AMATEUR BOXING

Evening Star, Issue 22723, 10 August 1937, Page 5

AMATEUR BOXING

TITLES IN DISPUTE SUCCESSFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT Some of the liveliest and best-con-tested bouts seen at a provincial tournament for a long, time past were provided at the Otago amateur boxing championships in His Majesty’s Theatre last night, and the large crowd of spectators was most appreciative of the fare provided at the Otago Boxing Association's third amateur fixture this season, the standard and physical condition of the competitors showing that the association’s policy of promoting amateur boxing regularly is bearing good: fruit. Much interest was taken in the meeting of Cyril Hayes, the Tahakopa light-heavy-weight, and Bill Lister, of Rakaia, as it was recognised that Lister would provide the South Otago man with his sternest test to date. Hayes began boxing only last year, winning the Otago heavy-weight title without much opposition. Recently he beat G. M'Kay, of .Southland, on a technical knockout, and by disposing similarly of Lister he accomplished the best performance of his career for Lister was the New Zealand amateur light-heavy-weight champion two years ago and had never previously been outed. Lister boxed well for the first two rounds, and Hayes received a fair amount of punishment which did not even steady him up, for towards the end of the second session he just began to warm to his work, and, using a straight left to the head and packing a deadly wallop in his right, he floored Lister several times before the referee intervened. Hayes may still be rather open, but he is a very heavy puncher indeed, and should keep the opposition busy at the New Zealand championships. The light-weight class attracted much interest, two first-class bouts being staged. N. Jenkin, who has won the title on the last two occasions, had his winning sequence stopped by J. Ramsay, who fought a cool and confident fight to outpoint Jenkin, who did not hit with the same judgment and power as was the case last season. Ramsay, in turn, went down to Phil Ruston on a points decision in the final, but there was very little in it. Ruston, however, gave easily his best display this season, punching , with something like his old zest. Another' title-holder was dethroned in the feather-weight division, B. Reeves being outpointed by Lex Greaney, who stepped up from the bantam-weight class to give a very promising display, Reeves having difficulty in weathering the storm in the last round. Greaney is a solid two-handed straight puncher and boxed well. M. Parr won the bantam-weight class by default,, and the most popular win of the evening was that of a 15-year-old Oamaru boy, B. Newton, in the flyweight class. Against the experienced B. Buckley he gave a clever display of boxing in the final and gained a well-earned points decision, this being his sixth win in six contests.

The welter-weight was won by a twohanded Invercargill boxer, T." Denny, who outpointed A. D. Wheeler in a final which produced some spirited exchanges.

The middle-weight championship was' won by A. Sutherland, of Bannockburn, after two hard contests, his opponent in the final being T. Wallace, the former Christian Brothers’ High School champion, who made a very creditable beginning in open competition.

_ The feather-weight championship carried with it a handsome challenge cup and miniature presented by the Otago Wrestling Association, a very sporting gesture to mark the goodwill existing between the ■ two associations. This went to L. Greaney, and P. Ruston, the new' light-weight champion, becomes the holder of the Dr William .Evans Cup. A fireside chair, presented by Mr J. Spence-Nicol, was awarded to Mr A. Leckio as the trainer of the most winners during the evening. A number of special bouts were staged, these being arranged by the Christian Brothers’ High School. The programme was put through without delay, the M.C. being Mr R. S. Glendining (president of the Otago Boxing Association), and the call stewards Messrs P. Paape and C. E. Brown. The referees were Messrs J. Kilmartin. Don. Paterson, and R. Fulcher, and the judges Messrs W. D. Wilson, S. Brown, S. Paris, and B. Morris. Messrs T. Long and S. Brown were the timekeepers, and Mr W. D. Allan stage manager. The scale stewards were Messrs W. G. Glengarry and W. Mowat, and the glove stewards Messrs J. Finnerty, A. M. Grainger, and H. W. Justice. THE NEW CHAMPIONS. The new champions are given belo.w, the previous title-holders being given in parentheses:— Ply-weight.—B. Newton (W. Drew). Bantam Weight.—M. Parr (L. Greaney). Feather-weight.—L. Greaney (B. Reeves). Light-weight—P. Boston (N. Jenkin). Welter-weight.—T. Denny (S. Jenkin). Middle-weight.—A. Sutherland ' (A. M. Rutherford). Light-heavy-weight.—C. Hayes (not decided last year). Heavy-weight.—Not decided (C. Hayes). Results-FLY-WEIGHT. R Buckley (Dunedin) 7.12 beat J. \lelsh (Oamaru) 8.0 on points. Buckley had too much experience for his opponent, who baok-pedalled his way through the bout. Buckley used a two-handed attack to the head and body, and, although inclined to be short with his punches, had Welsh continually on the defensive. The Oamaru boy poked out an occasional loft, but had little idea of judgment of timing and distance, and Buckley won comfortably. B. Newton (Oamaru) 7.11 beat W. Race (Kaitangata) 7.11 on points. Newton boxed cleverly and did most of the leading, using a good straight left to the head and rights to the head and body. He made smart use of the ring, and punched more accurately than his opponent, though Race landed some good rights to the head in the last round, Newton w-as the winner. SEMI-FINAL. B. Buckley (Dunedin) 7.12 heat N. Leckie (Dunedin) 8.0 on points. Buckley gained the decision in a willing and well-contested contest in which Leckie was always willing to mix it, hut did not punch quite so cleanly as his opponent.

