SOME FIGHT!

NZ Truth, Issue 998, 10 January 1925, Page 11

SOME FIGHT!

And Some Officials!

Followers of the game have on many occasions had plenty of chances to decry the way the manner m which N.B.A. officials handle professional bouts which come up for decision under the auspices of that association, but the recent Purdy — Trowern bout topped off any previous performance put up at the Auckland Town Hall.

Holiday time found a record crowd roll up to see the fighti and those who attended cannot say that they did not get their moneys.worth. worth m excitement, even if they did not get full value m fight.

Touching on the actual fight, it must be said the decision arrived at at the conclusion of the bout by Referee Frank Burns, that Purdy had won, was not m accordance with the views of many good judges. ~ ' ,

Purdy certainly hit his opponent more often, but vhen the points are summed up we find that he only had four really good rounds, these being the fourth, the eighth, the ninth, and the thirteenth.

Many, people give him credit of winning 1 more rounds than four, but it must be remembered that he used the open or the inside of the glove on too many occasions to be allowed points. On the other , hand, Trowern's punches were far cleaner and he hand^ ed out enough of them to have gained him the verdict. For several years now Referee Burns has gained distinction by getting the audience on their toes ■with his decisions, but m the recent encounter he more than excelled himself. In the twelfth round Trowern delivered one of his natural right upper cuts to the pit of his opponent's stomach, and this was the olow which caused the sensation and which,' incidentally, has given followers of the fistic art m Auckland, and the rest of New Zealand, plenty of material for talk. Whether the blow was low or not cannot actually be said. After receiving the blow Purdy half inclined toward the timekeeper, without doubling up immediately, and his action might easily have been misconstrued as that of a man who had lost his wind. The referee walked over to the crouching boxer with a look of inquiry on his face, Purdy intimating by gestures that he wanted an examination. A doctor was called ' and Purdy lifted the ropes, got out of the ring, and walked to the dressing room with help. Among those who disappeared at the same time were so'me of the officials, the doctor, and Purdy's second. In the meantime the house was m an uproar, and with his duty nobly done Referee Burns retired to one of the seats on the stage to await the doctor's verdict. The crowd screamed, and cheered Trowern, who was standing m the ring nonplussed, and after his opponent had been among the vanished for some minutes he was allowed to sit down and receive attention from his seconds. The first man to put m an appear-ance-from the inquiry was Committeeman Bill Dervan, who rushed over to the side of the ring and pointed to Trowern, which the public evidently took as a decision m favor of the latter. However, the cheers that greeted the alleged winner were all wasted effort, as the audience next saw Purdy returning to the ring accompanied by his friends. / At this 'stage anything was . possible from the crowd, who seemed to lose their senses altogether. A hurried conference between Chairman Russell, Referee Burns, and Committeeman Dervan vfound the latter m the limelight onee 7 more, arid his effort at addressing the crowd was lost m the medley of voices that advised him to go away. Seeing that his brother official was making a poor' job addressing the crowd, Chairman Russell promptly shooefd him out of the ring. Then Referee Burns hopped into the fray again and, getting back into the ring, he went over to Purdy, placed his Land on the boxer's shoulder, and appeared to be making inquiries as to his fitness to, continue 1 the fight. . After receiving the necessary answer, the referee waved his hand to the timekeeper to sound the gong for the fight to continue, and the fight proceeded amid the howls of the large audience. N To crown all of his previous efforts, Mr. Burns awarded the ffightt t to Purdy, who seemed to have struck one of,his extra lucky nights.