IN THE RING

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 34, 8 August 1925, Page 19

IN THE RING

■V "CESTUS"

MURRAY ON TOP

STILL THE CHAMPION

TROWERN'S FINE SHOWING,

It ia a long time since the Town Hall accommodated such a vast and satisfied crowd as it did last Monday night, when Les Murray, in a somewhat spectacular come-back, successfully defended his title of lightweight champion of New Zealand against Trowern. Murray has shown once more that he is a formidable opponent to any challenger of the title. Troweru undoubtedly has a great future ahead of him. One can safely say that his failuro to annex the championship was mainly due to lack of experience, and only in a minor degree to positive errors. Perhaps the highest tribute one could pay Trowern is to quote Murray, who says that in all tho professional fights he has fought ho has never been knocked clean off his feet by a single hit until Troweru managed to do bo in the third round on Monday night. , Murray ridiculed any reports that were going round concerning his form and health. With more work, it seems that he will be able to retain his form; and doubtless he will be kept busy in the near future, when it is hoped boxing fans will see another fine, clean fight like Monday's performance, As for ths actual fight itself, up to the ninth round it was practically any man's fight, but, as before stated, after this Murray gradually established a mastery by shading his opponent till the final gong sounded. The Auckland boy had obviously tired considerably, and was suffering from a nasty clip in the eighth round, but in spite of this he showed no signs of losing his head, his footwork and guarding being excellent to the finish. It seemed possible that Murray latterly had chances to swing a deadly right, which might have ended the fight suddenly, but ho appeared to prefer to allow the contest go tho full distance.

Ti'owern's best round was the third. If the boot had been on the other foot, namely, had Trowern been at the disadvantage here, Murray would have made this the finish, as any other experienced man would have done. These are, however, the only two occasions on which the issue might have been different. Otherwise, it was a very, evenly matched contest, hard and clean hitting being the most outstanding feature. Murray has, qualities not generally seen in a lightweight, he has the body to stand a good deal of punishment and also a remarkable reach. Trowern opened himself to danger when ho crouched, and it was when he resorted to this that Murray was so effective with his left hooks. Trowern is very quick, but he was not always quick enough to evade these. Trowern appeared to have great force behind his jabn, and in consequence several times was seen to make Murray wince considerably by using this effective weapon. As was predicted, the Auckland boy gave Murray no chances to take it easily. The latter on one occasion was seen to wipe his face with his glove, when it cost him a nasty deliberate left to the jaw. Who Next? At the time of penning these notes it. is thought that the next fight to be staged in Wellington will bo next month, when Trowern will moot Purdy, though this is so far mere rumour. Just as interesting would bo a match between Purdy and Murray, but whether such a match will como off or not in the near future it is rather early to decide. The Preliminaries. The preliminaries were rather dull until A. M'Curdy and M. Gastein, both scaling nino stone, fought out a featherweight bout, which proved very exciting. M'Curdy made himself aggressive from -tile start and soon had Gustein guessing. He worried him perpetually with his left, and caused him to miss a great deal. The second period saw Gastein feeling the effects of this gruelling, but he did not give up, and in the third round he made a spectacular recovery. By taking the fight to his man, he ga?e M'Curdy no chance of using his reach. Consequently this last round was nearly all in-fighting, and it was in this that Gastein excelled. He rapidly caught up on points, with the result that at the final gong he was not far from being the winner. W. Guise put up a very timid performance by using no initiative and allowing his opponent, Keith, to do all the leading. He continually stepped back from Keith's attack and allowed himself to be chased around the ring. Consequently, though he was up against a man 51b heavier" than himself, Keith had little difficulty in securing the win. G. Thomas is a fast and clever little boxer. Maloney, however, was no real test of his merit., The first two rounds consisted chiefly of straight lefts which Maloney seemed unable to avoid. Several times he took three or four of these blows successively on the face. However, he rallied in the last round, and some swift exchanges resulted, Thomas bringing a very effective right into ure. He knows how to use it, and behind this weapon he puts force and speed. Maloney fought gamely, but was thoroughly outclassed. ■ The most disappointing bout was that between. the flyweights, Clarrie Woods aud D. Hurdle. Hurdle obviously tiied very quickly, and on receiving a jab, to the body gave rather a cheap victory to his opponent. The latter scored chiefly through tho free use of both hands, and though Hurdle stood the bombardment fairly well in the opening stages, he soon gave out under the stress. Boxing In the Schools. "Cross-Counter," of the "Southland Times," says: _ "Year by year boxing is becoming an increasingly popular form of exercise in Dunedin, and at the present moment there is quite a number of nourishing schools in the city and its environs. Les Murray, who has a well-equipped i gymnasium, has a host of pupils, and is also the University instructor and coach to Waitaki Boys' High School. Then there is Archie Leckie, who conducts an equally big school near- the centre of tho town, while other well-known teachers of the game in Dunedin aro A)f. Goodman and Albert Parkin. lam firmly of the opinion thai boxing should be taught moro in the schools— in the secondary schools at any I'iitp. Many people who have never seen a conlesti fought, under modern i'ulch <!onoiincn it as a brutal sport and a, relic; of a past age anil siieh-like, bub it must be apparent to anyono with an open mind how unfair is such criticism. It is not a contest of bruto strength, but one of skill and science, conducive to speed and mental alertness us well as physical fitness. There are other more, or-less popular games in which it is Far easier .to ircL a 'imrmiiniMit injury than il is in brixiiiur." Imleetl, it is a pity Unit moro bovine 's no'h taught in tho schools, i'.nl the sport is gradually bcooiiiinu- moro ; iiiiijiilail iilnoii' M thcr-i1 iiistilutiuiu- mil in |..nil» i>f Nw«' /.I'iiUitul !;!':vpi.,jl ki-'cmiiil I aj'v- Bclmols have annual inter-school box-

