BOXING

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 23, 28 January 1928, Page 25

BOXING

■v "ACNEAS"

HEENEY'S EFFORT CONTEST WITH SHARKEY NEW ZEALANDER FORCES FIGHT The special cable received by the "Sydney Sun" gives a graphic account of the contest between Tom Heeney and Jack Sharkey at Madison Squai Gardens. The report says: —The big crowd wildly cheered the New Zealander, who made a splendid effort, shaking Sharkey repeatedly. In the last round Heeney punished Sharkey severely and chased him round the ring. The bell saved Sharkey from a knock-out. The famous tenor, John M'Cormaek, smiled encouragement to Tom Heeney, when the latter stepped into the ring amid cheers that seemed as if half the Irish of New York City were present. Sharkey's Irish name did not deceive the crowd, who regarded him more as a foreigner. His home town is in Boston, but his parents are Lithuanians. Heeney opened the first round by leaping to Sharkey's corner and delivering a solid right to the chin. After they had broken from a clinch Sharkey landed two heavy rights, on the New Zealander's head and nearly bent him double with two 'rips to the stomach. Heeney came out of this argument somewhat . -annoyed, and swung wildly until the end of the round. The second round found Sharkey takings things very coolly. He was cautious, evidently having been warned against getting in the way of Heeney's swings. They sparred for half a minute, Sharkey finally turning to wink at the spectators as he connected with a right to Heeney's chin; but the New Zealander hit him a swinging right over the jaw and ear that made Sharkey extremely careful not to take Mb eyes off his work. Heeney seemed to care little for anything his opponent had, and constantly bored in, slogging a left uppercut to Sharkey's chin and rights to the body. If Sharkey had the best of the first round, the second went to Heeney by a shade. The third opened with a resounding body exchange which Heeney appeared to welcome, for he was always wading in and taking the best of Sharkey's clouts without apparent distress, Sharkey lashed two vicious rights to Heeney's head, as they broke from a clinch, but Heeney shook them off and marched straight in with five or six piston-like jolts that shook Sharkey's middle. Then Sharkey ripped a right to Heeney's chin, bo ' powerful that many spectators expected the New Zealander to go down. Heeney, however, merely tilted up his head, at the same time scoring against Sharkey's body in a way that brought the crowd to its feet. There was no stopping him. The fourth opened with matters looking rosy for Heeney. Ho crouched, leaped, and connected with Sharkey's jaw. Sharkey sent one back, but it was wild. Then followed a good deal of toe-to-toe punching, with Sharkey losing steam steadily, and Heeney dug into his body. This decidedly looked like the New Zealander 'a round. Sharkey's left eye was bleeding as he stepped forward in the fifth round. It was' immediately apparent that Heeney was "getting under" Sharkey's skin. He rallied for all he was worth when Heeney thumped his body again. Heeney's smashes to the ribs were doing a lot of damage. Sharkey came back strongly, however, and chased Heeney in circles several times in the middlo of the round. Finally they fought into a corner, and Heeney delivered a smash that landed Sharkey against the ropes, and when the latter snapped back he met a bonny uppercut that lifted him off his feet. Sharkey was wobbly when they were clinching towards the end of the round. The sixth had not gone ten seconds when Sharkey stepped back with a troubled look, trying to mako out why the blows which stopped Jim Slattery did not seem even to delay Heeney's boring-in tactics. Heeney crowded right into the blows, hooking short lefts and rights to the body. The New Zealander placed a left hook deep into his opponent's,, body. Sharkey's knees doubled xlp under him. Ho sagged into the ropes, held on for a second, and then tore out savagely with three left hooks that bent Heeney's head back. With the first half over, Sharkey came up for the seventh looking tired and distinctly slower. He drove for an opening with his left, but missed with his right cross that followed. Heeney laughed outright, and clipped Sharkey with two in the face. Sharkey made vicious returns against Heeney's ribs. The last minute of this round became slow, as both were apparently feeling the hard pace. They repeatedly clinched. With Heeney far the fresher and distinctly the aggressor, tho eighth round opened with repeated clinches. Sharkey's superior science kept him away from Heeney, who now had his turn at being nonplussed. He was unable to reach the elusive Lithuanian. Sharkey rallied, delivering a hard left and then a right hook to the body, but Heeney steadily came on, though failing tc reach Sharkey's body squarely. Sharkey was smart enough to stand off in tho ninth round and box, refusing to mix it with Heeney, who was bent on delivering a knock-out punch.

