AMATEUR BOXING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22101, 3 November 1933, Page 11

AMATEUR BOXING

NOVICE TOURNAMENT Although the matching in some of the bouts could have been improved on, the novice boxing tournament held in His Majesty’s Theatre last evening provided several interesting contests. Many of the better-known local amateurs were seen in action, and in addition two ratings from the H.M.S. Diomede were pitted against two Dunedin lads, but in each of these bouts it was unfortunate that the discrepancy in weights did not allow of any fair estimate of the visitors’ form to be arrived at. Boxers from Oamaru and Milton were also among the competitors, and of these, Christian, a nuggety light-weight from the North Otago town, put up one of the best fights of the evening, being beaten by only a narrow margin of points. As a mark of respect to the memory of Bert Lowe all the competitors wore black armbands. 'Messrs Don Paterson and J. Kilmartin refereed the bouts, and Messrs A. W. Macdonald and R. Fulcher acted as judges. Following are the results:— H. Canon (8.0) beat B. Reeves (8.4, Milton).

In the opening stages Cannon adopted rushing tactics, and on two occasions had Reeves in trouble on the ropes; his poor timing and ill-directed punching, however, saved the Milton boy from a knockout, The two last rounds saw Reeves steady up considerably, and use his left to good purpose, but he failed to follow up, and Cannon was given the decision on points. C. Leader (8.2) beat J. Buckley (8.0, Oamaru).

This was a poor bout, and until the fifth round there was hardly a clean blow struck. Leader tried in vain to get to close quarters, but Buckley kept on the backmove and refused at any stage to mix it. In the fifth round Leader changed his tactics and fought right on top of his opponent. Driving him to the ropes he hit him ■\vhere and when he wished, and Buckley went down to a right to the body, rose, but was obviously unable to continue, and the referee gave the decision to Leader. L. Hill (9.2) beat W. Webber (9.5).

The first three rounds were fairly quiet, neither lad showing any inclination to make the fighting. A lively rally or two was staged in the fourth, Hill, by reason of his cleaner punching, getting the better of the exchanges. It was Hill’s straight, neat work with both hands that put him well ahead in the last two rounds, for although Webber was always willing to bring the fight to him, Hill stopped him off nicely with raking lefts, followed up by stinging right crosses, and used both hands well to the body, while Webber’s punches lacked sting and did not always connect. W. Laing (9.2) beat D. Christian (9.3, Oamaru). This was the best bout of the, evening. Both lads went at it from the gong, but while Christian, who is a tough, rugged fighter, kept boring in on his opponent, Laing cleverly slipped or cut off many of his punches, and sent in effective returns. Laing was the more scientific boxer of the two, and his punching was cleaner than that of Christian, but the latter was going as strongly as ever when the gong went, and the round of applause as he left the ring was the crowd’s tribute to a game and willing fighter. L. Mathcwson (9.4) beat G. 0. Neil (9.10). This was a willing enough bout, but neither fighter showed any knowledge of how to punch, and although there was any amount of wild swinging, there was hardly the clean blow struck throughout the contest.

w. D. Gallagher (H.M.S. Diomede, 11.10) beat J. B. Kean (10.12). Kean was always willing to carry the fight to his opponent, but Gallagher, who is a wary veteran with a very comprehensive knowledge of ringcraft, contended himself mainly with smothering up and keeping out of serious_ trouble. He had Kean worried towards' the end of the bout, but very sportingly, he declined to take advantage of his. superior weight and held off on several occasions when ho had Kean at his mercy. Marine Bruce (H.M.S. Diomede, 11.4) beat T. Cummings (10.8). Cummings was completely outclassed by a clever and experienced fighter, and ho lost the decision on a technical knockout in the second round.

J. Arnott (Milton, 9.12) beat G. Hart (10.0).

Arnott proved too clever for Hart, and, using a good left to advantage, he scored repeatedly and gained the decision by a fair margin of points.