BOXING

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 July 1923, Page 6

BOXING

.. i i-i-.uW iiHAMPIONSHSPS xxxbOL imgHl’S BOUIS. tii i’F'i’WUi .‘.kliaOCliAVjoii ASHBURTON, July 25. Bic South island Amateur Boxing Cilampionsnips opened to-night, there being 04 competitors. The bouts resulted as follow : — , riyweight.—First round: N. Kiely (Greyinoutn) beat V. Howell (Christcnureii) ; A. Ennis (Timaru) beat L. bpencer (Invercargill). Bantam —rust round: Weston (limam) beat H. Lloyd (Oamaru) ; T. Griffiths beat L. Black (Christchurch). leatherweight —hirst round: R. Fulcher (Dunedin) beat D. Cree (Oamaru) ; T. Armstrong (Christchurch) beat G. Reed (Invercargill). Lightweights. —hirst round: T. Hairis (Dunedin) beat E. Livingstone (Invercargill). Welter. —First round. —A. Thompson (Christchurch) beat A. Wilkinson (Invercargill) ; J. Nelson (Greymouth) beat F. E. Smitheram (Oamaru). Heavyweight.—First round: J. G. Leckie (Invercargill) beat W. Chaffe (Ashburton).

COASTERS IN FORM. (Special to “Star.") ASHBURTON, July 25. Kiely (7.7£) beat Howell (7.6.) In the first round Kiely boxed nicely and showed a dangerous uppercut. Howell was tire aggressor in me second round, but the GreyniOuth lad’s defence was sound. In the last round Kiely held the upper hand, making Howell miss badly. In the lightweights, Argyle (Ashburton) defaulted to Dick I’ascoe. In tiie welters, Nelson (10.2 3-4) defeated Smitheram (10.2). Smitheram opened up by connecting to the head witn both hands. Nelson smothered, and then returned with straight leads to the head and body. Smitheram kept the pace up in the second round, but Nelson’s superior ringcrait enabled him to connect with both hands to the head and body. Nelson won the most spirited bout of the evening by superior riugcraft and tactics. Hie decision was very popular. Laurie O’Neill had a bye. DEMPSEY’S GLARING FOULS. Rarely has so much licence to glaringly transgress rules been permitted in a boxing match as was allowed Jack Dempsey when he defended his world s championship title against lonimy Giburnis at Shelby. According to an accimiit of the tight furnished to the barney ‘Referee,” by Frank G. Menke, me referee adjudged the better ocmated. _ i.i.ugu oieeding from the weight of . ... ■■ me mouth in the opening ... .n oons was not dismayed. On . , me punch seemed to ; i.. mnag something effective, , , . ... i in. Hurling a couple ...... -aiv winch might have . i r ; j..sor of a less tough- . .. .pparatus than that ...... , on me canvas. Tins , i . ... Au imi ueicr me cmimpion one mmiem. lie hashed along with conH .. ..na u.iect that suggested he v.ouid ;::axc short work of the job. m. nm . .-nmered much during those few white heat moments, but never a 0...,w ux weakness old lie make. His quiet faith in himself was there as pimmunced as it appeared when those mm umieai oUxs to chip the champion on the chut were attempted. Demp»ey held and smashed at his opponent most barefacedly m the second round. Bent upon winning at any moment, he mauled his adversary like an enraged animal. Gibbons suffered severely from body smashes, but he fought as if the blows had effected little harm. Sighting an opening he drove ins right inside Dempsey s leit swing, making contact with the left eye, which, brought blood, there was power in that jolt. It riled the champion, whose furious efforts in retaliation were a good deal discounted by Gibbons’s better skill. —Not the Queensbury Code. — Dempsey took the initiative when the third round arrived, and did things during some wrestling, or socalled infighting, which were a good deal away from the limit of the Quecnsberry code. Gibbons’ seconds appealed. 1 Dempsey was manhandling their principal. The bulk of the ringsiders endorsed the seconds’ protest, but the referee saw nothing that he did not want io see. He bad, even thus early, proved, and lie continued to prove, all through the roughing struggle, blind to every broach perpetrated by Dempsey. Blood trickled from Dempsey’s left eye as he walked, serious-looking, to bis corner at the close of the fourth. Gibbons had got even for that punch on the mouth in I Im initial round. Here Dempsey made, a desperate effort t< secure complete mastery, and found