ing tournaments. Such tournaments must go a long way towards improving the standard of amateur boxing. Grime and Pelkey. The young Australian dual champion, Grime, was too clever for the Filipino boy, Pelkey, when they met recently at the Sydney Stadium. Pelkey had the advantage in weight, height, and strength. He scaled 9st 9lb, while his opponent touched 9st 141b, Pelkey took up the' retiring attitude, and appeared to have as his sole object the express purpose of seeing the whole journey through. Grime tried all manner of persuasion to induce the Filipino to do the leading, but was rewarded with a sullen resistance. Pelkey made a very promising opening, as "Solar Plexus" points out, slamming home in the first round hard rights to the body, and with his left arm encircling his opponent's neck, delivered a kind of loop-the-loop with his long sinewy right. Such procedure doubtless is in the nature of a foul, but it was taken by the majority of the house as merely a matter of course. The Filipino's lead was, however, shortlived, for Gi'inie made the paco right up till the ninth round. This superiority, though, caused him to take too much fur granted, and in tho ninth session Pelkey caught him napping with a left and rifrht, which, though short punches, had all the Filipino's weight behind them. The reminder, however, served to spur Grime on to greater action. From then to the termination of the fight he managed easily enough, to keep the dark boy at bay, though he found him a cunning customer. In the final session, PelI key sought to win the victory by the short and sudden route, knowing full well that it was his last and only chance. Grime, however, was not to be hit, and thus the contest ended with Grime in possession of all the honours. Wild and Woolly. Brisbane fans have lately witnessed what "Tarrengower" of "The 'Referee" styles as a wild and woolly fight, when A. Bradley and E. Butcher fought for twelve rounds. In the'twelfth, Butcher is reported to have delivered a foul which sent Bradley, writhing to the floor with pain. The referee, Major Craig, crowned Bradley the winner whilst he was stretched on the floor. It is a trifle amusing to note what "The Referee" has to say concerning the referee's part :— "His persistent commands to break wore ignored, and even the ringing of the bell at times did not suffice to stop the combatants. They waged red war against each other in all manner of ways, however ugly and discreditable, whether in the ring or half through the ropes. Finding his appeals to tho men in vain, Major Craig had to use his own strength in separating them, so much so that he found it hot work, and caused a furore of hilarity by discarding his sweater and rolling' up his sleeves. He almost needed the cooling effects of towel swingers in his corner as much as.the fighters themselves. "Tarrengower" goes on to say that the fight was punctuated all through by unpardonable breaches, • and that it was Bradley who was the first to offend. Consequently, Butcher, when he saw that his opponent simply ignored the referee, threw discretion to the winds, and went at it hammer and tongs, his action in doing so appealing very strongly to a certain section of the crowd. Matters got pretty bad in tha seventh round, which, to quote "Tarrengower" again, "was brimful of exciting passages and roughness, that almost reduced the contest to the same footing as a street brawl. In the heaC of the eighth round Butcher 1 struck low, just when the referee happened to be iii a position that he could not see it. Bradley stopped to appeal, but got a hit in tho jaw for his trouble. Naturally