BOXING

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 19, 23 January 1926, Page 22

BOXING

IN THE LIMELIGHT

LOVERIDGE ON THE WARPATH

MAY MEET BLACKBUKN IN

MARCH.

A contest having been definitely arranged for Wellington next month, it is now quite on the ca j that there will be one for March as well, the contestants probably being Dick Loveridge, of New Plymouth, and Clarrie Blackburn. The local association advises that the date has only been pencilled, so that nothing as 7 t is certain. Liveridge has been figuring rather st-">ngly lately in the pugilistic world, having had two victories within the last month. He beat Nelson M'Knight, of Taumarunui, at Westport, and last week gained the decision over Artie Hay at Napier. Hay, it will be remembered, won the amateur welterweight championship in Wellington in 1924.

The decision at Napier last week was not'a popular one, and the Hastings boy seems to have been a hot favourite with the crowd. The contest is described as being the whitest witnessed, in Napier for a long time, as both boys fought cleanly and with plenty of vim. The bout went the full distance, and apparently the New Plymouth lad gained' the verdict chiefly through using a nasty left. Neither had any particular advantage over the other, as they tipped the beam at exactly the same weights (10 st 51b). Judging from the newspaper accounts, it was an even go, and Hay came out the winner with a margin of no more than three points. Mr. J. Murphy was referee.

Loveridge- has yet another contest in view. He has been matched with George Stace, the Sydney lightweight, and will meet him at New Plymouth on 6th February. Stace has settled j down to hard training, and has four sparring partners. Cleverley and I JM* (Jurdy are assisting him, and Pat j Connors also lends a hand. With auch valuable assistance, Stace should take the ring in first-class condition, and if he is successful in this match there should be a general demand for his services. A Legal Point. Kearns 's contract with Dempsey expires on 15th August, 1926. Under its terms he entered into a contract with Tex Bickard for Dempsey's appearance against either Wills or Tunney. Should Dempsey meet either of these two, Kearns points out that he (Kearns) would still receive his contractual percentage. He also says that he had Dempsey's full permission to watch him with either Tnnney or Wills, so that it waa done in perfectly good faith. Now, although it is apparent that Kearns is still doing very well oft Dempsey'a athletic activities (for he still receives his half share) one cannot but. appreciate the fact that his claim upon Dempsey. is quite legal. To quote an American paper, Kearns says: "I have been informed by the best attorneys in New York and here that no matter when DempBey meets Wills or Tunney I still will share in the receipts, my usual 50 per cent. He can go ahead and act as his own manager in all other affairs after 15th August, and I would not have a share. But if he meets Wills or Tunney, the outstanding challengers, then I would share." The same paper says: "The Wills-Tunney contract having been made in good faith, Kearns's legal information is that • Dempsey meeting with either man after 15th August would of itself be evidence of the intention to defraud , Kearns of his rightful percentage.'' Kearns is entitled to his money, bnt is not this evidence of the detriment that commercialism causes to boxing f One hardly expects a manager to act for a small return, bat when it comes to receiving preposterous sums, it is obviously wrong. The practice must often be a curse to boxers themselves, and to those who want to see good clean sport it becomes nothing less than odious. Butcher, a Sportsman. About half-way thTongh the second round of the recent Collins-Butcher contest staged at Newcastle at New Year, Butcher drove Collins on the ropes. Collins swayed over the top strand and looked as if he would topple over into the ringside seats. Butcher stepped back and allowed the champion to regain the ring, and the crowd did not fail to voice its appreciation of the sporting action. Notes. "Had I known that I would get within the welterweight limit so eas-' ily," said Collins after his fight with Butcher at Newcastle recently, "I would have eaten a fowl for breakfast. —"Sydney Sun." The Marquis of Douglas and Clydesdale (elder son of the Duke of Hamilton), is expected to arrive in Australia in June. Bulls has produced a Jack Johnson, but this must not be taken too literally. Johnson is merely a smart young amateur who was awarded the medal for the most scientific boxer of the recent amateur tournament held at Wanganui. Carpentier is in America, He expects to be matched with Jack Dilaney, and if possible with Paul Berlenbach. Carpentier has made bad investments, and it is practically a case of having to, that he now returns to the ring. It is thought that he is not the fighter that he was prior to his retiring, but strict training should bring him up to form. Carpentier has never relaxed his athletic pursuits; he is not the sort who would. Mickey Walker is supposed to clash with Tommy Milligan at Chicago tonight in a welterweight championship contest. Another overseas boxer has lost his heart in New Zealand. This time it is Dick Eimour, the French welter. He has lately become engaged to Miss D. Cheriton, of the Moon-Morris Eevue Company. The Boxing Board of Control at Home has carried its threats into action. The attitude taken up by title-holders in the past has been entirely a wrong one, as is shown in the case of Roland Todd, who won the middleweight crown three years ago, and has rested on his laurels ever since. A cable this week announces that Todd has been deprived of the title, owing to his failure to defend it. In some cases, perhaps, such a atop would not seem just, but reform 1 ia ncwaaarjr.