tiie task beyond him. The skill lie had to meet, was, at times, more than lie could get over, though twice, or thrice, ne did manage to crash through; then the house yelled delight. Perhaps the greatest thrill of tnc battle was when, during the fifth round, Gibbons looked irke putting a permanent grip upon the match. A rert hook to trie jaw landed 111 such a well-judged manner, and with such power, mat Dempsey, deeming discretion tiie better part of valour, even if it were not a matter of necessity, moved backward . Knowing that lie must have hurt his man, Gibbons followed, and delving away with both lists upon the body, drove the champion back to the boundary. Meanwhile tiie house was beside itself in a perfect Irenzy of excitement. All were 011 their ieet and jostling against each othei, keenly expectant of a finish at any moment. Roar after roar, in all sorts of forms and languages, urged Gibbons to ‘’Knock him out.’’ But Dempsey was made of tougher stuff than the attacking boxer was capable of dealing with in such quick time. Not only did Dempsey live through those fateful few moments, but before the round terminated, he turned the lull weight of his punching power upon tiie enemy, and that person, having called too liberally upon his reserves, had to break ground to avoid disaster. Everybody saw Dempsey strike Gibbons twice in the region that is taboo while the seventh progressed along its high-strung course. The lighting was fierce and vicious. 1 said everybody. 'That was a miss-note. Referee Janies Dougherty, close friend of Dempsey, didn t see those palpable breaches, or at least he was not moved to any action, not even a caution. Dempsey imprisoned Gibbons with his left aim and hammered him heavily with the right. Again did the crowd rebel at tins barefaced scouting of authority, but authority didn’t mind. Gibbons took a hand in the eleventh round, and scored so well that, finding himself outmanoeuvred, Dempsey swatted his man lower than the belt. An enraged crowd rebelled menacingly against the referee's brazen tolerance of the champion’s illegal acts. fought Like Tigers— They went for each other like tigers after being released for the 12 th round. Each appeared to feel that he must assert himself there and then. Dempsey clearly aimed at finishing matters before returning to his cornel. Alaybc ho was not too sure regaining the referee’s attitude. He made the pace, and lie made the fighting. lie also made the contest one-sicied. by grabbing Gibbons about the neck and Heaving rights at his cranium. lhe madness of the lighting extended to the bleacher seats away at the back of the three-parts empty structure. The crowd looked like breaking away from itself. Dempsey roughed Gibbons every moment everywhere, and again placed a glaringly low punch wiiile hooking on his victim with the other arm. In the 14th Gibbons stood out well as the better boxer. He eluded direful-looking charges and caused the weakening world’s champion to miss oiten. Apparently satisfied that he had won the match on points, Gibbons acted mostly on the defensive throughout this, as well as the next and the last round. Dempsey had reserved himself a good deal in the 14th for what he launched in the concluding stage. He did all he could, and brought everything he had in his fighting kit to bear in elforts to finish with a knockout. Once a blow lodged heavily on Gibbons's jaw, but not heavily enough. A little later Dempsey manoeuvred Gibbons into lighting a long, stirring rally, which he plainly hoped might terminate with a knockout lor him. Spectators appeared to hold the same opinion. They were on their feet during the full three minutes, whooping loudly for Gibbons. If the referee didn’t crown the actual winner, an Indian chief among the spectators did. He placed the Indian war bonnet on Gibbons’s head. The red man never pays a better compliment to himself.