BRITISH BOXING

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 80, 5 April 1939, Page 8

BRITISH BOXING

LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE VICTORY FOR BOON LONDON, Feb. 24. Eric Boon, with bruised and battered face, fighting with the courage and strength of a wounded bull, defeated Arthur Danahar, his challenger, in the fourteenth round of a great battle for Great Britain’s lightweight championship at Ilarringay Arena, last night. Danahar was saved by the referee from a knock-out when the fight, a 15-round one, was stopped. Boon took a boxing lesson and a hiding for seven rounds—ant. then, with one mighty uppercut to Danahar’s chin, turned the fight his way. A packed and fashionable “house” of 12,000 saw Danahar battle on with brave heart but slowly flagging steps. Nineteen years old and stt. 4in., Boon, ex-blacksmith, of Chatteris, punched like a middle-weight.

Ten times Danahar was smashed to the floor for long counts—four of them were for nine seconds—before Referee Mr. Barrington Dalby stepped in and put a stop to the most-boosted lightweight fight for many years, but one which more than lived up to its dramatic promise. Boon had retained the title which he won only two months ago.

Poor Danahar! For seven rounds he had boxed like a master, dealt ouc the stiffest punishment, and put his “corner” beside themselves with joy. Now he lay dazed, broken, every ounce of resistance beaten from him. For both these boy boxers—Danahar is only 20—this was a bad fight .... one from which they will take a long time to recover, one they will never forget. The customary scenes in the ring after the fight were stopped by special constables posted at the ring steps. Boon’s face at the end was bloodsmeared and his left eye completely closed. “I hope to go on and win the world light-weight title,” he proclaimed to the cheering crowd of 12,000 in the Harringay Arena. Chatteris, Boon’s home town in Cambridgeshire, went mad with joy when a green rocket shot into the sky’ to signal his victory. His mother and all his other relatives watched the fight on a television set. “I only saw two rounds,” Mrs. Boon said afterwards. “I could not stand the strain any longer.” Girl relatives of Danahar wept outside his dressing room while his wounds were being treated. Scores of celebration parties in Bethnal Green, E., his home, had to be cancelled.

“Sam” Snead, ranked by Americans as the best “natural” golfer in the world, is writing books about how to play the game. Well, why not? Bernard Bennett started out from Birmingham on New Year’s Day in an effort to beat the year’s professional cycling mileage record of 62,657.6 miles, held by Ossie Nicholson, the Australian. In 1937, when 19, he set up a world’s amateur record of 45,801 miles.