .which class he fought, as. what sort of a showing he made. The.answer is to be found' in Mr. Merrett's stateme£ts7'onceniing; the New, Zealander, and,though in.far ' away Maonland we certainly know how to take a defeat, still it -would not beto our credit if we did not place it on ■ record, that a man, or rather a boy, whom we had sent 14,000 miles to take' part m the greatest sports meeting in the^world, had not received - fair treatment.

There can be no question as. to Purdy ; pugilistic genius. ■'. He has engaged m sixty-two contests, and has-lost the decision on only three occasions, his . conquerors in order of time being MatHatton^ the Auckland featherweight; J y m ßarnes> the Petone "caveman" ;' and. Thorley, the exceedingly, lucky henchman. Jim Driscoll, known the world over as a fighter who in days gone by was almost invincible, saw Purdy in action and congratulated him on his fine showing. Driscoll expressed 'the oipmon.that the Maoriland boy was the most finished boxer he had ever seen, and though there is always the chancer that ! this old-tuner was drawing the "long bow, we who know Purdy's capabilities - have little reason to doubt that he. really meant what he said. ' While in France, Purdy had the opportunity of boxing with the, European ■ lightweight champion, Fred Bretonnel against whom the New Zealander wasreported to have shown to very good ad-' vantage. Bretonnel is a man who is quite capable of making any other fighter m the world step lively, so that m this instance, at least, Purdy has every reason to feel satisfied, with himself. It was almost amusing to hear the Aucklandere sorrowful tale as to his method of training when in Paris, where V • -*^ a t ■waking at the French Sporting Club. He had no one to keep time' for him when he skipped and punched the ball, so he was obliged, to. keep one eye on the task in hand,.be.it turning' the. rope or damaging the punch- baby while his other optic was continually ona '"6* ol°ck which was' fixed to the wall. By these unsatisfactory means, he managed to regulate his spells of work, but hardly with dependable ad curacy. Lone-handed gymnasium work!' bolitary confinment without .even "the bread and water! The mere thought is anathema to the ordinary pugilist, yet here was a young man who was representing his country at a world's meeting! -.■■...

At least one bright patch in the tour, or, perhaps,, one of many, was the trip to Ireland, where New Zealand, Australia, and six other countries Were represented in the historic Taelteahn Games. Purdy f who won the welter division of the boxing tournament, describes the Irish people as the "greatest sports in the world," and Ireland and the^ Irish was a subject which he never seemed to tire of discussing. As proof of .his success, he displayed a thirtyguinea cup and a fifteen-guinea medal, both of them particularly handsome trb- ' phies. Both O'Dwyer and O'Hallorari, his opponents in the ring; were men who had previously performed with marked - success at the Olympic Games, but evidently neither of them had a sufficient . speed or cleverness to make a fight of it with the Maorilander. • •■••..-

The annual boxing -tourngr 'of_ the Christchurch Roys' High School'was' held last week, when a"fit""lot "of youngsters provided a good evening's sport. The chief defects ware a marked failure to use the straight"left.and poorness in footwork. A. E." G. Stir-ling,-winner of the Christchurch Sports Club's light-weight championship^ \is, of course, the school star, and he was unopposed in the under. lOst 10lb class." Most impressive of those; who had' -to battle for honours. was ' Collins,- "runnerup in the under 8.10 class. He was narrowly beaten by a fresher boy at the conclusion of his third hard fight, but he distributed a good straight left'biv appropriate _occasions ( and generally gave a promising exhibition. ■?

The next tournament at Wellington will be on. 20th inst., when Em Baxter and darrie Blackburn are, to step, 15 rounds. Baxter knocked out Seaman Ridgeway at Napier on Saturday,night in the fourth round. . The sailor was never in the hunt.

Youth was again served at New Plymouth on Saturday night when Paul Demsky knocked out Lin Robinson, vet/, eran featherweight champion, in the sixth round of a scheduled fifteen-round contest. Demsky, at 9st 121b,' had theadvantage of 81b in weight* but, ...of . course, the main asset he possessed wash's youthful strength and stamina-with, which the glove-worn Robinson had little, to cope. However, his gameness made ' up for his many other shortcomings, and after being down for "seven" early in the initial ro.und, he fought back pluck- . ily and was still willing to proceed, when the referee stopped the contest in the sixth round to save him from fur--, ther unnecessary punishment. Many, ringsiders were of the opinion that Demsky could have, terminated the proceedings very much earlier had he so desired. Mr. Alan Maxwell was the third man, in the ring, and showed very : good ) judgment in intervening at the correct moment. . .

A new departure in the staging'of a boxing contest will be undertaken by tho Christchurch Sports' Club oh 11th November, when Paul Demsky and Clarrie Blackburn are to meet. The - fight will take place in open air at the English Park, which will be lighted by powerful arcs. A Canterbury ehthusiast writes to say that in.his opinion the club are taking a big risk, for there is always the pos'sibilty of a sudden rain storm. In any case, he points out. the accommodation at the park is not all that it should be. . It is situated on the outskirts of Christchurch, well into the suburbs, and our correspondent asks: "Do' you think that a fight staged at Athletic Park would be a success V' Our answer* is a >;ery decided. negitiY*s- '•