BOXING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20384, 16 April 1928, Page 2

BOXING.

GRIFFITHS v. GILLESPIE.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION

DEFEATED,

At His Majesty’s Theatre on Saturday evening Tommy Griffiths defeated Norman Gillespie, feather-weight champion of Australia, on points in a closely-con-tested bout. The principal event of the evening, as well as the two preliminaries, were well worth watching, and from every point of view the contest was one of the most successful that has been staged by the Otago Boxing Association for some time. The spectators taxed the capacity of the theatre auditorium, and the ringside seats were all occupied. Gillespie weighed in at Bst 13jlb and held a decided advantage in height. Griffiths’s weight was Bst 7ilb. The contestwas of 15 rounds, each of three minutes, for a purse of £l5O, and was controlled by Mr J. Kilmartin. From the outset Griffiths proved himself the speedier and more elusive boxer, and in the_ opening rounds he did most of the leading. He entered the ring in excellent condition, and gave one of his best displays to date. Gillespie is a likeable boxer who punches hard and straight, but he was rather slow for the Dunedin lad, who made him miss badly throughout. Griffiths s clever ring craft was the deciding factor, and he adopted defensive tactics, against his heavier and larger opponents, occasionally slipping in for a brisk exchange and then dancing out of reach. Gillespie played a waiting game until towards the end of the fight, and relied upon his superior reserve of strength to carry him through the final rounds. However, he waited too long, and although he opened an admirable offensive in the last three rounds, and was threatening to knock Griffiths out in the last, he was unable to make up the leeway or force a decision before the final gong. The early stages of the fight were inclined to be monotonous and devoid of incident. Both lads were cautious in the first round, and after some time spent in seeking an opening, Gillespie missed with a right upper cut, and in a rapid exchange connected wilth a right swing to the head. The Australian showed that he possessed a hard and dangerous right, and he landed several heavy body punches, but after a few samples, Griffiths kept well away, and his speedy footwork and ducking made Gillespie miss badly. In another short exchange Gillespie connected with hard rights and lefts to the body. Griffiths sprang away and snapped in two lefts to the face. Gillespie, who was too slow for his opponent at long range, contented himself with jabs to the body in the closing exchange. After’ some rapid in-fighting at the opening of the second round, both lads again became cautious. Griffiths was doing most of the leading, and his left penetrated Gillespie’s defence on several occasions, but the Australian scored once with a solid left to the head. An uninteresting round went to Griffiths by a shade. In the third the Dunedin man jumped in smartly with a left and a right to the face. Gillespie snapped a right to the jaw in the clinch that followed, but Griffiths was away again and resumed his defensive tactics, getting in a few telling lefts. Gillespie was taking the round very quietly, but walked into two straight lefts, one of which connected cleanlu, as the gong sounded. Again it was Griffiths’s round by virtue of his speed and aggressiveness. Griffiths took up the attack in the fourth round, but stopped a right to the body. Gillespie’s defence improved and he kept the Dunedin lad off with a solid right swing and a left to the head, after missing badly with a right to the head. Griffiths jumped in again with his gpeedly left, but his opponent scored with a heavy right to the body. Towards the end of the round Gillespie attacked and landed with both bands, getting the better of the exchange. It was his round. Griffiths outboxed the Australian in the fifth round, making him miss with both hands in a series of short and rapid exchanges. He led with a left to the face, and on coming out of the clinch that followed, made Gillespie miss three timgs in succession with clever ducking. Again his left snapped home to Gilespie’s face, but the Australian connected heavily with his favourite right to the body. The onlookers became impatient with the cautious sparring that followed, and in the final exchange Gillespie missed with a vicious right upper cut. Griffiths held a margin of points in the round. Griffiths continued to outbox Ins opponent in the sixth round, but Gillespie scored with a heavy right, followed by a left to the head. He was hitting hard and straight, but his timing was faulty, and Griffiths kept out of reach. At the close of the round he landed a i eat right to the jaw. Gillespie took this round. In the next he opened more briskly, connecting with a left to -he face. Griffiths landed a right swing to the body, but Gillespie was aggressive and used lefts and rights to the face. He connected with a left to the jaw, and made Griffiths miss twice. In the eighth Griffiths snapped in a neat left, and, although Gillespie had the advantage of the in-fighting that followed and did most of the leading, Griffiths scored with another left and played a brisk tattoo on his opponent’s face. Gillespie replied with two heavy rights, but towards the close of the round i Griffiths had resumed his careless | methods, and was keeping away, and | making Gillespie miss frequently. It was Griffiths’s round. . In the ninth Gillespie led, but missed with his left, and Griffiths countered with a left and two rights to the head, The weight of his punches did not worry the i visitor, who got to close quarters and scored whh his right. A right uppercut | from Gillespie failed to get home, and j Griffiths returned with a left that cut Gillespie’s right eyebrow. Gillespie missed with a vicious right to the head, and Griffiths ducked away, again making his opponent miss badly. A much more lively round went in favour of the Dunedin boxer. In the tenth Griffiths scored with two lefts to the face, but Gillespie returned with a left hook that landed with a right to the jaw. Griffiths danced away, and, altbougn Gillespie was following up, he again missed with both hands, and Griffiths scored with lefts and rights. In tlie latter part of the round he did most of the leading, and had the better of the exchanges. . , , , ~ Gillespie scored with a right to the body and a left to the head in the eleventh, and had tJie better of the early exchanges. He missed with a left hook, and Griffiths came in with a good left, followed by a right cross. Gillespie was still cautious and too slow for his opponent in the closing exchanges. The following round was a repetition of -the eleventh. Gillespie attacked, but stepped into a speedv left, and, in a lapid exchange which followed honours were even. Griffiths connected with two lefts in succession, and Gillespie scored with heavy body punches at close range. Both lads came up fresh for the thir. teenth, and Griffiths’s left again broke through and landed to the fa'-e. Gillespie led with a solid left, but Griffiths blocked a heavy right to the head and ducked clear. Gillespie came in with a right to the head, but Griffiths fell into a clinch. Gillespie tried hard with a series of vicious right swings, but failed to land cleanly. Griffiths broke clear and exchange which followed, honours were rang. It was Gillespie’s round. In the fourteenth Gillespie stepped in with obvious determination and boxed with a speed and vigour that be h.ld not previously shown. He connected with two rights to the head, but Griffiths kept well away. occasionally snapping in his left to the face. Gillespie drive a hard right to the body, followed by a left to the jaw tha’t jarred Griffiths, who crouched uncovered for a full second. Gillespie missed a great opportunity, and came in too late with a terriffic right upnor-cuf that missed completely. Griffiths fell into a clinch for the remainder of the round. Tbo last was the fasten