FINAL. B. Newton (Oamaru) 7.11 outpointed B. Buckley (Dunedin) 7.12. Buckley did not display anything like the dash or aggression of his previous contests, and Newton outboxed him for the greater part of th© journey, using both hands effectively in straight work and displaying clever footwork, which was responsible for Buckley frequently being short with his punches. Newton scored with a good left in the first round, Buckley being unable to get his distance, and in the second round Newton drove both hands’ to the chin, Buckley still finding him an elusive target. Buckley went after his man in the third round, but Newton continued to keep his straight left going, and Buckley could not get past it, while the Oamaru hoy also used a good inside right-counter. Newton’s win was the most popular of the evening. BANTAM-WEIGHT. M. Parr (Kaitangata) won by default from S. Sutherland (Dunedin). FEATHER-WEIGHT. L. Greaney (Dunedin,) 8.94 outpointed B. Reeves (Kaitangata) 8.94. Greaney outboxed and outfought his opponent, whose hitting was neither as clean nor as well placed as that of his opponent, who plied a particularly telling left. In the first round Greanev scored with both hands in straight work to the body and a good left to the chin, Reeves being unable to get his distance. Reeves fought back in the second round, but he was still short with his left, and Greaney continued to force the fighting, stabbing away with bis left in good style. Greaney launched a two-handed barrage in the third round, and a right to the solar plexus/put Reeves down for a count of nine. He came up gamely, but another right floored him for a similar count, the gong saving him from further punishment. Greaney was an easy winner. LIGHT-WEIGHT. —J. Ramsay (Dunedin) 9.8| defeated N. Jenkin (9.9) on points. This was .one of the best-contested bouts of the evening, both men boxing well. Ramsay did the straighter hitting and wasted fewer punches than Jenkin whose punching was neither so clean , nor- so accurate as he has shown in previous years. Ramsay opened up with a two-handed rally to the head, and used his right nicely to the head and body. Following a left very quickly with a right to the jaw, he floored Jenkin, and pressed home the advantage by flailing the Oamaru boy with rights to the body. Jenkin made a strong rally in the second round, and scored with both hands in the straight work, though he missed occasionally with his right. In the last round, Jenkin connected with straight lefts and a right swing, but Ramsay drove him out by using a hard left and bringing his right over nicely. Ramsay was evasive and made Jenkin miss, getting home several times with his left in the closing stages. Ramsay gained a close decision. P. Ruston had the bye, FINAL. P. Ruston (Dunedin) 9.6 heat J. Ramsay (Dunedin) 9.8|. In .a gruelling contest, Ruston was just a shade too strong for Ramsay, who was f©eling the effects of his strenuous encounter with Jenkin, and tired in the closing stages. Ramsay had the better of some lively twohanded exchanges in the opening round, and a heavy right to the jaw sent Ruston to the canvas for a count of seven. He came back strongly in the second round, however, connecting with left hooks to the head and a , solid inside right-counter to the body. His skilful use of the ring made Ramsay a bit short, but in the last round Ramsay landed some good lefts to the. chin, Ruston retaliating with solid Tights to the body and left hooks to the chin. It was a first-class bout, and the decision to Ruston was a very narrow one. WELTER-WEIGHT. A. D. Wheeler (Dunedin) 10.1 J boat J. P. Bates (Balclutha) 10.4 J, the referee stopping the bout in the second round. Bates stood up to his man well in the first round, and made quite good use of a straight left, but Wheeler’s twohanded attack to the head and rights to the body wore him down, and th© referee stopped the bout in the second round, the award going to Wheeler. T. Denny (Invercargill) had the bye. —Final.— T. Denny (Invercargill) 10.2| beat A. D. Wheeler (Dunedin) 10. on points. Denny fought a forceful fight, and kept after his man all the way, getting insido his guard and scoring in twohanded work to the head and body. In the first round Denny, who stood well up to his man, was just a little prone to use the open glove, but he showed better judgment of distance than Wheeler, who was inclined to be short with his left. There were some willing exchanges in the second round, with Denny doing the cleaner work, and in the last round th© Invercargill boy gave his opponent no respite, scoring repeatedly with lefts and rights in good straight work to the head. It was a good, willing mill, but Denny thoroughly deserved the decision. MIDDLE-WEIGHT. A. Sutherland (Bannockburn) 11.3 J heat J. Arnott (Palmerston) 11.54 on points. This was a fast and well-contested bout, in which Sutherland showed himself to be a good puncher and a forceful boxer. He was aggressive from the start, and with left hooks and right swings to the jaw he had Arnott on the hack-move, also making use of a telling straight left. Lefts and rights to the jaw put Arnott down for a count of five, but he came hack vigorously, and drove his left to the face. Sutherland kept on top in the second, but Arnott used his right nicely to the head and body, and showed to good effect in the straight work. The third round was fought at a torrid clip, but Sutherland showed more variety in attack, and punched with plenty of speed, finishing very strongly. Sutherland won a good, solid bout. T. Wallace (Dunedin) had the bye. —Final.— A. Sutherland (Bannockburn) 11.3$ defeated T. Wallace (Dunedin) 11.14 on points. Wallace, who was making his first appearance in open competition, put up a great showing against his experienced and hard-hitting opponent, and this was one of the liveliest bouts of the night. Sutherland connected the more often in the first round, using a good left and bringing his right across nicely, while Wallace scored occasionally with both hands in straight work. Sutherland did the cleaner munching in the second round, but Wallace made a fine rally in the last round, using straight lofts to the head and solid rights to the body. Sutherland tired a little, but he was fighting back again at the gong, and his early lead gained him the decision.

