The Ring—News and Notes CRITICAL STAGE SHORT ROUNDS BRIGHT DISPLAY GISBORNE PRODUCT WRESTLING GOSSIP

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 132, 30 November 1935, Page 22

The Ring—News and Notes

CRITICAL STAGE

SHORT ROUNDS

BRIGHT DISPLAY

GISBORNE PRODUCT

WRESTLING GOSSIP

HAS TIGER DUALA CHANGED CAMPS?

QUESTIONS AEISLNU FKO3I CHALLENGE

' •. :■ ; . ■ (By "Aeneas.") V Th(%, most important wrestling developments during the' week undoubtedly involved Tiger Duala's public challenge, to Glenn Wade and Earl McCready,; its. ready acceptance by Wade, and the equally unhesitating: agreement by Duala to Wade's condition that the match should be staged under the! auspices of the Dominion of New Zealand Union; These developments which, so far as t.he general public can gather, occurred with'spontaneous suddenness immediately prior and subsequent to the match at the Town Hall on Monday night have captured the imagination of enthusiasts and have stirred interest in the sport just at a time when it seemed that the closure must shortly be applied to the season. While ,the long-waited clash approaches there arc a number o£ questions being asked by the public. They can probably be summarised in this way:—

• Does it mean that Duala has severed his connection with the Pioneer Club in favour of the union? Will it be followed by a Duala-Mc-Cready match? ' What will be the result of the match? ! Around each of these questions numerous subsidiary queries revolve.l Taking the first question, there is considerable room for speculation. It is significant that Duala agreed to wrestle under the Dominion Union's control without reservations as to the division of the. promotion : percentages of the net proceeds and that he took the step without the knowledge of' officials of the. Pioneer. Club, under! the control of which he has previously wrestled. There is reason to believe that Duala has not been entirely, satisfied with the returns.he has received for some of his matches, although he has shared in exceptionally big "gates" both at Wellington and at Auckland, when he visited the northern city for a bout which was not under the auspices of the Pioneer Club he felt" that too big. a proportion of the proceeds was absorbed in expenses/ and it would probably have taken very little

pei-suasion, to say the least, to have induced him to wrestle for the main Auckland association. NO OFFICIAL STATEMENT. On the other hand, there has been no announcement from the union that Duala has joined its ranks (as there was when Jaget Singh and Ole Andresen changed over) and also, so far as is known, he has not been booked for any matches other than his challenge contest with Wade. However, no conditions as to appearance money, referee, loss by a foul, and so forth, as were submitted to Harban Singh j when he wished to meet Wade in a challenge match, have apparently been imposed by the Wellington association. . . If Duala has transferred his allegiance from one camp to the other the public can well be excused for asking whether the competitive element, for which there has been such a strong: demand in recent months, will be so well preserved in Duala's matches against the union's men as it would be if he were competing as an outsider. There is, of course, the possibility that Duala wishes to act independently and is agreeable to meeting men from either camp. In view of the fact that he arrived on the scene when the heat of the "battle of the permits" had moderated, it is understandable that he should be without strong party views. Light upon this aspect of the matter will be awaited witlv much interest. . ■ - "NATURAL" MATCHES. The question of whether the match will be followed by a Duala-McCready contest is a particularly intriguing one. For some weeks the public have been anxious to see a series of contests between ' McCready, Blomfield, and Wade, Duala, and Walker, but the feeling of expectancy has been dimmed as time has passed without signs of such matches materialising. Duala was not long in the country before he made public his desire to meet McCready and he made various proposals with a view to having the match staged, either in public or in the privacy of a gymnasium. McCready, on his part, had previously expressed willingness to meet allcomers. When Duala came on the scene, however, the Canadian's manager raised doubts as to Duala's boxoffice attractiveness and said that he would be agreeable to his charge meeting Duala after the latter had wrestled Wade. After Monday night there should be something definite as to whether this particular match—and others—are to materialise. As to the result of the match, the issues which the question raises have mostly been discussed above. It is a question, however, that is being asked on all sides and must therefore be included in this summary. Much will depend, of course, on the manner in which the result is achieved and it will require clean-cut superiority one way or the other to indicate something definite in regard to the relative abilities of the men with whom the two principals have previously worked. COMPETITIVE ELEMENT. There is one point in connection with the outcome of the match which merits consideration. The contest will be the second special challenge to be decided in Wellington within the course of n few weeks, and if it is to be followed by others oC its kind, it will

be necessary, in order to maintain public interest in challenge matches at the high mark already set, to ensure that the challenge atmosphere will be in. evidence in the ring as well as outside' it. It has" not been stated that Monday night's match is to be on a wiriner-take-all basis, but it might be mentioned that the action of one of the contestants in the previous challenge match in voluntarily surrendering his chances of securing the proceeds; of a "bumper' •■■ house, gave rise to considerable thought.

