A PLUCKY BOXER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19412, 21 August 1926, Page 10

A PLUCKY BOXER.

FOUGHT WITH RIB BROKEN. E. BAXTER'S HEAVY /HANDICAP. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN jOBBESPONDENT. ] WELLINGTON. Friday. The many spectators who watched the boxing contest at the Town Hall; last Monday, evening between E. ,Bairt«r (Australia) and Charles Purdy (Auckland) were of opinion that the Australiac. had failed to , reproduce the , fine form! he showed against Hill whon he last visited the' Dominion. Few in the hall, however, were aware that Baxter was going through the contest with the heavy handicap of a broken rib. : Such'was!! the case.

Baxter " stated - to-day that while training .for the contest with Purdy he : developed a pectiliar pain over the heart and as' this persisted he consulted a cloctor who gave it as his opinion that Baxter had strained a muscle over the heart. The pain continued and on the morning of the contest the Australian consulted Dr. P. F. McEvedy, who gave him a thorough examination and- discovered that the trouble' was due to a broken ;rib. "It was too late then," said Baxter to-day, "to draw out of the contest. I could not let the Wellington Boxing Association down at the last moment, so I did not tell anyone, but decided to go through with the contest. However, Di, McEvedy has ordered me to take about seven weeks' complete rest and I have therefore decided to return to Australia. lam sorry, as I like New Zealand."

Questioned whether he intended to return to New Zealand Baxter said hfi certainly did, as both he and Mrs! Baxter, who was accompanying him on the present trip, liked New Zealand. The boxer and Mrs. Baxter returned to Sydney by the Marama to-day.