In the Ring

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 119, 23 May 1925, Page 19

In the Ring

by "MILO"

THE NEWi CHAMPIONS

LOCAL AMATEURS SHOW GOOD FORM

HUGHIE DWYER FAR FROM: SATISFIED.

Taken generally, the standard oi boxing at the Wellington Amateur Championship meeting was fairly high. From the spectators' point oT view, the bill of fare for the whole tournament could scarcely have been improved upon, for every contestant, whether winning' easily or hopelessly outclassed, fought to tho utmost of his ability, and in cases where boys, failed to go the distance, it was certainly not for the want of determination. Every fight "fan" knows that it is a physical impossibility for a man who has stopped a punch squarely on the point to remain on his feet, and those competitors who failed to see out the scheduled three rounds have nothing of which to be ashamed. For the moment, it is sufficient to say that the tournament as a whole was a pronounced success, and it received public patronage on a scale which has never previously been extended to a local championship meeting in the Capital City. Amateur championship meetings are always well attended, but the Town Hall on Monday and Tuesday evenings was packed to its utmost capacity. A Regrettable Feature. The one unfortunate feature of the meeting was the decision awarded D Livingstone, who eventually won the featherweight title, over Mick Gastein, Denny Murphy's featherweight star I his writer has approached many competent judges in this matter, and 'all have expressed the opinion that Gastem won by the proverbial street. One can always allow a little "give and take" in the case of a close fight, 'but when a boy wins every round, and finishes with a large margin of points in Ins iavour, it is only reasonable to suppose that the verdict should be in his iavour. The judges, Messrs. J. E Staples and P. W. Woods, were unanimously in favour of Livingstone but this writer feels confident that were the referee, Mr. Earl Stewart, to be approached in the matter, he would have no hesitation in disassociating himself with the verdict. There is no question that Eastern should be tha present featherweight champion, and "Milo" is firmly of the opinion that he would have a. very good chance of winning the New Zealand championship. His cloves were never really off Livingstone's face and body, and he connected at will with both hands. Livingstono is .a, good tough boy with a great heart, but he is not m the same class as Gastein. The loser is quite capable of making matters interesting for any featherweight in the game, and by the decision of the judges Wellington has lost a potential New Zealand cnampion.

Morgan Fights Well. _ The winner of the lightweight title, Ted Morgan, is -one of the most promising boys that has been seen in action in the Town Hall for quite a long while. A clever, versatile fighter, he can box in both the "southpaw" and orthodox styles with equal ease, and the improvement he has shown since as a flyweight he beat Norman M'Arthur is remarkable, to say the least of it. Some time ago ho had the advantage of working with that once brilliant Australian, Harry Holmes, and the latter evidently succeeded in imparting more than a little of his pugilistic knowledge to the Wellington boy. Jack Rodda came all the way from Blenheim to once more try his luck with Morgan, but, although lie made a great fight of it, he was just beaten by a shade. There were many in the hall who would have given the verdict to the Marlborough boy, but to this writer it seemed that Morgan "just <rot there." Livingstone, from Palmerston North, took a bad lacing from Morgan, but ho made a splendid showinn- for all that. He fought . back strongly rin-ht till the final gong, just before which he had been dropped with a beautiful left to tile point. Though Morgan , "socked" him with everything in his armament, the Manawatu lad always came back for more. The hardest proposition with which Morgan had to deal was Wally Greathead, whom it will be remembered was unlucky last year not to receive the decision over Percy Charles. Morgan, aftei his strenuous battle with Livingstone, was not as 'fresh as he might haye 3 been^ and he took the first round rather easily.' The points in this session were easily m favour of Greathead, who also seemed to do more than hold his own in the second stanza. The filial round was fairly even, perhaps a shade in favour oi Morgan. The judges disagreed, and the referee decided in favour of the boy from the Tracy School. Greathead, who is from the Miramar Boxing Club, supervised by Herb O'-Donohoo and company, is a greatly improved boxer, and ho gave a very convincing display. He has evidently profited a great deal by the teaching of the club's honorary instructors, Messrs. Oscar Armstrong and Max Gornik. The Bigger Men. The welter-weights as a cluss (there were three of them) were decidedly poor although the winner, Charlie Brown' might make a good boxer with the ri"ht teaching. Tonics, from the Miramar School, went very close to beatinn- him, but Billy Pearce, from whom ° «reat things were once expected, failed rather miserably in comparison with the early promise he showed. Eddie Napier, who was originally to have been a competitor in this class, would have had no difficulty in securing the title. There were only two starters in the middle-weight Fred Davis, from Billy Smith's fower Hutt School, and R. Hill, who was seconded by Denny Murphy. Davis, slimlv built but strong-hearted, was the more scientific of the pair, but he could not stand up to Hill's heavy punching He took a lett swing on the jaw in the second round, and went down for the full count. Hill's punch is the only asset in his outfit.

