WELLINGTON AMATEURS.

NZ Truth, Issue 416, 14 June 1913, Page 3

WELLINGTON AMATEURS.

Some Poor Displays. There was but a fair attendance at the Town Hall on Tuesday night,' when the Wellington . Provincial Amateur Championships were commenced. The first bout was between the bantams, .B? Andrews (Wellington, 8.0, and G. McNicholl (Christchurch), 8.2. Andrews, the stronger-looking, started m to. make things willing, but proved woefully, deficient m knowledge of the game. He rushed m, usingr iround arm swings, -which, however, were easily stopped by McNicholl's sti'aight: lefc and following right to the body^ Me-. Nicholl also showed some clever sidestepping, and altogether his superior .skill earned him the verdict easily. ' JV MacFarlane. (Wellington), . 9.12. and A. Leary: (Wellington), 9.4, : were the next m the ring. MacFarlane .attacked like a whirlwind. He 'is. possessed of a phenomenal reach, and gave Leary; a. particularly lively time. Leary, however; pulled himself together, and, getting m .close, began to punish MacFarlane about tlie body .\ In the . second rounds' M^cFarlane's conduct m leaning his,.whole weight on Lefry during the clinches so irritated the' latter: boxer that, at last he refused to go on, m spite of Referee Sampson's order to "Box on." The; bout was therefore : awarded to MacFarlane. ( F. Leary :( Wellington), 8.12, and J: Karews. 9.0 (feathers), were the next pair to get going. , Karews, - taller and longer m the reach, started off. well, _ and belted his smaller opponent all f round the- ring. The ' straight left of Karews, however, ; was often nicely', evaded by Leary, who got m close, and steadied his opponent with left to the head. Leary was much the superior at in-fighting, and his good work m this respect earned him the ' verdict. A. Cole (Wellington), 9.13, and J. Smith (Petone), 9.10; provided /the shortest and most sensational bout of the evening. < Before they were well started, Cole stopped a nasty right. to the jaw, and went down for five seconds.. Rising while still partly dazed,

he caught two others on the same place, and went down again. He staggered to his feet before the fatal nine out ; but . as he was plainly ■ gone the referee stepped b.etween them and awarded the bout. to. Smith. . » After the interval, middle-weights B:.Fijinio (Wellington), 11.2, ana J. Murphy (Wellington), 11.0, got busy. That is to say, Finnic got busy, but the , way Murphy avoided rbeing tliere when the punch arrived was marvellous. He is easily the most evasive boxer seen m Wellington for a long time, and Finnie's most ■, earnest endeavors were all m vain. Something more than mere evasion and .blocking are x required,- however, to catch the ! referee's eye, and Finnie v s consistent leading got him the verdict. J. Hunter (Wellington), 10;0, met R. Aitl<en (Manawo-tu), 9.13. T^is tfout turned out a- very one-sided affair. Aitken, snorter m the reach and using a cramped style, seemed 'quite unable to put a glove on Hunter, who hit -him as he liked. Aitken's face soon assumed: a gory . appearance, but his pluck and gameness m fighting a hopeless battle to the end' earned him a great ovation, from the audience, even if it failed to . secure the referee's verdict; Welters D.> Ryder. (Wellington),. 10.8/ and; F. Flan: (Wellingrton), 10.6, were j next m action. Fian is a solidly-built dangerous-looking boxer, but a trifle slow, and Ryder, dancing round him, piled up the points m- the: first round. In the second roui^d, Ryder's extraordinary ducking abilities evoked, shouts of, laughter, but he unwisely tried to mix it with: his opponent,' and got punished severely. .In £he final round, owing 'to the same fault, Flan had .him m. sore trouble, and only the-, gong saved him from, a knock-out. ..Flan got ; the verdict. ■ .\- -. -:•■•: ":■■.. --n :■, ----- -••■/■■ ■■-■'„■. v ; f The -last About was Tjetween • Ben. Tracyr: (Wellington) ■?'.'8.5,- and* A: "■' Brice(Wellington), 8.2. This' was a' veryeven go, with ho damage done dn either side. Ben. isi the same' smart little boxer as of old,. but appeared to have lost .his sting. The referee's announcement at the 'end that it wW only an exhibition rio-decision bout perhaps explained things. ;, The finals will be found on another ■page.. ■'■•'■' .•' .;••'•: '■ ' ' ■ ■''■ > ■ "'