BOXING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 12 May 1928, Page 13

BOXING

GERMAN PUGILISTS’ PROGRESS ring notes from ale quarters Mr Eugene Corri .writes as follows in m { exchange: The Germans are uamensely keen to excel as boxers, and I urn assured, by those who have an intimate knowledge of the country, the stMdard of skill has pnd The Germans, with a liking ioi .boxing, are quite sure that m a couple o?vSws or SO they will have at least one 7 lighter who may with every confidence challenge the world. tlie If intensive training will take tne Germans to the front, they will reap all the success they hope for. Germam lighter is always in training, and repre sent® the limit of seriousness. Of all the wonders .wrought 'by the war, there is nohe greater than the German's love for boxing. I used to doubt whether Germany iould ever breed a fighter think I am right in saving that there was not a single German boxer of any account, and the <rame generally speaking, was taboo. Of course, there have been many not•ibie fighters of German extraction M'illie ° Ritchie, who lost the light- • , f;fi e to Freddie Welsh (1 was ISSeo of' that contest)— Billy Papke / i „ - as ,-tiic champion middle-weight defeated our Jimmy Sullivan), and Frank Klaus (whose fight with Georges Carpentier at Dieppo has surely not been forgotten).. ... Until Carpentier went to war Juek Dempsey, he-would have it that Ms most formidable opponents were Klaus and Papke. The Frenchman lost t(> .both of the German-Americans, but he wtno more than a boy Thenand he nut up such a heroic show that he definitely established himself as one of the best fighters in the world. I don t think that Carpentier was ever so goo as he was round about the time that he Papke aad Klaus. His purtoma ace against tkom was meisJWy good. Papke and Klaus were two of the most terrific in-fighters I have seen, and it was fitting that a battle between them in Paris practically ended the both They fought themselves to a standstill. They did little good m the U is some doubt as to rs the bantam champion of England, Do don “Sporting Life” announced that it was prepared to give a handsome belt for competition amongst the genuine bantams, to supervise all details rn con■auction with a competition, and to op point referees for all bouts, The views j of promoters, managers and boxers were sou'dit, and latest advices state that several promoters have bid for the right to promote the competition, one ottering to provide £750 in prize money. More than two years have passed since Johnny Brown made the Lonsdale belt his own property, and there has been no match for the championship since Efforts are being made to get Kid Socks, the well-known English bantam, to visit Australia and meet McAlister, the Australian champion. McAlister, bantam-weight champion of Australia, is only 19 years of age. Here is a description of him by a Melbourne writer: An overgrown boy, with the demure angelic expression of a chorister, the dark blue eyes and long lashes of a debutante, the rosebud mouth of a Cupid, and the general appearance of an extremely healthy bunday School pupil at a picnic.. Though, modest and shy outside the ring, in action the boy champion is an almost perfect model of a polished and accomplished boxer, with a knock-out punch that somehow cannot possibly be reconciled with those ingenuous blue eyes and month of childish innocence. HEENEY-DELANEY FIGHT. Some pickings from a report in a London paper of the Heeney-Delaney contest: The men were studies m contrasts —Heeney, comparatively short and nufgety, with big-muscled shoulders, developed .by his trade of blacksmith (Heeney is a plumber); Delaney, an leh taller, but a stone the lighter, lithe and the embodiment of alert cunning. While •by no means' brilliant, the genial Heeney has so far come through his campaign for the heavy-weight crown at last with credit. What is more in American eyes, he has uniformly remained' upright at the end of every light and lias either won or drawn. His name has become a symbol for dependability, and this, combined with his . cheery courage and capacity for “taking it.” has won for him an enviable place m the hearts of American boxing “fans.” By bull-dog like methods, and tactics which, though by no means subtle, were completely successful, Heeney slowly but surely dissipated ; the heavy-weight ambitions of the bronze-bodied French-Canadian, whose flashy, side-stepping, subtle exhibition ■spent is cunning on the brickwall body of the Britisher in vain Out-boxed and out-paced by his rival on occasion, Heeney nevertheless hung on and punished Delaney severely about the body with an attack as persistent as it was damaging. Delaney, twenty pounds lighter than lils adversary, stood up gallantly under the continual pummelling, and plied his chief weapon, a loft hook to the jaw, often with jarring effect. Seldom, however, did it make more than a fleeting impression. NAPIER MOVES AGAIN. The Napier Boxing Association is making another bold bid for fame and wealth (writes "Straight. Left” in the “Hawke's 1 Bay Herald”). A cablegram was dispatched during the week to one of the most prominent boxers at present in Australia, and if the deal comes off the Hawke’s Bay fans will have further opportunities of seeing ■the best talent in this part of the world. Negotiations were opened some time ago, when there seemed a possibility of Green not being available, and a favourable reply came to hand. Acting •on this, a cable was immediately sent inviting the boxer to come over at once. No definite news has yet co-me to hand.

BENEFIT TO DAN CREEDON. A benefit was given to the veteran Dan Creedon at the Melbourne Stadium. Several veterans gave exhibitions of a kind 'which, appeared to he much appreciated by the big crowd present. Dan Creedon, in his day, was one of the big men in the middle-weight class, meeting .practically all the best men, including Bob Fitzsimmons, who was one of the very few men to score a victory over the ex-New Zealander, for Creedon was born in Invercargill in ISOS, BONING- FIASCOS. Writing on modern boxing fiascos, an American scribe says: “One night last winter. .Tack Delaney had a fight with Jimmy Maloney, and the customers,

[having been assured that both fighters | were in great condition and certain to |do their best, paid £36,000 to watch ■them. Delaney sat in his dresisng room 'just before the fight and addressed all who came to inquire that he was in exuberant health, but five minutes later he was locked in a clinch with Maloney, and the pair of them broke from the clinch only to run into a boresome succession of clinches' for ten tiresome Tounds, each one being so afraid of the other that neither one let go a respectable punch lest the other became annoyed. Five minutes after the fight Delaney announced that ho was suffering from a unique and pernicious malady called tennis elbow, and he had entered the ring unfit to do his best.”