FIVE HOURS’ WRESTLING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 929, 30 January 1924, Page 10

FIVE HOURS’ WRESTLING.

DUFTY VERSUS JAWALA. AUDIENCE TIRED OUT. REFEREE STOPS CONTEST. HAMILTON, Jan. 26. Hamilton Town Hall was packed last night to witness a match between Jawala Singh (a wrestler who is just over from India) and Joe. Dufty (a local celebrity) for £SO a-side. The contest was for two falls out of three, with no time limit for bouts. Jawala weighed in at 11.4 and Dufty 13.4. Jawala is tall, thin and wiry, without an ounce of surplus flesh on his body. His opponent is short, thick set, and very powerfully built, and to the average spectator there appeared little doubt as to who would be the victor unless the Indian knew a few tricks of which his opponent was ignorant. Public opinion in this direction was strengthened when Dufty picked up his opponent and secured a fall in the first five minutes amidst tremendous applause. The next bout, however, tested the endurance of both wrestlers, and also the patience of the audience, for it lasted 55 minutes, during which several exciting little episodes occurred. Jawala did all the wrestling, Dufty merely relying on his superior weight and strength to ke#p his shoulders off the mat. Jawala eventually secured the second fall amidst a tumult.

The third bout was even more strenuous still, the pair several times coming clown at once, rolling under the ropes, and nearly off the stage. This bout lasted 125 minutes, with only one short spell, when the audience, becoming restive, called on the referee (Mr J."McKenzie, secretary of the Y.M.C.A.) to stop it. Mr McKenzie took a vote of tlie audience as to whether the match should be adjourned, with no decision, until after Jawala meets Nugget Thompson at Auckland, or whether it should be continued. The vote went in favour of continuance, but at 1 a.m. the referee decided to shut down, and declared “no decision-”