BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 July 1923, Page 7

BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP

DEMPSEY RETAINS TITLE. GIBBONS DEFEATED ON POINTS. ' : ’ "y. ■ . ’ I (Australian And N.Z. Cable Association.) '• ■ — ' ■ '' ' S' NEW YORK, July 6. Dempsey defeated Gibbons on the referees decision. The fight lasted fifteen rounds. Dempsey’s weight was 1881bs. and Gibbons’ 1751b5. In round one, Dempsey led viciously landing heavy body blows, and dtew blood from Gibbons’ mouth with Gibbons retaliated and landed twice on Dempsey’s jaw, but the champion knocked the challenger about ' V. .. .. . a a easily. . In the second round Gibbons landed a hard right to the body, and then opened Dempsey’s eye. Dempsey jarred his opponent by a left to the jaw. In round three, Gibbons protested against Dempsey mauling him in. the clinches. Dempsey pounded his body savagely. Both exchanged head blows. In round four. Gibbons landed a right upper-cut. Infighting followed, Gibbons boxing well, and the cham- : pion having trouble in hitting him. , In the fifth round Gibbons drove Dempsey back, knocking him to the, >. ropes with two lefts to the jaw. Dempsey kept clinching, but Gibbons .again drove him back. In the sixth round Dempsey knocked Gibbons between the ropes. Dempsey gave him severe punishment at close quarters, which Dempsey continually sought. In the seventh^round the crowd got angry as Dempsey held and hit, and then twice hit Gibbons below the bait, without the referee protesting. -,; In the eighth round Gibbons knocked Dempsey with- two lefts to the jaw. Dempsey again hit low and the crowd resented it. The round ended-,with an exchange of blows to the head. Round nine was mostly a series of clinches. Gibbons was distinctly outboxing the champion, and standing body punishment well. He also landed several hard blows to the jaw. In the tenth round Gibbons improved in the clinches, and also neatly dodged Dempsey’s uppercuts and straight hits. Round eleven: Dempsey was outmanoeuvred again and struck below the belt. The crowd was furious. Gibbons retaliated with two hard blows to the jaw, and v dodged Dempsey’s counter. The twelfth round was marked by savage-infighting, Dempsey roughing it all over the ring and striking low. In the fourteenth Gibbons outguessed f Dempsey, dodging terrific upper cuts. The challenger was boxing beautifully and forced Dempsey to miss repeated-. In the fourteenth Dempsey was tiring and missed continually at long range - and sought to get close. Gibbons’ generalship was far superior. In the fifteenth Gibbons was strictly on the defensive, with Dempsey desperately trying for a knockout. He landed on the right jaw, badly shaking Gibbons, but the bell sounded. The referee’s decision was in Dempsey’s favour. The wildest excitement followed the fight. The referee rushed out of the stadium immediately he had announced his . decision.