WRESTLING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22351, 27 August 1934, Page 10

WRESTLING

KOLOFF DEFEATS FELICE AN UNSPECTACULAR DISPLAY In the absence of anything remotely resembling spectacular wrestling lay the cause of the failure of Dan Koloff (16st) and Tony Felice (15.10) to give their public in the Town Hall on Saturday night that measure of satisfaction to which it apparently considered itself entitled. The final fall which gave Koloff the verdict in the fifth round, accomplished by means of common or garden dumping, followed by a body press, did not furnish the dramatic climax towards which the more vociferous patrons constantly urged the contestants. Not even one or two wild dashes across the ring by the Italian improved the dissatisfied disposition of the enthusiasts, who saw nothing out of the ordinary in _ the occasional cuffs and clouts with which Koloff sought to disconcert Felice. The .plain fact of the matter was that Koloff was immeasurably superior to the Italian, with the result that it was "no fight." With two such ill-matched contestants the result was a foregone conclusion, and it must have surprised many people to find that Koloff had to let the bout reach the fifth round before he finally accounted for Felice.

The match provided a good display of a wide variety of holds, but no fireworks of any kind, and the crowd did not like it. It is difficult, however, to imagine what the average wrestling audience regards as complete money's worth. It was obvious on- Saturday night that there were many people who derived actual pleasure from the thought that they were going to be disappointed. They would have been disappointed if they had not been disappointed. This pleasant human frailty, which makes enjoyment of anything impossible, found expression early in the evening in concerted hooting and booing the moment the wrestlers appeared, notwithstanding the fact that neither of them had ever been seen in Dunedin before.

Both men stripped attractively, "the Bulgarian lion " by reason of his stature seeming to carry far more than the extra couple of pounds of bulk which separated the weights of the pair. The Italian was much the taller and displayed a body tan that would make either Hollywood or the Lido green with envy. The first round was saved from complete dullness only by the variety of holds displayed. Felice's difficulty was that headlocks were more or less ineffective when applied to Koloff's head, the front and back of which were almost unbroken planes. A thrilled buzz of gratification followed Koloff's first swinging blow at the Italian's head, but the hoped-for reprisal was not forthcoming, unless Felice's extraordinary grimace could be_ regarded as such, Both men moved with amazing speed for their weight, with Koloff if anything the speedier. It took the Italian a long time to realise the futiliy of headlocks as far aa Koloff was concerned, but even when he changed his tactics and concentrated on the Buigar's arm, there was nothing he could do seriously to discommode his opponent. He himself gave a perfect imitation all the time ; of a railway engine emitting steam. His hissing breath provided an unbroken accompaniment., The second round was much the same as the first, with Koloff, if anything, lazier than before. Now and then, as if tired of one position, he would stretch out his huge arms, lift the Italian bodily and dump him a couple of feet away, and then do one of his amazing leaps from the ground to his feet, which kept him always in the right position. Felice careered madly from sine to side of the ring at the opening of the third round, but to no purpose, and his frolics stopped abruptly when Koloff administered two heavy cuffs as he passed and then contrived a neat hit in the eye with his elbow. The first fall came when Koloff got out of a headlock and, moving like lightning, took Felice in his arms and dumped him. . Felice began consistent headlocks again in the. fourth round, but his turn came when, from a body scissors, he applied a jack-knife split which changed to an ordinary split and then developed into an unexpected Boston crab, to which Koloff, after enduring it for a good while, submitted. The fifth round started painfully for the Italian when he received another of Koloff's playful elbow jabs to the eye, followed by a resounding smack on the side of the head, but he had little more to endure, as, after applying an arm scissors and arm bar, Koloff dumped him and completed his rout with a body press to the accompaniment of hoots, catcalls, and booing. The penny-throwing habit, which seems to delight so many people, was commenced, but after four coppers had fallen and found their way into the pocket of the referee (Mr W. Coughlan) the throwing ceased. PRELIMINARY BOUTS. In the preliminaries Frank Seech (9.8) drew with W. Stephens (9.7) after an uninteresting bout without a fall. W. Fitzgerald (10.1) was defeated by B. Oakes (9.9), who secured a fall from a body press in the third round. W. Seque (11.6) drew with P. Hancock (11.7) with a fall each, and L. Coughlan (11.2) gained a fall in the first round to win his bout with H. Wilson (10.10).