A BOXER’S DEATH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21772, 11 October 1932, Page 9

A BOXER’S DEATH

FATAL BOUT IN AUCKLAND V 1 ■■' ■ ■, '■; i : \y : . VERDICT OF MISADVENTURE. (Per United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, October 10. Evidence concerning the fatal boxing match at the Town Hall on Monday evening last was given in the Police Court this afternoon, when an inquest concerning the death of Henry Valentine Johns was resumed before the coroner, Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M. Johns was knocked out in the fourteenth round of his contest with Archie Hughes and later collapsed. He died in Auckland Hospital on the following morning without regaining consciousness. .Y Evidence was given by Cafell that when the deceased was admitted to the hospital he was suffering front head and body bruises. He was unconscious and was suffering from cerebral hemorrhage. An operation was immediately, per-' formed, but Johns died at 7 aim. The covering of the brain showed a' prior injury of long standing. Mr Hunt: Did that have anything to do with Johns’s death?—lt may have. Superintendent Till, of the Auckland police, said he had watched the contest. At no time during the bout did he see anything which might have caused the police to stop the contest. It Was a clean and well fought contest and there was no excessive punishment. It was conducted in the very best spirit by, both men. ... , Kenneth Arthur Meale, who was referee, described the fourteenth round. The contest had only been resumed a minute, he said, and both men were “mixing it” freely when Hughes connected with a h6avy left rip to the pit of Johns’s stomach. As a natural result Johns threw his head back and opened his mouth. At this moment Hughes brought over a heavy right-hand punch to the jaw, as a result of which Johns went down on his knees. He made no attempt to rise and he was accordingly counted out. Witness thought that Johns was quite unconscious of what was going on. \ Dr Craven, medical superintendent of the Auckland Hospital, expressed the opinion that the contest was perfectly fair. After reading the post mortem report witness had formed the opinion that Johns had been in a precarious condition and a slight accident might have proved fatal. In his opinion the former accident had contributed to the cause of death. "Accidents' will happen,” commented the coroner in returning a verdict that death was due to cerebral hemorrhage received as the result of misadventure.