BOXING

Grey River Argus, 23 September 1944, Page 2

BOXING

Coasters’ Success AGAINST WELLINGTON VISITORS. Losing only two out of nine fights, West Coast boxers proved to be too good for a team of boys, mostly members of W. Hedberg’s gyni, who represented Wellington in an amateur tournament in the Greymouta Town Hall last evening. The boxing was excellent and it was apparent from the applause that greeted each bout, that the tourney had lived up to expectations, and was the best staged here for some time. The hall was packed, only a few rows of back seats downstairs being vacant. Deciding what was virtually the light-heavyweight championship of New Zealand, Norman Ross (11.9) of Greymouth, defeated D. Martin (11.10) of Wellington, on points, after a closely contested four rounds. Ross, with superior speed and a longer reach gained a good number of points in the first two rounds. He proved very hard to hit and in fact in the second round, Martin did not connect once. The local boy used avariety of punches, and at the right moment. Martin speeded up in the final rounds, though Ross continued to force the fight, and landed some heavy blows. Some lively exchanges took place in these rounds, but summed up. the bout was not as exciting as it might hav® been. In the other scheduled four-round contest G. Bowman (11.0), of Runanga, knocked out E. Williams (1'1.5) of Wellington, in the third round. Bowman forced the fight against an opponent who did not look as experienced, though obviously a hard puncher. The winner soon had Williams blowing hard, after connecting repeatedly with a number of body punches. The latter fell over twice and was ordered up by the referee, but early in the.third round after he had forced the fight for the first time, he was sent to the canvas with a hard right to the head, and though not unconscious, was counted out.

The most exciting bout of the evening, thought the shortest, was that between J. Mundy (11.4) of Greymouth, and J. Parata (11.5) of Wellington. The opening stages were characterised by solid punching, though a number were well smothered, and the boxers seemed evenly matched. Suddenly Mundy connected with a vicious short right to Parata’s jaw, staggering the Maori boy. He kept his feet, however and continued to swing blows that, had they landed, would have caused a lot of damage. A couple of lefts and rights sent him to the canvas, but he refused to take a count. He was sent down again, but rose, still swinging. Finally caught in a corner, he took three solid' right hooks to the side of the head, and the referee stopped the bout before he could gamely rise again.

Another good bout was that between A. Cowan (9.0) of Brunner, and T. Ahern (9.0), Wellington junior featherweight ch.ampftm. Cowan, fighting his best bout this season, forced the fight and allowed Ahern no chance to use his longer reach. The boys exchanged blows throughout the three rounds in a crowdpleasing manner, both taking and giving a lot. Cowan made his opponent miss many times and connected more cleanly to take the decision.

P. Tuohy (8.9), Wellington junior bantamweight champion, appeared to be very, unlucky to lose to J'. Boddy (8.12) of Greymouth. Though Boddy forced the fight, he was definitely outboxed, and in the last round was very open, being hit continuously by Tuohy, who impressed as a smart boxer. Boddy kept coming forward, eager to exchange blows, being the harder puncher and Tuohy had to give ground.

N. Woods (9.8) Wellington lightweight champion,, defeated on a t.k.o. in the second round J. Hargraves (9.5) of Ngahere. Woods, a polished boxer, and a hard puncher, had an easy opponent. Hargraves, a novice, who had not made a previous appearance in the local ring, was outclassed. His swings were easily avoided, and he managed to nang on till the second round when he was knocked down once, and obviously was in no condition to pron!/u/ Vhei J corn ered him and again sent him down. nr.^ r ‘cJ ,Uck l ,- (8,5) ’ Nelson Creek, did sh °w his usual form, though he beat G. Johansen (8.2) of Wellington. Tuck forced, but the visitor

boxed coolly and showed he was no novice.

T. Anderson (7.12) of Wellington, defeated A. McPhee (7.8) of Brunner. Anderson’s style was good and his left punished McPhee who, in- ■ clined to circle his opponent too much, used a stab attack method. Though the judges disagreed, Anderson appeared to win comfortably. J. Wano (7.0) of Wellington, won rather easily from W. Kennedy (7.5) of Greymouth. The latter’s long reach was not used to advantage, and Wano, a tiny whirlwind, carried too many guns. One of the best bouts of the evening was that between J. Gosling (5.3) of Nelson Creek, and M. McGeady (5.5) of Greymouth, the latter winning. They traded punches right from the outset, and were still going when the final gong sounded. Other results were: Colin and Billy Ross, of Ngahere, drew; P. Conaghan (4.8) beat M. Lynch (4.11) and V. Tuck (6.0), Nelson Creek, beat H. Langridge, of Barrytown, the latter having to retire at the end of an even, first round with an injured thumb. The manager of the visiting team, Mr W. Hedberg, was, before the last bout, presented with a pair of boxing gloves and a football, made of Blackball coal, as a token of the Association’s appreciation of his efforts. Mr Hedberg, returning thanks announced that he had been asked, in Wellington, to select a team of Coast boys to fight at Lower Hutt at the end of October.

The referees were Messrs N. Kiely, F. Bell and F. O’Neill, who also were assisted Mr A. Beban in judging the inter-provincial bouts.