BOXING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21032, 22 May 1930, Page 4

BOXING.

By Cboss-countee. The bout between Tommy Donovan and Johnny Leckie for the feather-weight title takes place on Saturday. The result will be apvaited with interest throughout the Dominion. Jack Paul is to meet Fred Fraei, of Auckland, at. Tauniarunui on. Saturday night. • . ’ The bout between Billy, Grime arid. Tommy Donovan, which should have been held at Hawcra last Friday, has been postponed till Juno as the Australian ricked his ankle during outdoor training. Johnny Risko. who has met all the leading heavy-weights during the last few seasons, is a Slav by nationality, and was born in Hungary 27 years ago. His real name is Mesto Bohemico, “ Tiger Payne has fallen away. He seems to have lost interest. He was disqualified m the sixth round against; Pelt Brandt, of Holland, at Philadelphia; last riionth, and-until he was, ruled out, took things' fairly easy. Janies J. Jeffries seems to have a good prospect in his recently ' discovered " white. hope,” A 1 Morrb: Morro made his first appearance as a boxer last month at Los Angeles; He has been' under Jeffries’s tuition.for some time, and had the 1 ' unique experience of opening his fistic career' with a. main'event. He was stacked against Tony Stabineau, once in the front ranks of the and he won,,pn points.’ Another champion has been defeated, but was saved by coming in overweight. Jackie : Fields, world’s welter king, was an odds-on favourite to beat Young Corbett HI in San Francisco last month i but, as it turned oht. coming'in above, the poundage saved Fields his title. A crowd of 20,000 saw the bout. Corbett, is a sawed-off shotgun in build, , and he gained an.early lead. ,He fractured his punching hand in the seventh round, and fought to the tenth on his nerve. He won without a doubt, and his. fractured left-hand had swollen to twice its normal size by the time he reached his dressing, room. The bout drew 53,000 dollars. Iffe champion received ‘ 26.500 . dollars, and Corbett 10,000. But as the promoters paid 10,000 dollars for the hire of the ground, in addition to other expenses, not much went to the profit account. Jimmy Slattery, of Buffalo, has been presented with the world’s cruiser-weight championship by the New York State Boxing Commission: Originally they put their' seal on the Maxie Eosenblum-Jimmy Slat-, tery bout as for the title, but changed their minds, and. agreed that the winner of the Lou Scozza-Slattery bout should be champion. ..Even the American critics, are not convinced that Slattery is the champion. They agreed that. Slattery showed some of his old form, but Scozza is below Maxie Rosenblum as a contender, and Rosenblum must be reckoned with before the Buffalo man can stand out as king of the light-heavies. Had Slattery trained arid taken care of himself,, he would have been champion long ago. But • licking he took from Dave Shade in 1925, and the subsequent hammerings from Paul fierianback (for the title) he slipped almost out of sight.. Still Slattery lias trained hard for his come-back, and He is youn E enough to go to the front, provided he keeps to the gymnasium, and an athlete s life. The bout took place in Buffalo, and created a new record for att™danccs in that town. The “gate” was £13,700. also a record for Buffalo.' The ringside critics disagreed over the verdict. borne writers declared that Slattery won eight rounds and Scozza seven. One of the judges called the bout,a draw, while the other judge and referee voted for Slattery. Scozza chased Slattery from finish. and in the thirteenth , tog the.verge of a knockrlr? the > u him' helpless, on the F 9P e ®- Scozza trie <l desperately to finish him in the last two rounds, but tired, and boll I rl n T re ° t ? the , ir feet at the last after the contest Slattery signed to defend.his title against Mickey , sl »« er f “ Wounds in the region of the eyes are tuß' bugbear of a fighter in the ring, and it is seldom that he recovers from the Handicap, if it occurs in the early rounds, and batt.es through to a successful finish (n rites Jack Elliott in the Australian Referee). On Saturday night (May 3) the ‘light-weight champion. Norman. Gillespie, fell victim to a slashing left hook of Benny Golden, of America, in the fifth JP.y.nd, and when the claret streamed down Gillespies face. Golden had the fight half won. Gillespie battled on to the twelfth round. In the interval the referee examined the wound, and as the bell rang for