BOXING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20500, 30 August 1928, Page 4

BOXING.

By Cross Counter.

On Wednesday of next week Johnny Leckie and Tommy Barber will meet at Invercargill in their return bout, while on the same date Charlie Purdy and Harry Casey will meet at Palmerston North. Tommy Fairhall, who recently won the light-weight championship of the British Empire from Ernie Izzard, and followed this up by stopping the wellendorsed American, Larry Avera, in the third round, .added another win to his line record on Saturday night by defeating the English crack, Harry Mason, to whom he was giving away 9Jib. Fairhall won on points, but he put Mason down just before the close of the last round, and the English boxer was under the count when the gong was sounded. Charlie von Reeden, the American bantam weight, who easily defeated Kid Socks recently, will meet Billy M’Alister at Melbourne on Saturday. M'Alister also has a win against Kid Socks, and the bout on Saturday night is consequently expected to draw a great house. Reeden, who will probably be one of Johnny Reekie’s opponents if the latter goes to Australia, is built on lathy lines, and has a great , asset in his reach. Fidel la Barba, who retired a year ago while fly-weight champion, to enter Stanford University, .California, staged a successful ring come-back at Los Angeles, on July 17, in a new weight division. His opponent was Huerta Evans, a hard-hitting Los Angeles bantam weight. La Barba, who won convincingly, taking eight of the 10 / rounds, is desirous of lifting the bantam-weight title. The management of Stadiums, Ltd., is at present in communication with la Barba, and in all probability he will visit Australia. A New York cable message of recent date reported that Johnny Risko lost on a foul to Roberto Roberti, the big Italian, in the sixth round of a ten-round bout. This was Risko’s second venture in succession against the biggest men in the profession, his previous opponent being Godfrey, the huge negro, who is abbut the same weight as Roberti. namely. 17 stone.

A welter-weight who is commanding attention in America is Fields, of California, who is said to be a highly skilled boxer and a most convincing fighter. He has impressed critics as likely to win the world’s championship in his class. America’s habit of collaring world’s boxing championships for home products, irrespective of the claims of ring men on this side, has been exercising the International Boxing Union (says London Sporting Life). As a result of their discussions, it has been decided that some of the European champions have just as good a claim to be styled world’s champions _as the self-appointed Americans. This is what we have long argued, and we are entirely with the union when they propose to recognise as a world’s title bout any match approved as such by three independent European boxing countries. After all, there is the New'York Boxing Commission and the National Boxing Association of America, to say nothing of the minor State Commissions, each taking a hand in the distribution of world’s championship labels. That is why there are boxers in the same weight-class from different States styling themselves world's champions. We are really very tolerant o« this side (o permit such indiscriiiiinate handing out of boxing bouquets, and providing in Europe there is a man good enough to wear a world’s crown, why should he not be given every support in his claim? Johnny Hill, for instance, has as much right to call himself flyweight champion of (he - world as l/./.y ‘Schwartz.

The Northern Boxing Association Jias succeeded in matching Ted Monson, the holder of the Australian middle-weight title, and Tommy MTnnes, and they will meet in Auckland on September 24. Monson won the title from Lachic M’Donald by a knockout, but the New Zealander has twice . beaten the Australian. If the Otago Association could bring the pair together-it is safe to say that even the record established by the Leckie-Barber fight would be in danger of being toppled. In describing the recent bout between Jack Paul (Dunedin) and Eddie Butcher at Leichhardt Stadium. “ Solar Plexus,” iu the Sydney Referee, has the following to say: ‘‘After successfully accomplishing a come-back, after an absence from the ring, since when he defeated Jim Pearce, of Newcastle, at Leichhardt Stadium. Eddie Butcher gained further laurels in the same ring by defeating hard-hitting Jack Paul on points, after having been down for nine in the third round. It was a wonderful recovery. Butcher, still in the early twenties, never attended to proper training in the majority of his previous efforts, but a year or more from the ring. and.hearkening to the sound advice of his good friend and guide. Mr Thomas, ho has returned to the fold with a strong determination to be more serious in future. So far he has certainly proved true to his promise, for to date he has scored two wins from bigger and more powerful opponents, due to his superior speed and science, whilst courage played no small part in such fine achievements. In the first round Butcher’s unorthodox style somewhat puzzled Paul, but in the second round the latter waded in, making liberal use of his weighty right, and by that means administered a severe lacing to the southpaw, who walked unsteadily to his coiner. Continuing his aggression in the third round, Paul had his man down for nine by a right to the chin, a ■ blow that has meant ‘ shutters ’ for many a bigger and stronger boxer than Butcher. The latter regained his feet in time and stalled cleverly until corners. Referee Pearl ignored an appeal for a . foul in the fourth round, when Paul’s head was accidentally rammed low. Having recovered from the shock of the early rounds, Butcher clearly outpaced and outboxed the powerful Paul to the final gong, and was given a most popular decision. The contest was of 15 rounds. Paul weighed 10.8 and Butcher 9.12}, and the fact of being almost a stone lighter makes the latter’s victory all the more meritorious.”

Bob Pearce, who won the Olympic Sculls brilliantly, might have been as successful as a heavy-weight boxer;, in fact, it was at one time thought he would take to the ring instead of to the outrigger. A year or so back, in one of the Sydney gymnasiums, Bob and Fred Zimmerman started off in what, was intended to be a light spar, but they warmed up to their work, and the amateur gave the champion a dressing down. The Otago Association has every reason to be pleased with the performances put up by the members of the team chosen to represent it at the amateur championships in Auckland, and Johnny Richmond (fly-weight) and Bobby Fulcher (lightweight) are deserving of the congratulations they have received since lifting the titles in their respective classes. On the showing he made at the Otago championships Richmond was considered to have little chance at Auckland, but he showed considerable improvement in the northern city, and thoroughly deserved his win. Fulcher has been a competitor at several championship tournaments, and it will be remembered that in 1925-at Christchurch he was just beaten in the final by Morgan, the Olympic champion. Fulcher is a pupil of A. Leckie’s, and has acted as sparring partner for Johnny Leckie and Tommy Griffiths throughout.their careers. The Dunedin boy beat a brother of Nelson M'Knight’e in the final at Auckland, and his win was one of the most popular of the tournament.