LIGHT-HEAVY-WEIGHT. C. Hayes (Tahakopa) 12.7 won from W. Lister (Rakaia) 12.64 on a technical knock-out. A punishing bout between two strong and quick light-heavies, this was one of the most exciting mills of th© evening. Lister warmed to-his work more quickly than Hayes, and in the first round kept his opponent from setting himself, 1 Lister scoring with good straight punches with either hand, and using the ring smartly he was able to keep Hayes from getting his distance. Hayes took a fair amount of punishment at the start of th© second round, but he gob his distance with his left, and landed some heavy rights to the ■id body, these having a steadying effect on Lister towards the end of the round.’ Hayes punched with deadly effect in the third round, and a right to the head put Lister down for 6. The Rakaia boxer was shaken when he arose, and Hayes continued to ply a straight left to the chin and hard rights to the jaw, one of which floored Lister for 8. He stopped another battery of punches, and rolled over on the mat, the referee promptly stepping in and awarding the bout to Hayes. SPECIAL BOUTS. C. Greanev 6.114 outpointed J. C. Cook 6.114. ‘ Greaney showed more aggressiveness than his opponent, and connected with both hands, using a particularly good loft. Cook boxed on tl e back-move, but did not punch so effectively as Greaney, who won comfortably. J. Lahood 9.7 beat P. Dolan 9.84 on points. Lahood forced the fighting all the way, and did much the cleaner and more effective punching, gaining an easy decision. N. Ruth 8.11 bent J. Lettoof 9.0 on points. This was a willing mill between two well-matched boys.