CHAMPIONSHIPS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 234, 15 September 1934, Page 9

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Held Twice in Hawke’s Bay IMPORTANT OCCASIONS Incidents of Early Tourneys WHEN TWO RUGBY ALL BLACKS MET. The staging o£ the 1934 New Zealand Amateur Boxing Championships at Hastings next week will be the third time that this outstanding national event for amateurs has been held in the Hawke’s Bay province. Curiously enough on all three occasions, the tournament has been vested with special importance. That in 1920 was just prior to the New Zealanel team leaving for Australia and the championships were looked upon as the final trial of the candidates offering. In 1926 when the Napier Association staged the championships the showings of the competitors were regarded as preliminary tests for selection in the New Zealand Olympic Games team of that year. Again history repeats itself and now next week the championships will serve as the final trial in the selection of the All Black side to meet Australia at Invercargill in the Australasian championships next month.

It is a remarkable coincide, i that Hawke’s Bay should have been singled out as the venue for three such important meetings and it is a matter of congratulation to those who control tho sport in this district. It is worthy of note that apart from the metropolitan centres no other part of New- Zealand has been so favoured and honoured —

for it is undoubtedly an honour to have had the privilege of staging the tourney, which is always one of the most representative sporting gatherings of the year. Of course, great preparations were made for the tournament in Hastings in 1920, and the interest in the meeting was phenomenal, the Municjp.il Theatre being crowded at every session. The remarkable feature of the proceedings was the lengthy series of exciting bouts, the finals, perhaps, being the closest that have taken place to date. In almost all the divisions there was unusually keen competition, the finalists being outstanding and very evenly matched. The most popular figure of the tournament was that of Duke Maddox, of Hastings, who battled his way steadily through tho eliminating rounds to the accompaniment of increasing excitement and was successful in annexing tho bantamweight championship, so giving Hawke’s Bay its first national champion.- The other finalist in 'this division was W. H. Leckie, a member of that famous boxing family who have established a wonderful tradition in the sport in this country. On his performance Duke was selected to go to Australia but he was unsuccessful in his quest for Australasian honours. In the final he met the New South Welshman, R. Bell, and after a great fight the judges disagreed. There was a terrific uproar at the Brisbane stadium when the referee handed the laurels to the Australian.

The crowds attending the tournament in Hastings enjoyed themselves immensely at times though at the expense of the judges. In the final for the lightweight Desmond, of Wellington, was given the verdict over Musson, of Christchurch, and the crowd expressed disapproval. Cheers were given for the loser and hoots were tendered the winner. I another instance the crowd took exception to the habit of Harr' Gunn of hitting on the. “break ” and when he was awarded the decision ove Chisnail, of Christchurch, there wn another demonstration. Gunn, who hailed from Timaru, incidentally, was awarded the trophy for the most scientific boxer as the result of his fine ex hibitions in the featherweight class. A Famous Duel. The real sensation of the tournament was the final of the heavyweight division between two men who later were to figure in the “ Invincible* ” of the Rugby world—the 192 t All Black team to tour the British Isles. Tim contestants were Brian McCleary. 11.9 of Christchurch, and Morris Brownlie 12.1.3, of Hastingsw-and what an ugly assorted pair they were! In the first round Brownlie caused a sensation by knocking the Timaruvian. McKennan. stone cold in the first half minute of the bout, but when he came up against McCleary, the South Islander indulged in a wonderfully clever fight. With the knowledge of the Hastings man’s disastrous punch, he presented an elusive front, sidestep-

ping, back-moving, twisting and ducking, here, there and everywhere and it is doubtful whether the local man ever landed a clean hit.

Brownlie was clearly out for the “sleeping draught’’ and he beat the air like an enraged giant, with the result that he tired badly. This was when McCleary came to light with a fine skilful display. Darting in and out with wonderful speed and precision in delivery he scored heavily and indeed h-ad the big fellow groggy at one stage. At the finish the crowd became delirious when the decision was given to McCleary. who was carried shoulder high from the ring, and it was a long time before the cheers died down.

It is interesting to note that later Brownlie was to get his revenge. Thia waq when the All Blacks were on the way to the Old Country nnd both men worked their way to the final of a boxing tournament which w-as staged on board the ship, and the Hastings man won. McCleary, incidentally, was later a winner of the Australasian championship at Brisbane and subsequently won the New Zealand profession's.! championship which ho held until he met Tom Heeney, the “Iron Rock of the Antipodes.” McCleary getting a father of a hiding from Tom who was in one of his best moods. Thrills At Napier,

Six years later Napier figured as the venue lor possibly one of the most successful championship meetings ever held in the Dominion. As already mentioned the meeting was a trial for the selection of the Olympic Games team, but the tourney was remarkable lor the number of outstanding contest, ants who took part. Perhaps the finest featherweight final ever fought was that of this year, when “Fighting” Johnny Leckie, ef Otago, beat ‘‘lhe Fighting Fireman,” Tommy Donovan, of Taranaki. It was a bout full of action, with Leckie proving the more clever boxer and Donovua showing up as a scrapper. There was not much between them at the finish-— there really never has been when they met later as professionals ot the first flight—aud the. title went to Leckie. It is interesting to note that later both these two outstanding boxer* wore to take residence in Napier for a time, Donovan, indeed now residing there

In the flyweight division there was • clever little Napier boy, Frank Pearcey, who performed creditably in his division, fie was ultimately eliminated by the winner, Pulton, of Greymoutb, but three years later, when living at Auckland, he was successful in annexing a national title.

Two outstanding boxers of the 1926 tournament were Alf Cleverley, who won the middleweight championship and subsequently earned his passage to the Amsterdam Olympic Games, as a New Zealand representative, and Ted Morgan, another Wellington, who won the lightweight title and also was awarded the trophy for the most scientific boxer at the fixture. Morgan, too, subsequently worked his passage to the Games too and to him goes the distinction of being the first, nnd incidentally, the only. New Zealander to win an Olympic Games title. Sliding down the scale from the sublime to the ridiculous the 1926 tourney was productive of perhaps the most farcical bouts ever fought at a championship meeting. This was in

the heavyweight division where S. Lewis, a Maori from Wairoa, met a policeman, Heydon, of Auckland, and it is a matter of conjecture as to who was more scared of the two.. Tho Maori had the advantage of six inches in height and a stone in weight, but for all that he made little use of it. The other man kept his distance and really presented the title to Lewis after what was a real farce. So much for the two previous championship meetings that have taken place in this province. Next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, at the Hastings Municipal Theatre, another meeting will take place and perhaps it, too, will provide bouts that, will ever live in tho memory of those who attend I Certainly it will be productive of some great fights for the entries indicate that the varies associations have exercised the greatest care in tho nominations and, of course, there are the dual honours, that of winning a New Zealand title, and also that, of securing representation in the national team, to spur along the competitors to give of their very best.