BOXING Clarke Soundly Beaten

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 September 1946, Page 8

BOXING Clarke Soundly Beaten

Murphy Scores Easy T.K.O Win “Vic Patrick must be good!” This observation by one holder of a 22/6 seat epitomised the reactions of the crowd in the Town Hall on Saturday night when Bos Murphy, New Zealand professional welterweight boxing champion, made his first appearance in a Greymouth ring. Opening .up on his opponent-, Bobby Clarke, of Australia, in the fifth and sixth rounds of the scheduled 10-round bout, Murphy pummelled him unmercifully with blows to the head and body. Clarke, bleeding from a gash under his left eye, from his nose and lacerated mouth, was sent to the mat with a vicious left rip to the solar plexus. The count had hardly started when the gong for the end of the round sounded, but Clarke could not carry on. A record attendance for a boxing bout held in Greymouth, with many paying for standing room, witnessed the contest. Murphy, now a middleweight, fought at list 211 b, while Clarke weighed in at 11.2. Murphy was the taller and had an advantage in reach. The bout was for a ‘purse of £2OO and expenses, this being the largest prize offered by the Grey Boxing Association for 20 years. The association will, however, recoup itself handsomely for this outlay. Clarke Elusive. Clarke won rounds of applause on several occasions for his ability to duck under savage punches when Murphy had him pressed against the ropes, and he displayed considerable agility during the first few rounds in keeping Murphy at a distance. The bout was full of excitement as Murphy stalked the quick Australian and endeavoured to come to close quarters, but it was obvious from the outset that the. New Zealander was a good deal superior to his opponent. Murphy took a while to warm up and in the first two rounds was content to stab at Clarke’s face with double lefts. Clarke was wary and kept flicking his left at Murphy, though he was rarely able to get home with a solid blow. One left hook, however, connected in the opening round. Still moving quietly, Murphy shot home a light left hook to the head early in the second round and followed up with a right to the body. Clarke replied with a similar blow. Murpry began to leap in at Clarke with two-fisted attacks, and these hard-hitting exchanges characterised his mode of offence. Towards the end of the round he scored with three quick left hooks to Clarke’s head and parried a heavy right to the side of his face. First Knock-down. Leaping in with blows that came from every direction, Murphy began to set a hot pace in the third round, which ended sensationally with Clarke on his back on the mat after receiving a left hook—Murphy’s favourite blow—flush on the chin. The gong came at the count of five, but Clarke could have got to his feet before then. Clarke had scored, during this round with light blows. Obviously seeking to end the bout, Murphy wasted no time and Clarke’s quick footwork was of little benefit in the face of Murphy’s lightning attacks. Clarke was soon pinned against the ropes and Murphy unleashed a furious attack. Clarke coolly ducked, swayed and weaved to weather the storm. A few seconds later'he was again trapped in a corner, but expertly eluded the blows showered at him and burst through Murphy’s guard to score with a left hook to the head. This was Clarke’s best round and he made Murphy I miss several times. i Vicious Attack. ' Few doubted when the sixth round got under way that the bout would have an early end, for though Clarke managed to escape several of the blows aimed at him, he had to take many telling punches, and, as Murphy rained vicious left hooks and rips and occasional rights at him, he began to bleed badly. His face appeared to be badly battered early in the round, but there was no let-up for him. Retreating from Murphy, ■ Clarke winced when a left hook' struck him about the short-rib. He, fell back on the ropes and crouched, | guarding his head, as Murphy sprang • in, but a powerful left rip to his solar plexus completed the damage of the earlier body blow and he fell to the mat dazed and bleeding. He was still helpless on the canvas at the count of five when the gong went. Helped to his corner, he indicated to i the referee that he could not carry > on owing to his cut eye and mouth, i and Murphy was awarded the verdict ‘ on a technical knock-out' in the ' seventh round. Murphy was unscathed when he 1 left the ring, but it was some time. before Clarke could make his exit and further attention was necessary in his dressing room. Mr. F. O’Neill, of Greymouth,, was the referee. First-class Preliminaries. In spite of the absence of the district’s leading amateurs at the Dominion championships, the preliminary programme included some of the most interesting bouts to be seen at Greymouth for some time. Several boxers from other districts took part. The results are as follows:—

R. Blacktopp, 6.8 (Greymouth), defeated J. Shaw, 6.7 (Christchurch), on points. Blacktopp was too aggressive for Shaw. H. McClymont, 11.7 (Greymouth), defeated R. Hawes, 11.7 (Westport), on points. The contestants were a hard-punching pair who earned the applause they received at the end of the bout. S. /Gladstone, 8.5 g (Gre)ymouth), defeated a game boxer in T. Forsyth, 8.5 (Westport), on a technical knockout in the second round. Forsyth took a count of three in the first round. Gladstone’s hard punching was too much for him. The Canterbury flyweight champion, B. Shaw, 7.13 (Christchurch), narrowly defeated K. McMillan, 7.7 (Greymouth), on points. P. Ellis, 10.0 (Greymouth), defeated F. Woodhouse, 9.7 (Greymouth), on a technical knock-out in the second round. The better boxer, Woodhouse sent Ellis down for a count of one in the first round and again floored him at the gong. Ellis connected with a heavy right to the jaw in .the next round, but Wood- . house got to his feet at nine. He! was obviously unable to defend himself, however, and, after another brief exchange, the bout was stopped. The most exciting bout of the

_ — ( evening was that between B. Henderson, 10.9 (Timaru), and A. MeGill, 10.7 (Waiuta), the latter win- - inirig on points. Henderson had no i effective defence and was hit con- ■ tinually by McGill, who kept up a ! whirlwind attack throughout. Both were tired in the last round, when their efforts to get home a telling iblow (or any blow) kept the audience in roars of laughter. At the end of the bout an apprecative audience threw coins totalling £4/6/- into the ring. Messrs. L. O’Neill and T. Croft were the referees. j New Zealand Amateurs at Auckland ! (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Sept. 22. ( The first New Zealand amateur boxing championship tournament since 1939 and the first held in Auck- ( land since 1928 will begin here on Monday. There are more than 90 competitors, representing 24 associations, and it is estimated that more than 200 trainers, supporters, and delegates to ■ the annual meeting of the New Zea- ( I land Boxing Association are visiting . the city. The New Zealand Boxing | Association will meet on Monday and again on Tuesday if necessary. George Allen Beaten in j 1 Sydney SYDNEY, Sept. 22. The New Zealander, George Allen ■ (12st was outpointed by Max Cameron (list 1221 b) in a 12-round boxing contest at the Sydney Stad- ' ium. I Allen attacked confidently at the. 1 start of the first round as if he intend-I ed finishing his opponent off quickly?! After losing the first two rounds, Cam- i eron settled down to give the New-1 Zealander a boxing lesson. He stood < I)ff and continually picked holes in 1 Allen’s defence, rattling in a succession of straight lefts to the face. The ‘ further the fight went the less was , Allen’s chance. ’ The crowd did not appear impressed, demanding something more bloodthirsty in the way of fisticuffs.