the thirteenth session he pointed to Golden as the winner on a technical knockout. The referee was right. Eyes are too precious to injure permanently for the sake of a decision. Gillespie was behind Ijoiot 6 * nnd, with his handicap, was out of the running to catch up the lost ground, and no purpose could be served by allowing the contest to continue. It was not a great fight. Both boxed, and held too much respect for the other’s punching powers to risk much toe-to-toe slogging, or tear-in fighting. Gillespie fought with great confidence, but the American was too last and clever for the light-weight champion to catch properly ’ with his knock-out , right to the jaw. The exchanges were so mild that in the fifth round the referee asked for some action, and in the next Session, when the men really started to fight, Gillespie suffered a wound over his right eye. Golden boxed under wraps after that, and he was never in trouble. He was ahead on points when the referee stopped the bout. Its rather a lucky break for the big contenders that formidable hard-hitting Sam Langford is not in his great battling prime at present, for he would undoubted]}- become the world’s heavy-weight champion against all the present crop of big aspirants for the high pugilistic title with little or no trouble (says an American writer). The “ Boston Tar Baby,’’ as be was generally called in his heyday, was indeed a most extraordinary fighter, with a most remarkable ring record, although he never held a championship and never seenied to be very anxious to acquire one. He was always a happy-go-lucky sort of a coloured chap, who seldom trained much, and lived a very free and easy life, spending his many substantial winnings for all the fine luxuries he could buy for his host of friends' and Himself; Langford’s record shows a great number of knock-outs to his credit. Among his victims were Larry Temple, Jim Flynn, Dixie Kid, George M’Fadden, Jack Blackburn, Jen Clark, Tony Caponi. “Philadelphia Jack” O’Brien, “Gunboat” Smith, Harry Wills, "Battling Jim” Johnson, George Godfrey (twice), Sam M‘Vey, Young Peter Jackson. Bill Tate, “ Tiger ” Flowers, Kid Norfolk, and some

hundred others. Sam was born at Weymouth on March i. 1879, but spent nearly ' all his life in Boston, Massachusetts, where he still lives on the fat of the land, which includes dozens of pork pies and chickens galore. He started fighting professionally in 1902, and kept going until 1920, when'he defeated’ Andres Balsas at Mexico City for the Spanish heavy-weight championship, when he was 44 yeans of age.' Outside of poor eyesight, the.! “ Boston Tar Baby ” is still enjoying good ' health, and retains' an enormous appetite. .Bill- Thomas (10.12)', of Wales, and Tommy MTnnes ■ (10.12 j), of Scotland, did not attract a'very, large attendance at Leichhardt Stadium recently.’ Thomas won by a wide margin, but MTnnes made the fight from start to finish. Thomas is a superb boxer, especially if winning (says an exchange). MTnnes’s twohanded style of battling played straight into his', hands. But regardless of Thomas’s jarring left. jab counters and . right uppercuts as he came in, MTnnes . refused to give up the role of attacker. He Bailed, in in the first round with both hands flailing, and was doing much .the same thing in : the last round. MTnnes was down for a no-eount in the second round, and very worried in the rounds which, followed, but there ’ was never much danger of his staying down. Thomas boxed . wall. He " booked and jabbed, as though-it .was an exhibition,, and in his confident moments put bis shoulders behind his punches, and. showed signs that if .he kept his punching up he might win. lijr the'short route. But he fell away with ms blows, although, he .continued each round to add to his. pile of points. He lost .the fifth round-by a slight margin;, and was dropped.for a nocount in the sixth, but. he never ceased to jab his left or rip his right to the Scot’s head and body. It was much the < same story till the fourteenth round.’ Thomas opened well ,in the lead, but MTnnes made his one last' try., '1 nomas was down again, in . this, round^riot, from a punch—and, he continued his jab throughout the round, MTnnes won the points. The Scot 'also'had a shade over the final session. Thomas seethed tired, and, with the fight in hi% pocket, was content to guard.- M! r -Inn«s. .-Iwt-W himself weary) and was none too steady himself at the end- Thomas wus ai clear winner on points. ■

