WRESTLING ITEMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22744, 2 June 1937, Page 22

WRESTLING ITEMS

YISIT FROM TED THYE j FORMER WORLD'S CHAMPION " KING KONG" COX ARRIVES One of the leading promoters of j wrestling in the United States, Mr. I Ted. Thye, former light-heavyweight champion of the world and regarded as one of the cleverest exponents of his time, arrived in Auckland by the: Aorangi yesterday on a holiday visit. ! After a short stay in the Dominion, Mr. I Thye, who is accompanied by his wife, j will proceed to Australia and then to India. He was met on board the boat by .Mr. Walter Miller, the well-known j promoter of the sport in New Zealand and Australia. For three years from 192.'! onward, j Mr. Thye held the light-heavyweight title and in 1020, while competing in ; Australia, he met Walter Miller in j a title match over 13 rounds, which I attracted an attendance of 2(5,000 and j ended in a draw. He admitted that he j was now one of the most prominent j promoters in America, with his.headquarters at Vancouver and Portland, j Although his present trip was in the: nature of a holiday, there was a possibility that he would meet "Strangler" j Lewis in Australia and take him on to j India. DETTON AND McCREADY HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT "It was a wonderful match," said i Mr. Thye in commenting on the recent world's title bout between Dean Detton and Earl McCready, the Canadian, who made himself so popular with New j Zealand wrestling crowds during the past few sea.-ons. Mr. I bye was sure that if these two wrestlers were rematched the contest would attract extraordinary interest. He did not know what prospects there were of a title bout Iwing staged in New Zealand, as Detton's movements were somewhat indefinite at the moment. There seemed little prospect of Detton leaving America before the middle of July. ! Accompanying Mr. Thye was "King Kong" Cox, an American under con-j tract to wrestle in the Dominion, who promises to be one of the outstanding j attractions of the season. A pupil of the famous wrestling coach, Farmer Burns, who died last year. Cox ranks among the foremost matmen in the j United States. Known as the "Jack Dompsey of the wrestling world," he has been competing in professional ranks for the past eight years and has wrestled on an average four to six times a week. About sft. llin. in height and weighing list. 21b., lie is particularly powerful in build. —

THREAT TO CHAMPIONS METHODS OF NEW ARRIVAL Although he has never held the world's title. Cox has been a serious threat to the champions for several seasons. He has taken part in seven title bouts,'meeting Lewis three times. Londos twice, Browning once and Detton once. He lost the bout against Detton on a disqualification. Cox has the reputation of being probably the most aggressive and toughest wrestler in America. ''The reason I'm so crazy in the ring." he remarked humorously, "is probably because I was born on Crazy Woman Creek at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming." When asked if he had any special holds. Cox said that, while he used all the recognised ones, he preferred to concentrate on fore-arm punching and headloeku to win him his matches. "I knock the 'soup' out of them," he said. Cox seemed disappointed to learn that straight out punching was not permitted under the New Zealand rules. He will do his training at the Y.M.C.A. gymnasium and is anxious to secure opponents for a series of "workouts."