With the Heavy Brigade. Two big fellows, Bob Fitzsimmons and Gerald Evatt, clashed in the final of the light-heavyweight division Evatt who had previously beaten B.'Franklin in two rounds, made a promising opening, and he kept up a barrage of punches which kept Fitzsimmons on the defensive. Fitzsimmons showed to better advantage in tho second round,- however, and ho loosed a-volley of punches which had his opponent snioilierui"- to save himself from trouble. Evatt "anic back strongly in the linal round, and a lmnt-h to t-Jic" liioui.h caused l<"il/.simiiiuii.s's lip to become impaled on his eye tooth. A cessation of hastilitics was nccessarv in order to allow this matter to be adjusted, and. tho boyu Uwn gut, u> worts L uguia. The i-erdlet m {avow at Vifa

simmons met with a hostile reception, and, though there was not much between the boys, Evatt seemed to have a- little on his opponent at the finish. He was eager to meet Fitzsimmons again in the heavy-weight final, but the latter announced that he was not starting, and tho title therefore went to' "Eva-tfc by default.'

Some Clever Little Fellows. Little difficulty -was experienced by Harry Barlow's fiy-weighl; champion, Clarrie Woods, in retaining his title, and young Cotlerill was the only lad who gave him much trouble. His opponent in the final, C. Hume, showed some pretty boxing at times, but Woods was I too strong for him. A great little fight was provided by the two competitors in the paper-weight—A. W. Campbell and 11. Thomas. The latter had tho advantage of about six or eight inches in height over his shifty little opponent, but this did not seem to bother the little fellow at all. He made the fight all the way, and even when occasionally speared right on the end of a snappy straight left, he came back smiling and fought hard till the final gong. He showed extaordinary cleverness for one so small, and tho crowd greatly appreciated his showing. Though Thomas won, he was far from having matters all 'his own way. Some good boys took the ving in the bantam-weight class, in which . division the ultimate winner was A. M. Birch. Birch is a boy with a very awkward style, and it was mainly through his unorthodox tactics that he managed to win out. H. Larsen, of Harry Barlow's school, showed great form, but h& tired very quickly iii the final with Birch, and-lost by a narrow margin of points! F. Maloney made a good showing against Larson in one of the semi-fiiials. Teddy Priestley, who was generally fancied as the boy who would secure the title, easily beat hia first opponent, but Birch's awkward style- affected his judgment, and he was unable to connect with any of his heavy stuff. Young Jack Crowley, had he been physically fit to compete, would not have found much trouble in setting to the final. • The failure of some of the boys to make the weight, and the neglect of some (intentionally or otherwise) to put in an appearance at all, mnde the task of the officials responsible for the draw quite unenviable. In view of the many eleventh-hour alterations and adjustments, the tournament was handled in very satisfactory style. The referee was, of course, Air. Earl Stewart ■ Messrs. J. E. Staples, B. A. Guise, P. AY. Woods, and George Aldridge acted as judges: the time-keepers were Messrs. T. H. Coltman and A. Laurenson.• official seconds, Messrs. George Mellish and H. Hull; announcer, Mr. Arthur Curtayne ; and stage manager, Mr. Ned Perry. After the Storm. A fighter is never beaten until the decision has been given against him. Frank Keith gave G. Adams, of Billy Smith's School, a bad beating for a round and a half on Monday evening, but during the second stanza Adams became tired o£ being receiver-all. A short right hand punch caught Keith squarely on the point and he dropped as if he had been shot. As he was being dragged to his cornor for resuscitation purposes, the orchestra, ■ whether intentionally, or by accident, commenced to play "After the Storm!" Those musical- men are quite irrepressible. They will have their little joke.

