BOXING FINALS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 432, 24 June 1922, Page 2

BOXING FINALS.

NORTH ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS. The management of ihe Manawatu Boxing Association was again last evening greeted with a big house, when the eliminating rounds and finals in ihe North Island championships came up for decision. Throughout the tourney the knowledge of ringcraft displayed, particularly among the lighter classes, was of a very high standard and promises well for the future of the art. The selectors of the North Island loam should thus be provided with some excellent material to uphold tin* honours of the island at the forthcoming New Zealand championships at Auckland. In all respects the tournament proved an unqualified success and supporters of the art, by the sporting spirit in which they expressed their approval of the various decisions, aided materially to the thorough enjoyment of the evening’s sport. Mr M. Stewart, of Wellington, was again in charge of the roped area, while the decisions were in the capable hands of u scries of adjudicators. All the bouts wore confined to three rounds of throe minutes duration. Following are the results: BANTAMS. Pearce (Wellington) 7. carried 100 many guns for Howe (Wanganui) 8.11, and connected repeatedly with straight lefts, intermingled with right swings. Howe fought back till a heavy right shook him and he went id the mat. Refusing to take advantage of Ids count, he groggily staggered on despite repeated floorings until the referee stopped the contest. In the linal Pearce met C’aitn (Kltham) B.oj> and, although ho carried the fight tho major portion of the distance, Cann scored points freely In the concluding stages, and after a display of free milling gained a meritorious victory. FEATHERAV EIGHTS. Overend (Hawke’s Bay) 8.7 met Hatton (Whangarei) 8.12 in his heal and a spirited encounter eventuated, in which both carried weight in their punches. Overend did the most of the attacking and gained the decision. Purdie (Auckland) 8.11 opposed Overend in the final and, despite a magnificent light by the latter, the New Zealand champion boxer proved all too speedy for him, his connections being more frequent and better directed. It was a splendid uphill light by the Hawke’s Bay man, for in his opponent he had an Australian and New Zealand champion of exceptional merit. .MIDDLE-WEIGHTS. Mettle (Auckland) 10.12 held an advantage in reach over Strange (Manawatu) 10.12, of which he made good use in the long range work, while in the clinches he also held the upper hand. Strange was inclined to swing wildly and missing fell into repeated clinches from which the referee had to break them. He connected to the face on occasions with the left, but the blows lacked weight, and Meale won the bout. 'l’he victor met Sitne (Wanganui) 11.3 in the final, but the bout was of short duration, for Meale drove Sitae to the mat with a heavy right and he just failed to regain Ids feet before the count went against him. WELTER-WEIGHTS. Henson (Auckland) 10.7 smilingly issued forth to the attack against Corliss (Ekliam) 10.2. and his onslaughts found his opponent covering up in some awkward positions at a very early stage. The northerner forced the puce throughout, and gained the decision by a fair margin. Henson’s effort apparently told the tale, for in the linal against Willis (Wanganui) 10.5 he was not so energetic in the opening exchanges, and Willis annexed the major points. However, in the concluding round Henson forced (lie pace and made up leeway and snatched a narrow victory. The award met with a mixed reception. HEAVY-WEIGHTS. Higgs (Wellington) 12.2 met Moore (Wanganui) 12.12 in Rio semi-final and did most of his scoring with straight lefts which Moore failed to guard against, although faring hotter in the clinches. Both fought in good spirit, but the display was only mediocre. Higgs was the winner. Higgs faced Corbett (Manawatu) 11.12 in the final and had little difficulty in annexing the championship, for Corbett, although he mixed freely, showed little knowledge of ringcraft. LIGHT-WEIGHTS. The bout, Blackbourn (Taumarumti) 9.12 v. Rickard (Gisborne) 9.9. provided a great set-to. in which exchanges wore freely given and clinches were prominent by their absence. The former carried most of the attack, but Pickard also scored freely. His excellent limess allowed Blackbourn to go on to victory. Quirke (Wanganui) 9.12 and Greig (Auckland) 9.9 provided a pair of hat'd hitters, but the former was the more successful in connecting. The concluding round produced some, free milling and a close decision went to Quirke. The linal between the two heat winners produced otto of the best bouts of the evening. in which the longer teach of Quirke was counteracted by the attacking agility of Blackbourn. In the closing round Blackbourn was making good use of a left swing, which frequently found an opening through his opponent’s defence and its effect told. Despite both hoys having taken pan in earlier lights and both of it hard mu tire, the linal was fought at a fast sustained pace. Blackbourn gained a meritorious victory, FLY-WEIGHTS. Stewart (Wanganui) 7.5 and Robertson (Gisborne) 7.7 provided a bright and interesting exposition, in ■ which both boys attacked in turn. A close decision went to Stewart, CRI'ISER-W EIGHT. Gear (Wellington) 11.11 opened with a tornado attack against James (Auckland) 11.8, and quickly showed his superiority. James weathered the round, but was outgeneralled throughout, Gear winning easily. At an informal conference of boxing officials representative of the various North Island associations, held yesterday, and presided over by Mr 11. L. Young, president of the Manawatu Boxing Association, several suggestions were brought forward, which it was decided to embody as remits for presentation to the New Zealand Boxing Council. Mr A, 1.. Dawson was appointed interim secretary to draw up and circulate rite proposals to the various associations. It was decided to suggest to tho New Zealand Council that the next North Island championships be held at Napier.