WELLINGTON BOXING ASSOCIATION

NZ Truth, Issue 158, 27 June 1908, Page 6

WELLINGTON BOXING ASSOCIATION

The Wrestling Competitions.

TO THE EDITOB.

Sir,— That the public did not appreciate the wrestling competitions at the past tournament was pretty plainly seen, oi! heard, by the repeated shouts of disapproval that greeted the opponents. Some well say this was ihe fault of the competitors ; I grant they are not experts at the game, but from what I have seen of the men at practice, they all know more than was shown m the competitions. The whole trouble lay with the "mat" provided by. the W.B-Ai, this being so small that if any manoeuvring to Kama hold was indulged m, it simply meant that one or the other of the contestants was forced ofi the mat, as was repeatedly done m the Lewis v. Stewart contest. The repetition of this going of! the mat was conducive of neither a scientific or spectacular display, and the result was that the whole contest was nothing more or less than a farce. I heard it said that the reason no mat work .was shown was that the men were inexperienced, but such is not the case. Here, again, the fault lay with the mat. merely a carpet, so hard and rough that if the face, elbow or knee came m forcible contact with it, the skin was literally, and, it may be added, liberally, torn off. This I know for a fact, also' from experience gained by wrestling under similar conditions, arid f you may be sure that wrestling men, not being made of cast steel, are not going to suffer being skinned alive to please the W.8.A., the public, or anybody else. lam informed that the mat used in v the Skinner v. Stevens contest, arranged as a nreliminary to the Godfrey v. Hanley fight last year, was obtained from the local police. Could the same not have been, obtained for the late competitors ? A really first-class mat can be obtained for from twelve to fifteen guineas, and surely a body so financially strong as the W.B.A. is teputed to be, can afford this small outlay, and must do so if they are to have the support of wrestlers and are anxious to foster this particular sport, as they would try to make the public believe. I trust that the W.B.A. will give this matter the serious consideration it deserves, and provide for future competitions a softer mat of suitable dimensions, this done, I feel assured the public will witness a far more scientific and skilful exhibition of wrestling than was seen at the late contests.— l am. etc. n OLD WRESTLER. Wellington, June 18, 1908.