Dwyer Dissatisfied. "I won every round." Thus Hughie Dwyer on his recent contest at Dunedin with Lochie M'Donald. holder of the New Zealand middleweight title. Dwyer called on this writer the other day, when he made what seemed to be a very genuine complaint against the decision of the judges in favour of M'Donald. "I don't want it to appear that I am squealing," he said, "but I beat M'Donald every round. I hit him when and where I liked, and as a matter of fact 1 almost got sick of punching him." M'Donald, according to the ex-lightweight champion, is nothing more than a big, strong, boy. "Back home," he said, meanincr in Australia, "he would not win a teiv rounder. His strength and toughness are all that there is to him." Having thus expressed himself, the Australian seemed to be in a, better frame of mind, but he was still obviously "sore" over the treatment he had received. The referee, Mr. Jack KilmaTtin, he added., entirely dissociated himself with the verdict.of the judges, Messrs. P. Huston and D. M. Paterson. The referee, according to an exchange, thought that Dwyer had won | easily. The same journal expresses the opinion that M'Donald was the winner. Les Murray, New Zealand lightweight champion, and Laurie O'Neill, amateur middleweight, champion, who were at the ringside, both thought that Dwyer won with a big margin to spare. "I 'feel like I have sometimes felt before," Dwyev continued. "I could almost throw all my geov into the harbour and never touch a, glove again." Members of the association, he went on, were quite convinced that he had won decisively. He was given his end of the purse, without the deduction of the usual percentages, as balm for his hurt feelings. An endeavour was being made, he said, to arrange a return match for ?.9th inst. Kb was prepared to fight M'Donald in Dunedin, the New Zealandef's home town, and on a winner-takes-all basis, provided that the referee officiate without the assistance of judges. A proposal which suited him nicely had been made, that Mr. Earl Stewart, of Wellington, should act as third man. Jack Donnelly, who trains Dwyer, was disgusted with the decision, and he was of the opinion that his charge had "won by a street." Dwyer several times wanted to'step in with a view to stopping M'Donald, but Donnelly advised him that as he was "a mile ahead" on points, it would be just as well to Iceep out and take no unnecessary risks. That American Trip. The visitor had much to say regarding other matters, and the conversation naturally turned to Dwyer's recent trip abroad. He characterised the suggestion that he had visited the States with a view to giving Benny Leonard a thrashing as being along the same lino as "dropping a pin and picking up a crowbar.' Certainly it was his intention to secure, if possible a match for the world's title, but like any other person would do under similar circumstances, he had only , intended doing his best. Ho wanted to see the world and "pick up a bit of money," but if a title bout had come his way he would not have- refused it. The fact that he broke his hand in his fight with Joe Melling was most unfortunate, as, but for this, ho would, no doubt, have secured a match with Leonard, though probably the latter's title would nothave been involved. ''Uneasy Lies the Head—" On the question of his announced retirement after his second fight with Billy Grime, the feather and lightweight champion of the Commonwealth, Dwyer said that he had intended sticking to this resolution, but circumstances brought him back. To be champion, ho said, "was not ;ill that people might imagine it to bo. There were no "off-nights" for (ho til.lcholiler. If he did not make a brilliant showing, the. crowd wanted lo know why. Owycr said thai wlinn beaten Ijy Grime, ho hud intended retiring. Having losi. Mil- tit To, ho felt as if some si-eat load had been lifted off his shoulders, ana he was almost "relieved" ;>(, bia losf. He nl Jivsl ri'Jutiihl tho uFfar of lh« Bi-isliiinn btadtuai.'s raa«a^ei-| Mr. U. Doughty of

a return match, but when he saw Grime, tho dual title-holder, affecting the airs of a steel king, he was incited to prove to the new champion that the title was his, Dwyer's, for'the taking of it. He accordingly accepted the return contest, and beat Grime with comparative ease. The announcement of his retirement- followed this victory, and the title once more reverted back to the present holder, Billy Grime. Dwyer has many friends in New Zealand, especially, in Hawkes Bay, and he states that his visit to this country was -more for the purpose of renewing old acquaintances than for "business." He proposes making his headquarters in Wellington to suit the convenience of his trainer, Jack Donnelly. "After this New Zealand trip," he remarked in conclusion, "I'll be finished with the game for good." Dwyer proposes buying a hotel and settling in his Australian home town.

Hill and Trowern Matched. Jimmy Hill has cabled the Wellington Association that he will arrive in Wellington on 3rd June. The local association has matched him with Reg Trowern for 16th June. ' Notes of Interest. One can appreciate the generosity of spirit which moved enthusiasts at tho Town Hall on Monday evening to commence a silver shower on to the ring floor. Young Jack Crowley, for whom a benefit is being held in Barlow'a gymnasium on Monday night, was introduced, and as soon as ho left the ring the halfcrowns began to fly. As the result of this downpour, and what followed it, little Jack is in a better, financial position by. £14. Jack, as every enthusiast knows, will probably bo partially incapacitated for life as the result of an accident, and his mentor, Denny Murphy, who taught him all he knows about the ring game, has arranged this benefit on his behalf. This movement will no doubt receive all the patronage it deserves. Max Gornik and his trainer, Oscar Armstrong, left on Wednesday for Gisborne, where the tough Queenslander tonight is due to meet the' New Zealand ex-middleweight champion, Jack Heency. Gornik told this writer before ho left that he expects to win by the short and sudden route. He is in the • best physical condition, and should have no difficulty in disposing of Heeney. Clarrio Blackburn, according to "Scot" Cashman, is eager to get back into the ring, and he added that Clarrie will either meet M'Donald for the middleweight championship, or M'Donald can do his best to take away Black-, burn's welterweight championship. In view of the fact that on his most recent appearance M'Donald weighed half a pound under list, it does not seem that he has much chance of making lOst 71b and being well aftar it. Blackburn, Cashman stated, was also prepared to meet either Parker or Max Gornik. Tom Heeney recently defeated Johnny Squires in a twenty rounds contest in Johannesburg. Tho loser, weighing list 101b, was conceding sixteen pounds in weight to the New Zealander. Owing to illness, Paul Demsky was unable to keep tryst with Salvino Jamito at Brisbane on Saturday week, and he was substituted by 'Gene Fernandez. The Spaniard made a game fight, but was easily beaten on points.