this added fuel to the fire. In tha tenth Bradley caught Butcher with his right just above the cheekbone, whero ho inflicted an ugly wound. The latter handicapped Butcher considerably in tho twelfth, and what proved to be the fatal round. He tried to work in close to land an uppercnt, but finding his efforts in this direction useless, he chose to win by illegal methods. When Bradley was in tho act of retreating from a clinoli, ho hit him in forbidden territory'; and so curled him up on tho floor for several minutes, to the accompaniment of a bedlam of hooting. In the meantime Bradley refuses to accept Butcher's statement that it was an unintentional blow, and, moreover, consents to fight a- return match with Butcher on the sole condition that tho winner gets all the gate money." Tom Heeney Popular. Judging from the following report taken from the "Cape Times," one supposes that Tom Heeney is very popular with the South Africans: "The big New Zealander defeated Johnny Squires, the heavyweight champion of South Africa, and he is a clean performer inside,the roped arena, and is a most pleasant personality outside it. Apart from being a boxer, Heeney is an athlete of distinction, having played as a 'lock' forward for Hawkes Bay against the 1921 Springbok team. The All Black is also a swimmer of outstanding merit, and is the holder of the Royal Human* Society's medal for life-saving. Heeney, genial in manner, nevertheless, looks every inch a fighter, Heeney's . last contest in England was against the redoubtable George Cook, the old opponent of Georges Carpentier. From all reports Heeney gave Cook the hardest battle of his career. While a few of the reports give Cook the decision by a narrow margin, most of the British Press state that Heeney should at least have been given a draw. Upper-cut-ting formed the main feature of the exchanges, and at intervals exchanged full-armed and full-blooded blows to the head. This bout gave Heeney tho. nickname of 'Tough Tom,' and the* New Zealander drew cheers for left shots to Cook's face, although Cook got home ' with this method 'of attack as often, even if he missed with twice, as many left leads as he let go. In the fifth round Cook landed a terrific left? hook to the jaw, lifting Heeney right off his feet, the audience concluding that the end had come, but, rising almost immediately, Heeney surprised both his opponent and spectators by carrying the fight to his opponent, and driving him across the ring. Both men got in sledge-hammer blows that would have knocked out the average heavyweight boxer now performing in.Europe. Heeney considerably improved during the time Tom Gibbons was in England training for his fight against Jack Bloomfield. Heeney then acted as Gibbons's chief sparring partner. The redoubtable Gibbons nr.iintains a high opinion of Heßiiey, and lias asked tho New Zealander to go over to America." Notes. It in Imped in (lie. Southern parts thiil. ."hichie M'Donalil will he matched with Max Oornik, whom tho Nh|>iei' Association will bring over from Australia, if other association.-; will do their pail, liv niuiraiil.oeiiifj (he Australian other fiVlits. | "Cross-Counter" points out Unit Thuiedin lias its full sluu'e of champion*. Lachie M'Donaid is the middle-weight champion of New Zealand, Les Murray holds the lidit-woight title, T. Griffiths is the ainalciir bantam-weight champion, Les Colter is the liji'ht-weio-ht chiimnmn of the New Zealand University. H. F.yfo is, tin; University niiddle-wcijjlit chami.'iun. mid Hi (ill* of liiflit-lieiivy umuimir' nt N«w ttculiiml w heh'i. liy Jjm fceckin, vrlio ia ftUo % itudmtfc