Heeney grew so careless of his opponent's punishing blows that he found himself growing weak, and the round degenerated from the amazing speed of those furious and spectacular opening rounds. Heeney was going into clinches much too often during, the last half of the fight. Sharkey came back looking quite strong in the tenth round, and again his cleverness asserted itself. Heeney opened with a stiff right to the head. Sharkey fell as Heeney ducked from a right and was helped on his way by Heeney's left hook to the body. The Lithuanian, however, leaped up before the referee had time to start the count, and threw everything he had into a final onslaught against the New Zealander. Heeney was rather surprised, for he evidently thought his opponent had been knocked down for a long count. The eleventh round was the least interesting of the entire fight. Sharkey's cue was either to stand off and box at long range or enter into clinches. The crowd booed heartily. It was a clear case that Heeney was all set to win by a knock-out if only he could, hold Sharkey long enough to deliver it. However, the New Zealander, whilst he had everything in the way of courage and power, lacked the speed and precision sufficient to cope with a very able fighter like Sharkey. They swapped occasional punches and clinched frequently. The twelfth round opened with two clinches. The referee appeared to be quite tired with separating the boxers. With a minute to go Heeney opened out and smashed three hard blows to Sharkey 's head. Sharkey replied with a rally to the body, but it was ineffective as far as winning the fight was concerned, although sufficient to hold Heeney off. Heeney finally administered a smashing volley of chops to the chin, which straightened Sharkey up and got him away from the body attack. Heeney smacked Sharkey with a full blow on the jaw, and if the round had lasted another minute there might have been a knock-out. As it was the crowd yelled wildly for the New Zealander to finish Sharkey off". It was not a too cool Heeney that literally chased his rival round the ring, but it was the gong that saved Sharkey from what appeared an almost certain knockout. Come-back Announced. Bert Spargo, one-time boxing champion of Australia, who now has a prosperous hotel at Footscray, has announced that he intends to return to the ring. Yes, but will he come back in the true sense of the term? Willie Smith Beaten. Willie Smith, the conqueror of Teddy Baldock, has not proved himself to have anything more than an outside chance for a fight for the world's bantam title. He was outpointed by Dominic Petrone, of New York, in a tenround preliminary. That is, unless there are two Willie Smiths of Johannesburg, South Africa. Death of Tiger Flowers. The boxing game suffered the losa of one of its real stars in Tiger Flowers, former middleweight champion, who died suddenly following an operation over his right eye, writes Art Skinner in the Melbourne "Globe." Although the operation apparently was successful, Flowers did not rally, and died a couple of hours after the doctor had completed his work. The operation was intended to clear sear tissue, the result of many years of fighting. Flowers had been under observation at the hospital for three months, so the case was not an emergency one. A number of X-rays had been taken, and the doctor offered the opinion that he would be out of the ring but three or four weeks. Practically unconscious from the time of operation, Flowers had the best hour immediately preceding his death. But he began to sink fast, and never rallied thereafter. He was born in Camile, Ga., sth August, 1895, and took up,boxing while employed in the shipyards during the World War. A left eye infection which left him partly blind forced him to box with his right foot and right hand forward. Flowers guarded his ailment well, and but few in the profession knew of his affliction, or understood why he pursued the unorthodox in his boxing. Flowers won the middleweight title from Harry Greb, 28th February, 1926, and lost it to Mickey Walker, 3rd December, 1926. Greb was on the down grade when Flowers took the crown away from him in New York. It was just a case of Flowers being younger and in better shape. Greb at his best wo:ld have walloped Flowera with ease. Flowers's defeat before Walker in Chicago in ten rounds was a case of misjudgment on the part of the referee. Flowers had a sure margin on points, and, although knocked down several times, had more than evened up the score. Walker was as much surprised as Flowers at the decision. Walker had promised to meet Flowers in a return match within ninety days, but Mickey side-stepped the issue. Flowers recently appealed to the National Commission, and Mickey was ordered to box Flowera for the crown. The boys were just about ready to talk business when Tiger's death brought the negotiations to an abrupt ending. Flowers was one of the finest characters in the boxing game. He was popular, and at his burial in Atlanta, his home town, his body was viewed by a huge throng. He was idolised, and rightfully so, by his coloured brethren. Flowers likewise had many friends among the' white people. He was a boy who knew his place,,and was not the type to take advantage of his position at any time. His_ untimely death was a

real loss to the boxing game, and was evidenced in many encomiums by American sport writers. Greb, like Flowers, died following a minor operation, and their passing leaves the middleweight division without a real star to-day. Mickey Walker, although he was a great welterweight, has never approached the form and ability he showed when he was a terror among the 147-pounders. To-day in the middleweight class, he is content to battle about with a mediocre lot of light-heavies, side-stepping challengers. Mickey is colourful and all that, but as a champion he does not rate with either of his unfortunate predecessors, Greb or Flowers. . v A Fiasco Boxing in California has received a setback as a result of the Ace HudkinsJohnny Dundee fiasco. Hudkins and Dundee were to box for the welterweight crown, but on the night of the bout Dundee refused to get into the ring, claiming that the guarantee of 60,000 dollars promised to him before the bout had not been paid. The Boxing Commission, with the promoter, Dick Donald, argued for two, hours up to midnight—and then called off the contest. As a result, the spectators who had paid approximately 54,000 dollars, gave themselves over to a wrathful demonstration, which resulted in the arena being wrecked. Unfortunately most of the spectators had thrown away their tickets, so that they could not be given back their money. The outcome is that Dundee and his manager are out on bail on a charge of publishing a false advertisement. * An Anti-Climax. It is not likely that Tommy Griffiths and Frank Taylor will be matched again. They have now met three times and on the last occasion on Tuesday night the contest was the worst seen in Wellington since the FmrhallUren farce. It is not suggested that they were not trying, but it is suggested that seeing they were being well paid to entertain the crowd they could have made a more spectacular display. Both were far too cautious and Griffiths, being the more cautious of the pair, lost the bout. Taylor had to do most of the leading, but he never went for his man confidently and seemed to be unable to get over the fear of a counter by Griffiths. Thus about seven-ty-five per cent, of the contest was clinching. After the great fights provided by Murray, Purdy, Trowern, and Jamito this was decidedly anti-climax. Olympic Candidates. ( Neither O'Sullivan nor Cleverley seem to be up to OJympic standard. O'Sullivan is fast and clever, but he cannot punch, while his open stance allows his opponent to come in. Thus against a boxer who bores in he would have little chance. Larsen gave him a lesson in the use of the straight left, and over the last' two rounds put the Olympic candidate out of the running. Cleverley does not seem to be able to produce his gymnasium form when in the ring. In the gymnasium, he can cope with any of the professionals, but in the ring -ivhen against a man who keeps coming

in he is not impressive. However, ttti New Zealand Association ■will hare M send two boxers, because Purdy hu shown that one man has a very bu time indeed. Two men are able «i spar and train, together, and thus hgftj each other to keep fit. Probably MfrrgM Sbd Cleverley will make the trip: