IN THE RING

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 52, 29 August 1925, Page 19

IN THE RING

ay "CESTUS"

THE LIGHTWEIGHTS

A BELT PRESENTED

NEWS AND NOTES,

Light-weight boxers have long been the most popular of all boxers in this country, and to-day they are more popular than ever. The big men seem to appeal to the Americans, while tho same thing is noticeable in England and Australia, though, of course, not to such a large extent. The reason is not easy to exI plain. America is a big country, and when one reads the biographies of men such as Bob Fitzsimmons, one feels the romance that is attached to the arena. An amusing story has lately been told of Jack Dempsey, who, when quite a lad, was once travelling by rail to fulfil an engagement, but, being penniless, was compelled to take refuge on the roof of a carriage. His hiding-place was soon discovered by an official who put him. off on to the railroad. Dempsey, however, being little perturbed, set to work and followed the trains goodness knows how many miles, till he found the gentleman who had ended his train travel- | ling so inconsiderately. The gentleman was lunching with five companions, but Dempsey not to be done out of his revenge, so the story goes, immediately took upon himself the task of laying the whole party out, which he did successfully, receiving, of course, a terrible doing. Tho same story said it was this incident that influenced a certain person to take the boy in hand and train him to become a real boxer. But whether this be true or not matters little, it is only typical of the many obstacles that some j of the great prize-fighters of to-day have < had to encounter, and on which have rested their whole future careers. One reason, perhaps, then, for the popularity of these big men is the fact that, apart from their knowledge of boxing, they are personalities in themselves. How- ] ever, that is by the way. j New Zealand is a small country, and our boxers have been nursed to ...their profession in most cases, not having the adverse conditions to contend with that boxers in other countries have. Besides, our heavyweights are a minority, and hence we are content to centre our interest chiefly in the lightweight class, which undeniably is a credit to the boxing of the country. The proprietors of a | New Zealand weekly paper have most generously presented a championship belt for competition amongst lightweights, the belt being emblematio of the championship of New Zealand in this class. Here is another incentive for lightweight contestants. At present there appears to be rather a deadlock in this sphere of boxing. - At least things are moving .slowly- We Btill want to see Trowern and Purdy. It is feared by some that Trowern will soon have to box at welterweight", and' he is evidently most anxious to meet Purdy. Purdy, however, replies every time with a determined "No," which doubtless has an explanation, but unfortunately has not yet come to light. Trowern would gladly have taken Dwyer's place on Monday last, and he put the proposal unsuccessfully to Purdy. It is to be hoped that the "Truth Bolt" will help to set the ball rolling in the lightweight circles, as something obviously is sticking there which needs shifting. Purdy, however, still has his match with Dwyer, and, after that we can hope for better things. It is in the. minds, of some people that Les Murray and Charlie Purdy will bo contestants in one of the three big bouts to be staged at the Dunedin Exhibition. It is suggested that the matching of this pair would do very well for the initial contest for the "Truth Belt." Two very good ideas, but perhaps ■ too good to be true. From the West Coast. A correspondent of the "Otago Daily Times," in lamenting the decline .of boxing on the West Coast, says : "Once a live and prolific nursery of champions, the West Coast has fallen on evil days. For the first time in many years the association there had to abandon its tournament recently, through lack of entries, and to content itself with nominating a few promising lads for bouts in Christchurch. One need not be a West Coaster to realise the pathos of tho situation. Even the Grey 'barber,' once sweeping its frigid way along Mackay street, could not lessen the warmth of the countless stirring battles that were staged in' Greymouth's Town Hall. Ghostly memories recall great encounters between pugilists whose fame is world wide. But that is not the saddest part. It Was here that many men with names sufficient in themselves, to command respect entered the arena for the first time. The late Frank Griffen was one —and it must be said the now down-and-out association did not treat this splendid fighter very handsomely. It turned out, of course, ex--emplifying the truth of the old adage about a prophet in his own country, that the best turn they could have done Frank was to make it too hot for him to stay on the Coast. Then there were | the amateurs —among others, Laurie O'Neill (now in Dunedin), who this year declined to defend his title as New Zealand middle-weight champion. He represented the Coast at five New Zealand contests, and twice carried New Zealand's banner over the Tasman. Seeing that only a few years ago boxing i was so popular there that tournaments were regularly held in three towns in the association's district, the trance is most regrettable. The boys are to be i found still in the mines, mills, and farms. It is to be hoped that Booner or later the Coast will also have the men to run things—men big enough to revive the sport and put it on a Basis worthy of an historic district." The Championships. At time of writing the New Zealand amateur championships were being held in Christchurch. Some of the performances on tho first night are worthy of note. The Christchurch papers are' of the' opinion that M. Carroll, of Manawatu, and J. Smith, of Frankton, gave the best performance of the evening in a bantamweight contest. Both lads boxed furiously from start to finish, Smith being particularly aggressive in the first two rounds. Smith went in close with both hands flailing, and Carroll met him with the same tactics. Carroll obtained the supremacy in the last round, coming out tho winner with not a very wide margin. E. Morgan, ono of the star members of tho Wellington team, did not give the performance that was expected of him. He beat Jack Rodda, of Blenheim, after a hard and fast tussle, but did not show his characteristic scientific methods, but fighting southpaw he was a great hindrance to his opponent. In the last round of • the bout blood flowed freely from both, but the Wellington boy proved to bo the better boxer, although ho had to face a very solid opponent. Morgan won again' on the second night. R. Loveridge, last year's lightweight champion, had no easy road home to victory in meeting A. Thompson

(Christchurch) in the welterweight contest. He won, however, in the final stages, and was quite the stronger boxer. He again won on the second night, being the second Wellington representative for the finals. As was to be expected, R*. Fitzsimmons is to bo in the finals, having beaten D. Mitchell' (Frankton). On the second night 0. Wood made short work of J. A. Leckie, of Otago, the referee stopping the fight in the first round. Leckie was beaten in th^ first minute, but Wood was unable to send him to the floor. Bradley Retires. The recent wild and woolly ButcherBradley fight had its sequel at the Brisbane Stadium lately, when the pair met again, and Bradley lasted fifteen rounds and capitulated for good. In announcing his retirement, Bradley states that he has drawn about £7000 since he first made a name for himself as a boxer. He was badly outpointed, and was an easy mark for Butcher. The fight was fought under considerable restraint, as each man feared to trespass on the stringent condition, which, was laid down, that if either man fouled his opponent he would have to forfeit his share of the gate. In consequence, the referee's task' was not a haid one. Title-Holders. The International Boxing Union held its eighth congress in Paris on 7th June, the following nations being represented:—Belgium, France, Denmark, Holland, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and Switzerland. The National Boxing Union of the United States intimated that it was unable to send a representative. The members of the congress decided that, owing to the attitude of the National Boxing Union and of the Boxing Commission of the State of New York, which had not allowed European boxers to take their chance against American champions, the International Boxing Union could not recognise the championship of the world in the light, welter, and light heavyweight classes, the titles of which it proclaims vacant. The 1.8.U then proclaimed the following as title-holders:— Champions of Europe.—Flyweight, Elky Clark. (Great Britain. Bantamweight, Henri Schillie (Belgium). Featherweight, Henri Hebrans (Belgium), Lightweight, Lucient Vinez (France). Welterweight, Piet Hobin (Belgium). Middleweight, Bruno Frattini (Italy). Light heavyweight, Clement (Switzerland). Heavyweight, Erminio Spalla (Italy). Champions of the World.—Flyweight, Pancho Villa (United States). Bantamweight, Phil Rosenberg (United States). Featherweight, Kid Kaplan (United States). Lightweight, title vacant. Welterweight, title vacant. Middleweight, Harry Greb (United States). Light heavyweight, title vacant. Heavyweight, Jack Dempsey (United States). Pancho Villa, it will be remembered, djed recently, and there has been great discussion as to who is really the owner of the flyweight title. Those behind 'Frank Genaro are staunch in their claims on his behalf. Under rules on this side there would be no trouble whateven on that score. As a matter of fact, Genaro would have been immediately declared champion by default when Villa turned down the oft-repeated challenges by his most logical contender, Genaro. Villa was disqualified by the New York Commission for twelve months for not accepting Genaro's challenge. Notes. The news that Hughie D-vryer had injured his ankle and had thereby necessitated the postponement of his enfagement with Charlie Purdy on Monay last has been' received with nosmall amount of disappointment, as boxing enthusiasts all over the country have looked forward to the decision in this match. The contest how is to take place on 21st September, when Dwyer states that he will be quite fit to take tho ring. This is the second time in the last two months that ankle trouble has prevented the fulfilment of an engagement, George Stace, it will be remembered, being , unable to fight Reg. Trowern for the same reason at the Town Hall recently, when his place was taken, by' Nelson M 'Knight, of Taumarunui. Pat Connors is still awaiting movements for his charges, Funnell and Josephs, but has heard nothing as yet. He is very keen, as many others are, for Allen to come over and try conclusions once more with Purdy. ■ Who will be the contestant* at tho next match in Wellington? is a question that many are asking. The question cannot be answered definitely yet, buc rumour has it that Hector M'Donald is to meet Trowern next month. Merv Williams H still ready for business, but has suffered a disappointment, in that Parker is very probably going over to Australia to meet Collins. Merv Williams stated that he wanted to meet Collins before he camo over, but was refused. Now that he has come over, he find* that his engagement with Parker is all off, and he is apparently at rather a loose end. Max Gornik is coming over on one boat, is going back on the next, that is, unless he can get other matches. He is, however, prepared for the worst, and unless he meets Williams, he will go back. For Williams' sake it ,is hoped that something can be arranged for him, but at present the chances nre not very great. Gisborne fans still continue to be spoilt by the quality and quantity of fights their association provides for their entertainment. Dick Elmour is to meet Jack Heeney on 12th September. Elmour quite satisfied Napier fans, and will doubtless do the same again at Gisborna. Pelkey easily defeated Wax in Sydney after twenty rounds of uninteresting boxing. The 'result came as no surprise, as it was generally thought that Wnx was not shaping too well prior to the fight. "His movements were as slow as those of an old cart-horse," says "Solar Plexus," of the "Referee," "whilst' his punches to tho body, by which it was thought he would stay the onward march of the Filipino, wer/mere ticklers, if one werei to judge by the grin that spread o'er tho coloured boy's face when they «lid land." To say that a baby can be a great he'.p in keeping a man fit would not be received as gospel truth by the majority of young fathers. They all know what pushing a pram up a one-in-fonr grade means. Jack Dempsey, however, explains, says the Sydney " Referee." that a biiby is far better than any dumbell ever invented. He snys: "Tf you have a little boy, make a point of giving him pick-a-backs every day and high liffs up to the ceiling. It will keep you fit —and it's great fun." He suggest? that instead of rloins; the usual stereotyped exercises, the indoors man should invent little' exercises for himself. "As yon walk through, a -doorway," ho proposed, " grip ■ the beadine; above the door with your finders and mill yourself up two or three times. When you nre going upstairs, run up two glairs at a George Stace. the- Australian wlio was to have met Reg. Tvowevn here on the' thirteenth of last month, is reported as having completely recovered from the injury to his ankle, and his training is'in full swine once awin.