BOXING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 19 June 1924, Page 10

BOXING.

AMATEUR TOURNAMENT AT ELTHAM. DUGGAN DEFEATS WALDEN. The amateur boxing tournament at Eltham last night was probably the best yet witnessed in that town. .The contestants were all fairly evenly matched, and the large number ’of patrons present evinced the keenest interest in the proceedings. The star bout of the evening between Duggan (Hawera) and Walden (Palmerston North) resulted in a win for the former by a narrow margin. Mr Sampson, of Auckland, refereed all tho bouts. Proceedings opened with a paperweight contest between Midgley 4.7 and Morgan 4.9, both of Eltliam/Midgley was aggressive in the early stages, but Morgan had the better of tho last round, with the result that the decision was a draw. Mercer (Patea) 9.3 met Coates (New Plymouth) 9.1 in a light-weight contest. Mercer was the more scientific, and had the better of the in-fighting, but Coates proved himself a hard boy to hit. Mercer was declared the winner. Cuff (Eltham) 7.0 was not able to carry his fight against McLaughlan (Patea) 6.12 the full length, for he was disqualified for hitting with the open glove. Another light-weight- bout between Cadnian 9.11 and Loveridge 9.9 saw Cadman force the pace in his usual style. Loveridge, however, proved sound in defence, and when Cadnian’,". punches lost their sting he became aggressve. Loveridge was declared the winner. Childs (Stratford) 8.4 met Nesbitt (Palmerston North) 8.5. Childs had the best of the opening exchanges, but Nesbitt was careful, and outclassed his man in the last two rounds. Nesbitt was the winner. Perrin (Wanganui) 11.4 met Feris (New Plymouth) 11.4. Perrin kept his man off, and relied on solid right swings, which obtained for him the verdict. Cadman (Auroa) 9.13 was much too good for Cndby (New Plymouth) 9.12. The fight had barely commenced when Cadman crossed with right and left and rushed Cudby to the ropes, where the New Plymouth, man dropped to the floor and took the count for nine. Cudby became aggressive, and gof home with his left and right, but he held his opponent too cheaply, for, following up his lead, Cadman got in a hard right to the side of the face, and watched Cudby take the count for eight. Cadman landed another right swing, and the referee stopped the fight in favour of Cadman. Fitzsimmons (Pihama) 12.5 was again seen in the ring against Nelson (Wannganui) 12.7 Fitzsimmons landed a eouple of rights at the outset, and appeared to take his opponent not at all seriously. Clinches were again the order of the day, and in the second round the referee stopped the boxers with the remark: “This is not a wrestling match, and if you cannot do better than that I will order you out of

the ring.” At the end of the third round Fitzsimmons rushed Nelson to the ropes, and on Nelson dropping to the floor the referee called the count for two. In the fourth round what clean hitting there was came from h itzsimmons. Nelson had the better of some lively exchanges towards the close of the fifth round, but in the last round he was laying his weight against t itzsimmons. Fitzsimmons was declared the winner. Smaller 11.8 met O’Keef 11.2. Smaller was the more aggressive of the two but O’Keef covered up well. Smaller obtained the verdict. A no-decision bout was staged between two Wanganui bantams, R. b reitas 8.2 and Hoskins 7.8. The two boys were very even, and provided a willing contest. V. Walden (Palmerston North) 10.8 met A. Duggan (Hawera) 10.5 in a welter-weight contest. Walden had the better of the first two rounds, he making use of his long lefts. In the third round, however, Duggan changed his tactics, and went in and fought his man. Walden’s defence was good, but it weakened towards the end, and Duggan was able to mix a few straight efts with his swings. Walden’s left, however, was very formidable, and the iaranaki champion’s victory was no easy one. Duggan was proclaimed the winner.