ROUGH "WRESTLING."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19730, 1 September 1927, Page 16

ROUGH "WRESTLING."

PUNCHING THE REFEREE.

CONTESTANTS' STAND-UP FIGHT

When John Kilonis, the Greek wrestler, had his first match in Australia three weeks ago, it proved to be the roughest ever seen at the Stadium. On the following Saturday night, however, when he made his second apeparance against Mike Yokel, of America, he eclipsed his previous performance. The writer of an account of the match says: "In the first match Kilonis had been content with ripping the shirt off the back of the referee, Alf Bridges. Last night, however, he went a step further, and deliberately punched the® referee in the face. The most remarkable part of it was that he was not instantly disqualified. The referee held up the bout for two minutes to allow the Greek to cool down. He then accepted an apology and handshake from Kilonis, and the match continued merrily, even rougher than it had been earlier. "From the first moment the encounter was brimful of thrills, Kilonis beginning by slapping his opponent in the face. From then' on he continuously butted with his head, used his shoulder and elbow, punched with closed fists, drove his knee into his opponent's abdomen, and on one occasion went so far as to bite Yokel. Whenever the American got some of his own back by use of his elbow, Kilonis appealed wildly to the referee. - "The climax was reached in the fifth round, when both wrestlers began a standup fight. The referee threw himself between them, but Kilonis tossed him to one side of the ring, and connected with a right cross to Yokel's jaw. Bridges again threw himself between the combatants ' but was promptly punched by the Greek. "In the next round, however, the Greek met his just deserts, Yokel catching hiin unawares and pinning him with a lock and body press. It was the only fall of the match and brought victory to the American. Kilonis was loudly hooted when he left the ring."