BIG BOXING BOUT

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 113, 8 November 1940, Page 9

BIG BOXING BOUT

COUNCIL'S POSITION

OBSERVANCE OF RULES

In reference to the report from Auckland published yesterday stating that a boxing contest between Maurice Strickland and Alabama Kid had been arranged to take place at Palmerston North on Boxing Day, the secretary of the New Zealand Boxing Council, Mr. G. P. Aldridge, in a statement to "The Post" today, said mat certain conditions would have to be fulfilled before the contest could be held. Mr. Aldridge said that he would be very pleased to see the bout staged and he hoped that the obstacles could be overcome. The. council, said Mr. Aldridge, would have to be certain that its rules were strictly observed and would insist, for instance, that the purse is divided on the basis of 60 per cent, to the winner and 40 per cent, to the loser. Another pom' in connection with the purse was that permission would have to be obtained for giving a sum greater than the limit imposed by the rules (in the case of an imported boxer, £200 plus £40 expenses) . Another important point was that the Manawatu Association would have to take full responsibility for the stagr ing of the contest and could' not dele1-" gate its powers to anybody else. The association, of course, would have to see that the levies upon the boxers 1 winnings and the takings at the gate provided for under the rules were paid to the council. Mr. Aldridge said that no application for the staging of the bout had yet . been received and until permission had been given the bout could not take place.

The Auckland message < stated:— Negotiations are proceeding to match Maurice Strickland, ex-contender for the world's heavyweight boxing title, with Alabama Kid, who is classed among the leading light-heavyweights in the world today, at Palmerston North on Boxing Night- Alabama Kid has been offered by the Palmerston North Boxing Association £150, win, lose, or draw, but it is believed that he will request a straight-out training purse and a percentage of the gate. JHe will leave Auckland tonight for Wellington to complete arrangements. It is understood also he will insist on a bout of twelve three-minute rounds.