HEAVY-WEIGHT BOXING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18813, 13 September 1924, Page 11

HEAVY-WEIGHT BOXING

WILLS OUTPOINTS FIRPO. NEGRO'S SUPERIOR SHOWING. A. and N.Z. NE\y YORK. Sept. 11. The match between Harry Wills, the negro heavy-weight, and Luis Firpo, the Argentine boxer, was fought at Boyle's Thirty Acres to-day. The match went to 12 rounds, but under the New Jersey law no decision could be given by the referee. Boxing experts, however, generally agree that Wills had the better of the match, and ho is acclaimed the winner by the newspapers, whose decision is accepted as final in the absence of that of the referee. Wills landed oftener, and his blows were far more deadly. There seemed a distinct under-current of hatred between the two men, partly due to difference of colour, and partly because each had venomously belittled the other's ability. Wills' ring tactics continuously confounded Firpo's lumbering attacks. Wills gamely exposed himself to Firpo's weak lefts, but promptly clinched whenever tho Argentino endeavoured to shift to his powerful right. Tho negro invariably laughed when doing this and enraged his opponent, who repeatedly lost his temper, exposing himself to a swift attack.

Experts generally awarded Wills each of the 12 rounds, because Firpo obviously fought on the defensive throughout.

The early rounds saw cautious fighting. Firpo hesitated to apply the greatest force of his blows, being obviously unwilling to be caught off his balance. Nevertheless sharp blows were constantly exchanged. Wills in the fourth round floored Firpo for the count of four. The Argentine arose unshaken and proceeded methodically, though warily. In the fifth round the contestants, near exhaustion, clinched repeatedly, neither striking a blow in the clinches. In the sixth FJrpo, at close quarters, was unable to escape Wills' savage rights, himself swinging wildly. In the seventh round Wills staggered Firpo with a rain of blows to the jaw. Firpo, after vainly sparring for an opening, ultimately managed a right shift, but Wills danced away. Firpo again shifted in the eighth round, but, Wills, stepping close, pounded Firpo's body mercilessly, the latter making an awkward escape. In the ninth Wills severely punished Firpo in the clinches, laughing at. tho Argentine's futile right swings. Firpo during the remaining rounds became more erratic and more on the defensive, vainly seeking a chance to deliver his terrific right.