RINGSIDE TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 21037, 26 February 1932, Page 6

RINGSIDE TOPICS

LATEST FISTIC FLASHES

[By Hookbe.]

FIXTURES. March 11.—Univerity try-outs, Marama Hall. March 12.—Alan Campbell v, Ray Nicol (heavy-weight contest), His Majesty’s Theatre. HEAVY-WEIGHT BOUT. It is a long time since a professional heavy-weight contest was held in Dunedin, and for that reason alone the meeting of Alan Campbell (heavyweight champion of New Zealand) and Ray Nicol (light-heavy-weight champion) on March 12, in His Majesty s Theatre, is creating a vast amount of interest. Both are fast and clever boxers, and both men have shown themselves to be possessed of real punching ability. Campbell may be the harder hitter of the two, but in his fight with Jim Broadfoot last week Ray Nicol punched harder than in his previous contest with the norther boxer, and his clean and aggressive style of milling should make him popular with the fans. Campbell is one of the best heavy-weight prospects New Zealand has had for some years, and his fine showing against Jack O’Malley, then heavy-weight champion of New Zealand, some time ago/stamped him as a fighter of much promise. Both contestants in the approaching mill believe in action, but while the issue at this juncture looks fairly open Canipbell may prove the stronger at the finish, though even that may be open to question. It will be the first appearance of either man as a professional in Dunedin, but both Campbell and Nicol have appeared here previously as amateurs. Indeed, Nicol started ofi his amateur career under the wing of Dennis Boreham about the same time as Bert Davis, the Otago amateur light-heavy-weight champion, who is figuring in a preliminary on the same programme on March 12. . . , ~ Mr Jack Kilmartm is to referee the principal bout of tho evening. AMATEUR NIGHTS. It was some considerable time ago that the writer suggested the holding of special amateur nights under the auspices of the Otago Boxing Association, and it is pleasing to find that the association is now putting such a proposal into effect and has decided to hold a series of amateur tournaments during the coming season, the first of which will probably be held on, April Professional bouts are likely to be scarce during the next few months, especially if the promised boom in the glove game in Sydney materialises and attracts the best of our fighting men to the other side, and under those circumstances it is only wisdom on the part of the association to develop the amateur side of the game. _ Some of our best' fighters have gone right through the amateur ranks, and these amateur tournaments can be made attractive from the point of view of the public, especially if an effort is made on each occasion to arrange a number of special bouts. The best boys could bo matched in these contests, and that in itself would act as an incentive to the others, An effort should alto be made by the controlling body to cut out unnecessary delays between bouts, and if boxers are not ready to go on at the appointed time, then their bouts should go by default. WORLD’S TITLE FORFEITED. The ten-round fight between Bat Battalino, erstwhile champion of the fea-ther-weights, and Freddie Miller, Cincinnati southpaw, was declared no contest in thp third round, when Battalino went down under what Referee Lou

