THE BOXING RING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19470, 28 October 1926, Page 13

THE BOXING RING.

,j> ■TWO FEATHER-WEIGHT BOUTS CONTRAST IN THE DISPLAYS. GOOD WIN FOR OVEREND. Two professional feather-weight boxing contests, each of ten rounds, were staged by the Northern Boxing Association in the Town Hall last evening, a purse of £75 being at stake in each bout. 'lhe first bout between T. Griffiths (Dunedin), Bst. 1041b., and C. McCarthy (Auckland), Bsf. JO^lb., was won on points by Griffiths after 30 minutes of monotonous fighting at close range. R. Overend (Napier), 9st. and P. Black (Wellington), 9st. provided a display which was a complete contrast to the previous one. In the third round Overend inflicted a severe cut on his opponent's nose, and although Black fought with splendid pluck and always held liis own, he was obliged to throw in the towel at the end of the ninth round. He was cheered for his excellent showing. The attendance was poor. The first round of the Griffiths-Mc-Carthy contest was divided between shadow sparring and in-fighting, Griffiths connecting with the harder body blows. Caution was discarded to some extent upon resuming, but the fight continued at close quarters. At the beginning of the third round the referee, Mr. R. Meale, had a brief consultation with tho boxers, but it was not until the fourth round that long-range tactics were em- I ployed more. Griffiths More Impressive. Griffiths was providing the more impressivo boxing, his condition appearing to be better than that of McCarthy. Whenever they clinched, Griffiths, with McCarthy's left under his right arm-pit, would rain blows in the, region of tho heart. Promise of a more spectacular display was heralded in the seventh round, but it was brief, and soon they were at grips again. The remaining rounds were evenly fought, but Griffiths was faster and thus more successful. He deserved j the verdict. A Spectacular Contest. Commencing at a hurricane pace the bout between Oversnd and Black was brimful of exciting moments! Tho advantage was well distributed. Best of all, there was all the action to be desired, and the applause which greeted the boxers as they returned to their corners was well-earned. Overend tested Black's guard with both fists, but found it hard to pierce, and had always to be the alert to avoid a lightning retaliation of blows. Before the third round had been long in progress Black bore a cut on the bridge of the nose, but his fighting power was undiminished. Overend, who looked comparatively fresh, secured a slight lead in the fourth. However, Black was prominent in useful two-handed work, in spite of the fact that he received some very solid rights. Overend was boxing with confidence and calculation, and varying his attack as the occasion demanded. Black was no less keen and contributed his share of the cleverness and action making for the type of boxing that cannot fail to please. In the seventh session Overend sent in a left which caught Black off his balance and floored him for a couple of seconds. Some of the most interesting fighting of the bout was produced in the eighth, when Black made a special effort. One hurricane exchange of body punches was outstanding. Black went in closer in the ninth, but Overend refused to' be tempted and stepping out plied his left to the Wellington boxer's injured face. Black was forced to retire at the conclusion of the rally and Mr. W. J. Johnston awarded the fight to Overend. The loser was worthy of the cheers accorded him. Amateur Preliminaries. Results of tho amateur bouts staged as preliminaries are as follow: Light-weight.—Leary, 10st., r. Rudling, 9st. 1331b.; The boxers fought an even first round, but Rudling had the second in his favour. Tired and scarred by a rain of coolly-aimed blows Leary pluckily survived the two last rounds." The decision in favour of Rudling was the only one possible. Bantam-weight.—McLachlan. Bst. 21b., v. Shandley. Bst. 2£lb. McLachlan momentarily floored his opponent with a right to the head. They completed a fast round and did not stow up in tho second. McLachlan was aided by superior height and reach, but although he connected more cleanly he did not show the aggressiveness of Shandley. The latter went down twice 111 the final session, <t:ce when he rushed and missed his rival and again when McLachlan hooked a sharp right to the jaw. McLachlan deserved the. decision. Welter-weight.—La Roussee, lOst. lib., v. McGlone, lOst. At the opening gong the boxers clinched and La Roussee landed some hard body blows The battle was waged with vigour, although the referee was frequently calling " break." McGlone was warned for holding in the second. He was worried by his opponent's work at close quarters, but did not attempt to improve matters by avoiding clinches. There was far too much holding with one hand and bitting with the other j in the last round. McGlone gained a nar- | row victory. Messrs. Meale and Johnston refereed the amateur bouts and Messrs. F. Burns and E. A. Craig were, the judges.