BOXING.

New Zealand Herald, Issue 17266, 16 September 1919, Page 10

BOXING.

HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP. POOLBY DEFEATS MGDRICH. INTERESTING AMATEUR BOUTS. The contest for the professional heavyweight hosing championship of New Zealand between A. Pooley, the holder, mid -G. Modrich, under the auspices of the Northern Boxing Association, took place at ■iii? Town Hall last eveninir, before a crowded attendance, many people- beinc turned away from the doors. So great was the crowd outside the building that one of the doors was forced, and it was feared that trouble might ensue owing to the crowd attempting to gain an entrance notwithstanding tba efforts of the police to maintain order, isxtra .police were nastily summoned, but by the time the additional force arrived order had been restored. The championship contest was billed for fifteen rounds, but it came to an abrupt termination towards the end of the fifth round. Pooley. knocking his opponent out. The yeishtß b£ "the contestants were not announced, but it is stated that Pooley weighed 12st 61b, and Modrich 13st 61b. Tner© was a exeat deal of clinching at the beginning of the first round. Pooley showing the greater amount of cleverness. He scored well with both hands toward the finish of the round, a. straight left and a right, uppercut getting home to good effect. Pooley showed to -the most advantage in the second round. He acted on the aggressive and used both hands well. Modrich got home once or twice lightly with the left, but Pooley scored heavily to the body. Pooley maintained 'the upper hand in the third round, and sot home heavily with the right to the head and body several times. Modrich scored once with the left, but was content to act on the defensive for most of the round. Little of note occurred in the fourth bout, though it wasobvious that Pooley was the better boxei. Modrich scored twice with his right to the face, but Pooley did the better work throughout. In the fifth round Pooley connected with hie right to the body several times, and toward the end got home with a. heavy right to the jaw. Modrich being counted U *' PBELIMINARY BOUTS.

Prior to the championship event a number of amateur bouts took place. The majority of the .oantesta were eittremfcly interesting, with a small margin of points between tie boxers. Mr. F. Burn* made an efficient referee, thoufeh his verdict in favour of Brown in the light-weight bout caused a demonstration among a section of the spectators, who evidently considered that Ecenou should have received the award.

BANTAM-WEIGHT CONTEST. McCarthy v. Crocker. The weights -were: C McCarthy, Bst; B. Crocker, Sat lib. The contest was of short duration. McCarthy opened aggressively, and in a hot rally early in the .first -round knocked his opponent out.

CRUISER-WEIGHT CONTEST. Russell v. O'Brien. * The weights were: J. Russell. 12st 31b; J. O'Brien, I2st 21b. ~ , The first round was fairly even, O'Brien using. both hands, while Russell plied his left to good advantage. In the second round Russell scored freely with his left, end though O'Brien got in one or two good body blows the former appeared to most advantage. The third round was fairly even, though Russell reached his opponent several tiroes with both hands. In the concluding round both men became very tired, though both stood up to their work in good style. Russell had his opponent in a bad way before the round ended, and was declared the winner. LIGHT-WEIGHT CONTESTS. Craig v. Vcrnall. The weights were: F. Craig, 9st 131b: N. Vernal!.. Jflat Sib. The opening round was boxed at a fast pace, both using the left in excellent style. in the second round Craig connected more frequently than his opponent and also used good defence. The third round was well contested, Craig acting mainly on the defensive And using good footwork. . The concluding round vyis fast and interesting, but Craig, mainly through a clever left, kept scoring off his opponent, and at the conclusion was declared the winner. Brown v. Keenan. The weights were: Brown, 9st 13lb. J. Eeanan 9 *i- -3ftu . , , The first round was fairly even, both men scoring with the left. Keenan also scored well with his left toward th» end of the second round. A considerable amount of clinching was done in the third round, toward the end of which Keenan connected heavily with the left, though Brown did well with both hands throughout the round. . . - The fin* session was fast beginning, to end- hoth men scoring frequently. There was little between them at the finish, but Brown was awarded the verdict. FEATHER-WEIGHT CONTEST. Fletcher v. Facoory. The weights were: Fletcher Bst 6lb. J. Facoory Sat 7lb. The first round saw Facoory taking the aggressive, but Fletcher boxed back in good style and scored fairly well with his left. Facoory -continued on the aggressive in the second round and got one or two good swings homo. Fletcher scored more lightly with his left. In the third round Fletcher tired perceptibly but boxed well on the defensive, though his opponent wyia obviously the stronger. The final round was fairly evenly contested, Facoory being unable to connect solidly with his rather wild swings. He did sufficiently well to rsceivo the verdict. thouEh Fletcher gave an extremely plucky exhibition. WELTER- CONTEST. Cadman v. Graham. The weights were;— Cadman 10st 12lb, L. Graham lost 91b. The first round was very even, neither being able to score clean hits. There was a considerab.c amount ot lu-tighting in the second round, in which Graham stored wsll with both U«nd». The third round was evenly contested, Cadman doing fairly good work in the close boxing. Graham scored a good upper cut. The latter also scored well with his left in the third round and received the reteree's verdict.