of Newcastle, at short notice agreed to fill the vacancy caused by the illness of the middle-weight champion Jack Haines, on Saturday night (May 10), In his 15 rounds’ match with the French boxer, Louis Vauclard,'at Husheutters’ Bay Stadium, Pearce won on points after being almost counted but . in the thirteenth, session (says the Sydney ‘ Morning Herald) . In a slow but stubbornly contested engagement Pearce held the advantage in: the majority of rounds. Vauclard‘displayed great toughness, ahd the manner in which he received Pearce’s blows without being affected was amaz- . ing. Pearce, weighing list 2ilb, was 2Jlb lighter than the Frenchman,. who also held the advantage in height, Vauclard was participating in his second contest since his arrival here. His first engagement was in opposition to Haines, and. in that match the visitor also gave a . great exhibition of gameness in the face of heavy punishment. Pearce held the lead in points in the opening session, placing accurate lefts to the head and body, and crossing ’with his right to the chin. , He outboxed the Frenchman, and by his tactics frequently compelled Vauclard ‘to . miss. The ijTewcastle boxer generally beat 1 Vauclard with the lead, and had the latter’s nose bleeding in the third. Vauclard in the third . session was making' a desperate effort, and occasionally drove lefts and rights to the body, but this did not appear seriously .to trouble Pearce. Vauclard towards the conclusion of this ' terra .staggered Pearce with a blow which landed low, but 'the northern boxer endured, although apparently in pain, in the seventh session Pearce inflicted a cut On his 'opponent’s left cyo. Notwithstanding the punishment he was receiving. Vauclard always returned to the at- v tack. . He made a fine recovery in tin; eighth round, and from the eleventh term did some. fine work. The spectators were aroused to excitement in the twelfth session, and the sensation of the contest happened in the next. After the first minute Vauclard fiercely attacked his adversary, and after a succession of deliveries to the head Pearce fell upon his back. He was outstretched upon the canvas, and as the seconds were sounded it was problematical whether he would recover. At the count of nine Pearce arose, and was defending at. the-bell. Vauclard was strong for the concluding rounds, and his ’ boxing was superior. Pearce was content to defend himself for the greater part’ of the closing stages, and. although the Frenchman had the advantage, Pearce had so many points to his credit throughout the earlier sessions; that Vauclard’s only ‘ hope of success was by a knod mit. TV» Frenchman failed to achieve this object, and Pearce' earned a popular verdict. Although the verdict for Lando pardi (11.4) over .Mery Williams (P met with opposition at the close of their 15 rounds at the Stddium on May 10, Referee Craig had the major l ?-'- rif <he crowd with him when he crowned the' visitor (says an Australian exchange). The Italian revealed himself a -many boxer, who varied his attack and defence, with such swiftness that Williams seemed Euzzlcd to know just how to work out is own plan of campaign. The local man certainly sprung a fine, spectacular finish, and his doggedness against a greater general was praiseworthy. Leopardi fomjit warily in the earlier stages, but one'had sized his man up he went for him and scored effectively. Thai was ui. the third round, ohe in which Williams, after connecting to the jaw, crowded the Italian and raised the enthusiasm of his supporters. Leopardi shot out piston-like left leads during the .middle stages of the fight, and, though they lacked fire, they, were scoring points. By way of .counter effort, Williams tried to get his manto; : ■ close quarters, but the claiming of the Italian was followed by a good deal of clinching. By the, time the ninth round was reached Williams was marked over the left eye, but be was keen to carry the fight to Leopardi, who was making full use of the ring. Williams landed good punches at long range twice in quick succession in the tenth round, in which - he made good headway. Leopardi was glad to stall for a round or two, but he' came good again in the twelfth stanza, : when he connected a solid right to the " chin and overshadowed his man in the thirteenth. Williams fought vimfully, over the dosing stages, but he found Leo- ' pardi too elusive, and, as if satisfied with his lead. Leopardi was content to keep out of danger. It was a well-sustained battle, brimful of pissibilities to the "cry end.