TOWN HALL PACKED

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 15, 18 July 1939, Page 15

TOWN HALL PACKED

COX AND M CCREADY DRAW

{ Last night there was an excellent opportunity for testing the capacity of the emergency exits of the Wellington Town Hall. The only emergencies with which the huge crowd was concerned, however, were tlie fire in the eyes of the contestants and the synthetic earthquakes when 17st 21b of Earl McCready hurtled into the ropes of the wrestling ring or 17st of Ted ("King Kong") Cox crashed to the canvas. After eight rounds of hurtling and crashing, twisting and straining, jolting, charging, and slapping, the mass of humanity gradually eased itself out on to'the street with the knowledge that, for the third successive time in this country, Cox had defied McCready's efforts to humble him in defeat. It was a draw again. Cox was well pleased with the result, but his efforts would hot have been < unduly flattered' had he been' given the benefit of the doubt. Even then, perhaps,' the greater honour would have been McCready's. An elbow of abnormal shape showed why he had been out of action for ten days, and it was a serious handicap against an opponent as strong' and aggressive as Cox. Cox did not work on the injury as much"as he might'have done,'and when he did do so towards the finish, the referee, for-'some reason.-warned him off.' Cox's plan of campaign was largely to be an irritant to McCready, but he also did his full share in as gruelling a wrestling display as has been seen here for a long time. REFEREE STRIKES OIL. Cox became petulant when the referee found oil on his body while running his hands over Cox. and proceeded to wipe it off. Cox did not wait for instructions but, throwing his towel and gown ahead of him. strode angrily to his corner. He was quickly out at the gong and proceeded to test a variety of holds on the Canadian. He was far from able to have J matters all his own way. ' however, j and half-way through the round grunted fiercely under a straddle hold, j Breaking free, he went to work witb j jolts and anything else that came to' mind, but nearly got tipped out of the ring for his pains. He was glad to hear the bell as McCready, at the time, was hurting his toes. The start of the second round was held up while Cox had his shoulders wiped, so Cox made up for lost time with a jolting barrage. In the face of a strong counter-attack he rolled j under the ropes and started an argu- ] ment with some ladies in the front row. The contestants found time to do quite a lot of hard wrestling, and McCready had his hands full. He was not made happier by the blood trickling from his nose. - He managed to make Cox yelp with a toe hold which the latter broke by digging his fingers! into McCready's nostrils, for which Cox was warned. They worried each other to some purpose in the third round, and Cox got the worse of the exchanges when ; he was caught in a body scissors. He j started trouble for himself when hei hit McCready in the eye, but arose as j cheeky as ever from being jolted under j the ropes. Some resounding slaps to j the side of McCready's face made tbe | latter set about Cox in earnest, and j Cox finally went on to the Press table, where he danced about in a rage. BIG TEMPTATION. Cox seemed to find the passage of time between rounds rather tedious, but McCready was out in the centre for the fourth round as soon as he was. While holding a toe grip the temptation to take a bite was about as much as Cox could resist. After pulling a piece of sticking plaster off McCready's knee while held in a splits, he grabbed hold of his opponent's trunks, but the referee made him let go. He grinned derisively at McCready when the latter was just shaping up to return some punishment as the gong sounded. McCready's nose was properly red in the fifth round, and blood dripped freely from it after Cox had battered it, always skipping out of danger before McCready could retaliate. They both worked with wrist locks for a while, and then brought scissors holds into the picture. Cox was never so busy that he could not find time to talk to the referee, or somebody. There was plenty of fight in Cox in the sixth round, and he caught McCready a vicious crack on his sore elbow when a break off the ropes was ordered. Cox then secured an arm strangle, and aggravated it by working on McCready's injured elbow, but the referee asked him to "Be a sport," although there was nothing against the rules in what he was doing. McCready eventually broke the hold and Cox was chasing after it again when the round ended. Between rounds McCready put an elastic bandage on his elbow. Cox quickly caught it again in the seventh round, and McCready was in trouble, but he would not give in, and soon he was on top with a straddle scissors. The referee energetically hammered the mat. but could never get in more than two taps at a time. | McCready halted Cox in full flight with a tackle, but-Cox slipped under the ropes to escape a repetition of it. McCready was on top with a head lock in the last few minutes of the round. Cox was tumbled out of the ring in the last round, but, after playing for time he came back full of jolts j He landed himself in trouble for grabbing McCready's nose, and he was bowled over when McCready slammed home a jolt, but to pin him was another matter. He had another dispute with a ringsider whom he alleged had slapped his face. There was applause for both men as they left the ring. Mr. Alf. Jenkins was the referee. THE PRELIMINARIES. In the five-round professional preliminary, S. Scott (list 31b) and G. McDonald (list 101b) drew, one fall each. Scott gained a submission fall in the second round with a toe hold, and he submitted to a standing forward head lock in the last round. The bout was vigorous and interesting, with the boys generally wrestling seriously. Results ol the amateur bouts are:— C. Croskery (Kilbirnie). lOst 41b, beat iC. Price (Koolman's). lOst 21b, by one fall. T. Minnis (Koolman's), lOst 31b, beat R. Lockhead (Railway Workshops). lOst 51b. by two falls. :

Mr. Ray Allen was the referee for the preliminaries.