Bauman declared to boa, “ light ” blow (says an American writer). Miller came out of his corner in tho third and sent Bat clown for a short count with a right to the chin. Bauman ordered him to get up and continue. AVhen Battalino got to his feet Miller sent him down again, and Bauman stopped the fight at the direction of the Cincinnati Boxing Commission. The commission announced all persons holding tickets would get their money back. Battalino was shorn of recognition by the National Boxing Commission as feather-weight champion to-day when he weighed in over the 1261 b limit for the bout, billed as for tho championship. Since he weighed 1293, however, the commission ruled the fight could bo held, and Miller declared champion if he won. The nocontest ruling leaves the field open with the title vacant, as it would have been bad Battalino won. NICOL’S GREAT SHOWING. By virtue of his defeat of the Aucklander, Jim Broadfoot, Ray Nicol, of Ohai, is now the light-heavy-weight champion of New Zealand. The title bout was staged in the Civic Theatre, and an attendance approaching 1,5(10 enjoyed a good fight (says a writer in the ‘ Southland Nows ’). Every round was fought at a terrific pace, and, there being very little in the nature of clinching and holding, tho open exchanges and powerful hitting kept the crowd keyed up to a high pitch of excitement. From the commencement of the third round, tho challenger showed a clear-cut superiority, and maintained a ferocious offensive from then until the final gong. Broadfoot absorbed tremendous punishment, and. was frequently in trouble. Probably he has not been punched so often in a bout for many years, but he was seldom forced into deliberately holding on. He was always ready to fight back, and Nicol had to take some heavy punishment also. A powerful left and right hook to the body and a right swing +o the head were the Aucklander* favourite punches, but, although his body attack was effective, his dangerous right did not do a great deal of damage, Nicol either slipping it or back-moving time after time. Broadfoot held the title for eighteen months, during which time he defended it successfully on three occasions. In the fourth match, though, the contender made no race of it. Nicol’s best punches were a straight left, a powerful right drive to the stomach, and a right cross to the head. Nichol was on top of his man throughout the bout, keeping him on the move without a respite. Broadfoot began by drawing his taller opponent into close quarters and scoring in close. After a round or two of this, Nicol began to' hold his own at in-fighting, and was putting plenty of sting into his punches. His persistent left found its mark with great regularity. There was very heavy punishment given and taken by both men, but the Southlauder proved tho stronger and used his reach to its full advantage. Tho decision met with a great reception, the Aucklander being given an ovation also for a remarkably game display. The pair met before in Invercargill when Nicol won. This time, however, his superiority was much more marked, and he showed a great allround improvement. The purse was £75.

BOXING PROMOTION IN SYDNEY. Hugh D. M’lntosh is still negotiating to ‘‘take over’ 1 the Sydney Stadium, the rendezvous in which he hopes to -e----vive those great days of yesteryears at which time the flower of the world’s pugilists “ tripped the fistic fantastic ” to the tune of surprisingly large purses. Hugh D. has made several more moves since last week, and, provided that negotiations are brought to a successful fruition, he hopes to take over the Rus’hcutter Bay Stadium as from the 29th inst. (says a writer in the ‘New Zealand Sportsman’). Further cables were despatched abroad during the past few days and no stone is to be left unturned in seeking advice as to the best material on offer. In so far as Camera is concerned, M‘lntosh states that the “ Ambling Alp’s ” arrival in Sydney would be certain. Although Dempsey has authoritatively stated that he _ is prepared to sail for Australia provided that the Sydney syndicate is prepared to meet his demands, MTutobh intends to concentrate upon making the Spanish ex-bull fighter, Paolino Uzcudun No. 1 opponent for Camera if negotiations witli Dempsey break down. M'lntosh has no intention of confining his efforts solely to the heavy-weights. Len Harvey and Jack Hood, British middle and welter champions respectively, together with “ Kid ” Berg, foremost contender for the world’s light-weight championship, are being approached at the time of writing. HERE AND THERE. There will be a real interprovincial flavour about the night’s boxing that is to be presented in His Majesty’s Theatre on March 12. -Alan Campbell is now domiciled in South Canterbury, and his opponent, Ray Nicol, is a Southlancler. ■ Bert Lowe and _ Bert Davis will carry Otago's colours in the amateur preliminaries against G.M'Ewen and F. Prendergast, both of Southland, respectively. Tom Hcency is still regarded as something more than a trial horse, and English critics arc quite in favour of a match between Keeney and Reggio Meeu, the British heavy-weight champion, as it is now being submitted that Mcen should be sent against some of the lesser heavy-weights from tho United States with a view to getting a true line on his ability. It is to he hoped tho annual meeting of tho 0.8. A. on March 8 will bo largely attended by 'members, who should be prepared to lay down some sort of policy for tho guidance of tho executive during the coming season. Too little interest in tho affairs of the association is shown by the majority of members, and in the interests of boxing it behoves them all to attend tho annual meeting and to express their views on matters pertaining to tho welfare of the sport. Despite doctor’s orders of some months standing, Jack Haines is anxious to get back again into the ring. He intends training for a couple ol months and then submitting himself again for medical examination (says an exchange). The University try-outs are to be held at Marama Hall on March 11, and already a number of likely competitors are in training at Tom Harris’s gymnasium. The University tournament invariably provides some willing fighting, and in the last year or two the standard has improved vastly, due in no small measure to the work of the instructor (Air T. Harris), who has produced a large number of New Zealand University champions in the last few years.