Wrestling in New Zealand at present can be said to be at the crossways in many respects and the writer believes that the turning which is to be taken will depend to a Urge extent upon the a.nswers to the questions which have been asked above. In recent articles an effort has been made to show that everything- possible should be done to ensure the spirit of competition being kept alive, and it has been indicated that there is a danjer of this, being lost if all the wrestlers operating: in the country arc under one control and possibly under the dictatorship of one of their own number.

In concluding last week's, article it I was suggested that there should be a commission of coiitrol to safeguard the interests of the public, the controliing bodies, and the wrestlers.-;; There | should be some statutory .body, ferably under police control, whicK would be able to remove the need for doubts and quaetjons, enabling the public to concentrate their .attention on the competitive matches^, which'provide the real ■ highlights' :bf?a': seasonw If;.it is ;too' laterfpr. this" season, preparations should be made for' another year. If foreign wrestlers iirid in New Zealand >a profitable field to sell their wares New Zealahders should certainly be entitled .to insist ■ upon receiving full value for their money. ;

For the past few: years New Zealand has shown, itself partial to the excitements of the ring game' with all its appurtenances, but that is' not necessarily,, to say .that nothing can shake the sport's :. popularity. : The State of Victoria, for ■ stilt frowns upon wrestling" because 'i of abuses which occurred there -a r^few, years ago. There are- people in New Zealand who recollect, .the. ringing down of the Victorian curtain arid the reason for it. : Is it.not, thereforei in.the interests, of the men:whpiyaiue the territory that the Wrestling bought by; the public shall toe of the kind to ensure the,continuance of gopd;-wiil?

LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE BOUT

The fact that Jack Jarvis wasable to hold Clarrie Rayner to a draw in the return contest for the Dominion lightweight title probably came as a surprise to many of those who saw the pair in action at Wellington, but two main reasons can be advanced. One is that Jarvis is comparatively at the threshold of his professional career, whereas his opponent is a welltried campaigner. It was to be -expected, therefore, that the Eltham boy would improve in ringcraft and fighting ability with successive contests to a greater extent than his opponent. The other contributing factor lies in the fact that Jarvis -was appearing in his home town, which would be calculated to give him greater confidence than when he met Rayner at Blenheim or at Wellington.

It is interesting; to note that the pair met before a packed house at Eltham, whereas the attendance at Wellington (even if someone had not decamped with the proceeds) was barely sufficient to pay expenses. This is an indication of what local interest means to the box office, and also shows that the waning of interest in the sport, which has become serious at some of the large centres (notably Auckland and Wellington), is not general among the provincial districts. As boxing originally spread from the big towns to the country, it may be that the future will see a revival having its genesis in the rural areas.

The contest was described by the Hawera "Star" as one of the best bouts seen in Taranaki for some time. It was a bright, open fight between an evenly-matched pair. Always on the move, the contestants seldom let up and there was practically an absence of clinches. Although Rayner was twice warned for hitting after the referee had ordered a break it was, on the whole, a very clean contest. At the outset Rayner looked the fitter of the two and the early rounds bore this out, but as the bout progressed Jarvis steadily improved, and towards the finish he made up his early leeway. A section of the crowd questioned the decision which, however, proved Satisfactory to most of the spectators. ■

FRANKLIN IN CAPE TOWN

A boxer who has never been knocked down in-252 fights has arrived in Cape Town from Johannesburg (remarks the "Cape Times"). Ho is curlyheaded Joe Franklin, the-.26-year-old lightweight champion of New Zealand So Joe must be a pretty tough customer; and he ought to be, seeing that he comes from the same town (Gisborne) that produced that rugged NewZealand battler Tom Heeney, who fought Gene Tunney for the heavyweight championship of the world Maurice Strickland, who recently defeated Ben Foord and has impressed the critics in England, also hails from Gisbojrne. TWO BOUTS LOST. Franklin has had two fights in South Africa, both in Johannesburg. In the first he was due to meet Aldo Spoldi, the hard-hitting Italian, but at the last moment he was called upon to meet Laurie Stevens, the bout bein« reduced to an eight-rounder. Franklin was, in a sense, unprepared for a meeting with such a whirlwind, all-action fighter as the national lightweight champion, and did not do himself justice, being; well beaten on points. His oiher contest way against Babe Smith, who recently lost to Willis Smith in a bout for the South African featherweight title. After a sluggish start Franklin all but put clown Bab;: for the count, the Pretoria man bleed-

