BOXING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 57

BOXING.

WESTPORT TOURNAMENT. WESTPORT, August 24. At the Westport Boxing Association’s tournament last night J. Hagerty (Timaru) and W. Hannan (Wellington) fought a 16 round bout for the Light-weight Championship of New Zealand and a purse of £SO. The fight went the full 15 rounels. Hagerty had the better of the earlier and Hannan the advantage in the latter stages. Mr B. Devere, the referee, declared the booit a draw. FATAL BOXING MATCH. NEW YORK, August 24. In a boxing contest at Los Angeles Jess Willard knocked out Bill Young. The latter was taken to the hospital unconscious, and died after an operation to relieve cerebral hemorrhage. Willard and all the fight promoters have been arrested on a charge of manslaughter. NOVICE AND SIX-ROUND CONTESTS. There ' was a good attendance at His Majesty’s Theatre on Monday night to witness the novice and six-round contests promoted by the Otago Boxing Association. Following are the results:— BANTAMS. H. William (8.3) beat R. Morris (8.3). A. Melville (8.2) beat W. Cameron (8.2 i). J. Lane (8.2) beat J. Power (8.0). J. Leckie (8.3) beat T. Bruce (8.3). William and Morris opened in the bantam section, the first round going to the former, who, in addition to landing with a light straight left, repeatedly ducked a number of swings by his opponent. The second round was more strenuous, but neither competitor fared very badly. Honours were even when the gong sounded. At the commencement of the last round Morris landed a left hook, which momentarily staggered Williams. After sparring round to recover Williams sent in a right to Morris’s face which had a fair amount of sting in it, and Morris was a little dazed as a result Williams next got home with lefts and rights to body and face, and when the gong sounded he was an easy winner. The next pair to meet w-ere Melville and Cameron, and in the first round Cameron, after catching several heavy swings on ais gloves, jabbed his opponent with a stinging loft. Melville returned with left and right to the body, but missed when he essayed to repeat the performance. Cameron used his left again shortly afterwards, and sent his right to the face. Tiie second round was somewhat uninteresting, and a great deal of missing took place. The third was more willing, Melville forcing the pace and landing on the face and body. Cameron was not idle, and his well directed blows, if they were not frequent, rarely rnssed their mark. Melville was the stronger, and boxed more vigorously at the finish, and justly merited his win, although the margin was not great.

Lano was too good for Power, and the bent was stopped after Power had gone to the boards once as the result of a hard right. The bout between Leekie and Bruce was more of a burlesque than a boxing encounter, and, although the affair was stopped shortly after the second round had commenced, the referee would probahly have been justified in stopping it in the first round. Bruce, ran away and never appeared to bo keen in playing a serious part in the contest. FEATHER-WEIGHTS. J. Boreham $.15) btai \V. P. Scott (9.0). D. M'Gregor (8.13) beat J. Jones (8.10). Tiie association disqualified Scott, who failed to be in the ring in time to keep his engagement with Boreluun, who was awarded the bout. In the contest between M'Gregor and Jones there was very little real box .ng done in the first round- In the second, however, M'Gregor used a left to some purpose and his right found a mark on Jones’s body. The latter essayed several swings, which had little effect and rarely landed with .any force. M'Gregor piled up points with welltimed blows, and towards the end of the round had Jones beaten. The final bout was entirely in M'Gregor s favour, and he won after giving a cool and clean exhibition. LIGHT-WEIGHTS. J. North (10.0) beat M. Mains (9.7). D Wylie (9.5) beat D. Leekie (9.10). Mains was outclassed by North, who used a straight left effectively and connected time and again during the three rounds. Maine, though shorter than his opponent, exhibited a great deal of pluck. Wylie and Leekie cut a sorry figure after the contest which preceded it. ft terminated rather suddenly two seconds before the conclusion of the second round through Leekie hitting a foul blow, the bom going to Wylie. HEAVY-WEIGHTS. G. Willetts beat W. Stewart. S. Tyson beat W. Moore. The farce of the evening was the bout between Willetts and Stewart. In the bout betwee i Tyson and Moore the latter cried enough in the first round. Tyson was too heavy for his opponent. WELTER-WEIGHTS. J. Pearson (10.8) beat T. Oxley (10.9). R. Tonic (10.9) beat J. M'Leod (10.7). The bout between Pearson and Oxley was an amusing affair, and after three rounds of hitting and missing the judges failed to agree, and the referee ordered an extra round. The extra encounter was on a par with the previous roiuids, and once more the judges failed to agree. The decision went to Pearson. While the bout between Torrie and M'Leod was an improvement on the initial contest in this class it was only a scrambling affair. SIX-ROUND BOUTS. J. Munro boat W. Chittleburgh. P. O’Farrell beat G. Smith. A. C. Cooper beat E. Smith. The contest between J. Munro (Otago and Southland lightweight champion) and \V. Chittleburgh was stopped shortly after the start of the fourth round, and Chittleburgh was disqualified for holding and hitting. Munro might have been dealt with earlier in the contest for “ pinning ” and hitting, and also for failing to carry out the terms of the rule relating to a clean break. He did not step back, and more than once he struck h : s opponent coining out of a clinch. The contest -was by no means an

equal one, and there was no necessity for Munro to infringe in the manner he did. Smith opened hostilities with O’Farrell with two lefts in the face, and O’Farrell jabbed harmlessly at the body. O’Farrcll got home a couple of lefts at the start of the second encounter, and Smith got back with two lefts to the face, and O’Farrell caught Smith a solid blow and sent him on to the ropes, the latter clinching to avert trouble. An exciting exchange, in which Smith appeared to have slightly the beet, ended the round. Smith came up for the third round quite fresh, and immediately drove O’Farrell to the ropes. Things became exciting as both lads stood and landed clean punches to the face and body, Smith getting in better work, which eventually made O’Farrell break ground, and he was getting more than he gave when the gong sounded. Smith jumped out from h.s corner for the fourth and put left, right, and left again on to O’Farrell’s face, duckinv a couple from the latter. They mixed it freely, and O’Farrell, while not landing so often ’os Smith did. ha<l more weight in his blows. Both lads were tired as they went to their corners. Smith being ahead on points but somewhat weaker than his opponent. The fifth round wae fairly even, both scoring well. O’Farrell got in some telling rights to the body, while Smith kept his lea’ds with blows to the head. The sixth saw Smith pile up points, and he appeared to be the better of the two as the bout progressod. He kept at O’Farrell all the way, and got home left and right to both sides of the face, O’Farrell landing with a right to the body, but Smith stopped quite a number of his attempts. The judges disagreed. and the referee gave his decision in favour of OTarroll; The verdict came as a surprise, and the audience disapproved of it by some hooting and groaning. The event between Cooper and L. bmitn was dean throughout, and both men boxed in the host of spirit. From a scientific point of view it was a poor exhibition.