RINGSIDE TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 23130, 2 December 1938, Page 4

RINGSIDE TOPICS

[By Hooker."]

LATEST FISTIC FLASHES

ARMSTRONG'S ASSETS

The American correspondent of a Sydney paper writes: — “ Bonny Leonard, a little stouter than in the days when he was a great light-weight, was talking about Henry Armstrong.

“There is one thing that has been overlooked about this fellow,” he said. “ That is, that he is a roller. Some of you fellows have said that he is a weaver, but he isn’t. He’s a roller. _ A weaver is a fellow that conies into you like this, weaving away from punches. He’s hard to hit, but very often he is in no position to punch. “ But Armstrong rolls in like this. He’s hard) to hit, too. I mean, hard to hurt. Maybo it isn’t so hard to hit him, but he always is rolling with your punches, so that oven when you hit him the chances are you don’t hurt him, because he’s rolling over or under your gloves. But that’s only a part of his effectiveness.

“You don’t win fights just.by not ’getting hurt. The best you can do that way is a draw. To win, you havo to be able to hit and hurt the other fellow—and that’s what Armstrong is doing all the time. “ He has a good grip on the canvas with his feet, and, with his head and shoulders rolling, he always is in a position to punch and to put something behind every punch. If he misses you with his left hand, he can throw his right hand from here and follow it with his left, and he can throw so many punches that it is hard to avoid being hit by some of them. He’s never off balance, and, as he is moving forward all the time, he never is out of range.”

GHANY SHOWS IMPROVEMENT The points-scoring qualities of a good straight left were demonstrated admirably ou Monday night by the young Dunedin professional. Lex Greajley, at the expense of Jack Hargreaves, a tough Wellington boy, who has been campaigning in Sydney and Melbourne (says the Southland News’), Hargreaves fourid giving away reach and weight too tough a proposition, and though he made a great fight of it, he was, for most of the bout, on the receiving end of a long succession of straight lefts, which,' if they did not carry enough weight tq dm.ocquch damage, gave .Greaney a comfortable margin of points. The bout was full of action and much brighter than plenty of bouts between better-known men have been. Certainly, it deserved more support than it did, but the atrocious conditions probably had a lot to do with the size of tho audience. There was a definite contrast in the styles of the two, Greaney, from the outset showing his preference for longrange fighting, wliild Hargreaves, whose bufld made it difficult to fight Greaney the same way, concentrated his efforts in getting past Greaney’s left lead, and getting into close range, whore he used both hands to effect. Had ho been able to get past that left more often without stopping it with his nose, he might have reversed the decision, for he fought coolly and scored cleanly when he had the opportunity to do so. As it was, when he made an effort to bore in to close quarters he found • his way halted effectively by Greaney’s left, which, by the way, is a great punch and should win him more fights. Greaney made good use of a right cross on / occasions in tbe latter part of the fight, but Hargreaves took all that was coming along and still kept up the pace. The Wellington man’s greatest fault lay in his lack of defence against a left. He took lefts from Greaney all night without appearing to try and stop any of them —an excellent way to end up puncli drunk after a few years in tbe game Hargreaves’s best punch was a lei# hook, but as most of his scoring wa» done in close, he was not often seen advantage. Greaney has just broken into cash ranks, and is improving rapidly. H« has the stuff in him to make a good boxer—build and stamina. His footwork could be improved, but . a feu more fights should make a difference. Against an experienced fighter like Hargreaves, the Dunedin boy put up a good showing, and it will not be surprising if be holds tbe New Zealand title before long.

POOR STANDARD OF REFEREEING Fight Promoter Charles Lucas returned to Sydney last week by tho Niagara with a poor opinion qf American boxing referees. “ Things are allowed in the States that woulcTnot be tolerated anywhere else in the world,” he said. “1 thought Ambers beat Armstrong in the light-weight title fight. 1 not only thought he beat him, but I believe be beat him well. If the fight had been anywhere else Armstrong would have been thrown out of the ring, for he kept hitting from the knee up'from start to finish.” Lucas also saw the Schmeling-Louis and ArchibaldVerliuks scraps. “ The standard of boxing in America is very high, but economic conditions arc poor in the States. Still, good fights pull big houses, as they do out here.

HERE AND THERE Ambrose Palmer arrived in Sydney last week to prepare for his fight with (jus Lesnevicn at the Arena on Tuesr day next. Palmer scaled 12.2—four pounds under his fighting weight. He explains that ho invariably builds up with gym. training. He will fight at 12.6. The Victorian has set the British Empire championship as his objective. If Harvey will not come to Australia, Palmer will tour at the end of the present season. . Claude Varner’s advent at Leichhardt should help the local featherweight situation (says a Sydney writer). Varner opens against Mickey Miller at tho suburban arena on December 9. Later, be will fight Beuna-

ventura De Guzman and Leichhardt’s feather-weight importation. Ten years ago Pat M'Hugn packed Leichhardt to the roof night after night with bantam and feather-weight fights. He was fortunate to have such bantams as Stan Thurbon, Tommy Swift, Billy M'Alister, Les Jackson, and Bobby Gray. Varner might easily create a vogue for feathers. His bout with Miller should be a very sultry affair. When thev met at the Melbourne Exhibition, Miller was hit out of the ring. He claims that Varner’s supporters prevented him from climbing back before being counted out. The secretary of the Otago Boxing Association (Mr Frank Pimpe) told the writer a few' days ago that the season locally had been brought to a close, and local followers of the glove game may well regard it as one of the most active and successful for many years. An early start will be made next year, and it is the present intention to hold the annual meeting in the first week in March.