BRITISH BOXING CONTROL

Once again the problem of the government of boxing in this country has reached a critical stage, says the "Daily Telegraph." Recently the stewards of the British Boxing Board of Control, at a private meeting held in the Earl of Lbnsdale'n house at Carlton House Terrace, J*ondon, appointed a special subcommittee to investigate matters vitally affecting their jurisdiction. The meeting lasted two hours and was attended by administrative stewards, stewards •of appeal, and representatives pf the Welsh section and the southern branch. The cause of the present trouble is the failure in several important cues of boxers to accept purees after the board had approved the promoters' offers on their behalf. ' , It is the custom of the board—when boxers are nominated by them jtb meet for championship purposes and fail to secure an offer from a promoter which satisfies them—to jnvite tenders and to accept the best offer. The "most notable refusal was that of Seaman Watson, of Newcastle, and George Daly, of London, who were to have met recently in the final of the lightweight eliminating series. BOARD'S PENALTY. An offer by a Newcastle promoter was accepted' by the board. Both boxers decided that the purse was inadequate, and subsequently fought at the Albert Hall, London, for nearly twice the sum. The penalty was that th>yr were struck out of the championship series, and another boxer, Jimmy Walsh, was nominated as challenger to Kid -Berg ■ for- the title. At the moment efforts are being made to defeat that decision by matchme Berg with Harry Mizler for the title, and if that match is made, and carried through Under. championship conditions, without the sanction of the board, it will be the most serious challenge yet made to the authority of the Board of Control. ',-< - Boxers and managers' openly , state that they dislike'the idea of the board dealing With the "financial"side. But there are also those_who,.<Jishke any form of serious government in* bpxing and who seize eve^y chauc'e-Tto' 'flout it. The. toard is striving lor supreme authouty—as complete as'that of the Jockey Club in racing or th« FA. in football They also firmly believe that by the thoroughness of the various championship competitions they can ensure that every boxer* entitled to a chance pets it '

RING NOTES AT RANDOM

' ;The' imßorted American;■:■"/• Jlark Hough, created, a ! fine impression in his bout at Sydney with ■Ron'ipichards, and this - pair, together? i with "Deacon" Leo Kelly, are ■ becoming •three of the Commoriwealtft's best drawcards in ; the absence; of Aihbrose ?almer/; Palmer's return: may'; mean some. big. naatphes'for Sydney anS Melbourne.. ,;,;^?,;.;,'^v^vg -. '■. \>r A >/: K??figgX'Ep6^:^^^v^^;Neivi Zealanders'.' who, has," beieiiSsharingvih the C'6ihinioh"Wrestlihg'"tJhT6Ps; "matches this season, is to leave by the Niagara for Canada early;;next ■ month -in response to /a cable, received frpm the well-known promoter: Ted Thye. Elliott is not unacquainted with' North America, but has not.always wrestled there under his own name. In re^erd to the, suggestions made in these columns recently that Clarrie Gordon and Norm Fisher 'should be matched in the ring to decide which has the better claims to Olympic ra-

BOXING FIXTURES.' i December 2.—C. Sanders V. R. Hobson, at Hamilton. December 4.— F. Hutchins v. D. Stirling, at Hawera. ■ . . . December 6.— W. Aitken v.W. McKay, . at Hastings.

presentation, a Hawke's Bay writer remarks that such .an-important issue should be decided by the besfrotthrse contests. Such a series would serve to attract much of the interest which boxing at present finds it hard to win. Was Pasco fit? asks "Veritas\\ in the' "Southland Times,", in reviewing t'le recent heavyweight contest at Invcricargill. Fit or not fit,, the southern writer continues; the younger man had no show against his experienced opponent". . •

Owing to .an eye .injury "Lofty-' Blomfield was unable to take the ring against Jaget Singh at Hastings recently, and his place was taken hy Glenn Wade. Nevertheless there was a crowd which went'close'to drecord. The heavyweight professional boxing contest which was to have been held at Auckland on Mpnday between Val Luttrell, of Hastings, and Sid. Wells, of Whakatane, has been postponed.owing to^ unforeseen circumstances. "I am glad I am now in the restaurant business." With these'words Jack Dempsey, the former world's. hea\yweight champion, answered an interviewer who hadaskrd him what he thought his chances would have been had he met Joe Louis, the coloured fighter, when he was in his' prime. Dempsey, the greatest gate-drawing personality of all time and holder of the world title for seven years; believes Louis to be "a very great boxer." "Louis is too fast and too skilful in every form of ringcraft for the present heavyweight crop," he added, when speaking in New York. "Barring-acci-dents—always liable to happen in boxing—he looks to be unbeatable."

It is said that: " Glenn Wade kept something "up his sleeve" on Monday night because he knew that Tiger Duala was watching his performance against Johnny Woods. An ailment has kept some of the active wrestlers out of the ring during the past week or two. The epidemic of new clubs is going on apace. _ : Angelo Cistoldi has received another forcible reminder that emulation of Cy Williams's tactics is liable to lead to trouble. There is little likelihood of Hardy Kruskamp wrestling again in this country. Several matches held recently have been staged at a loss. Wellington cannot afford two matches each week. The basis of sharing the gate receipts, according to which 80 per cent, goes to the wrestlers, is used by the new bodies as well as those affiliated to the New Zealand Union. The Lurich team from the Leichhardt Stadium, Sydney, will take over the Fitzroy Stadium, Melbourne, in a further effort to re-introduce the sport in that "forbidden territory." (The sealing accommodation is only 1200.) The Newtown Stadium, Sydney, lias closed down on its weekly matches.

ing profusely from the face andtiking some severe punishment. Smith was given the decision on points Franklin was to hava fought BilJy Oliver, of Essex, at Cape Town on October 29. - '