round of the bout. Griffiths came in with with a left and two rights, but Gillespie attacked strongly, following his opponent round the ring with heavy left and right swings. He connected with a right cross to the jaw that dazed Griffiths, who clinched. Gillespie tried hard for a decision, and landed right swings repeatedly, but Griffiths managed to keep his feet long enough to last through the round. The decision found favour with the bulk of the spectators. PRELIMINARY BOUTS. H. Drew 9.11 beat T. M’Cartep 9.8. This preliminary bout was one of the best that has been seen in conjunction with an important contest for many a day, and provided a display that was both willing and scientific. M’Carten opened with a left to the face, but Drew took advantage of his superior height and reach, and used both hands effectively at long range. He was missing a lot in the first and second rounds, but M’Carten was sluggish, and not up to his usual form. The second round was willing, and went in favour of M’Carteu, who scored with three lefts to the face. In the third, Drew pressed M’Carten to the ropes, and punished him with rights and lefts to the face and head, and in the fourth M’Carten came in with a welltimed left to his opponent’s jaw. Drew replied with a heavy right, and pressed his advantage with a left hook and right swings to the head and body. It was a stirring round, with the odds in favour of Drew, In the fifth M’Carten scored with clean lefts to the face, and made Drew miss, but the heavier lad did most of the leading, and in the closing stages of the round M’Carten took a lot of punishment. In the last round Drew forced the pace, but M’Carten came off the ropes to land neatly with his left to the face on several occasions. In the final stages, however, he was very tired, and Drew had the better of the exchange, and was given the verdict. C. Buckley 9.1 beat N. Tyler 9.1.

The bout between Buckley and Tyler was another good one, Buckley prolong too elusive for his opponent. He rushed in in his usual free style, and scored with his left. Tyler whipped in two rights to the head, and Buckley scored to the body. In- the second round Buckley, who was boxing better than usual, connected with two lefts to the face in a rapid exchange, and followed up his advantage with a scries of left hooks and right swings. Tyler was boxing well, but his timing was faulty. Buckley did most of the leading in the round that followed, and connected with a heavy left. Tyler was inclined to swing rather wildly, and was unable to keep his opponent at the necessary long range. In the fifth Tyler opened well with a series of lefts and rights to the face, but Buckley ducked away. Tyler missed repeatedly, and Buckley was superior at in-fighting. In the last round Tyler scored with a hard right to the body, but Buckley, who was hitting straight and boxing particularly well, shaded him in the exchanges. Tyler scored with a left and two rights towards the close of the round, but Buckley was forcing the fight when the final gong rang. The decision was in favour of Buckley.