BOXING

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 50

BOXING

OTAGO CHAMPIONSHIPS. The Otago championships drew a large attendance to the Pioneer Hall on Tuesday evening. Mr J. Kilmartin was referee and Messrs P. Ruston, Peter Torrie, Don Patterson, and V. Parker the judges. FLY-WEIGHTS. Final. J. Richmond 7.10 beat J. Donaldson 7.10. Donaldson used a useful left and did most of the forcing in the first round, in which, however, there was not much clean hitting. The timing of both youths in the second round was poor, and there was not a great deal between them. In the last round the pair were boxing close together most of the time, with Donaldson doing the forcing. There was not much between the two in a rather tame bout. BANTAM-WEIGHTS. J. Craik 8.0 beat S. Brookes 8.1. The two youths gave a good exhibition of open fighting, both connecting with lefts to the face and right swings to the head. Brookes was doing most of the leading in the first round. The second round was vigorously contested, Craik connecting well at times with a left to the face. Both youths were, however, missing a tot. Craik scored repeatedly with a straight left to the face in the last rouncl, and also made his opponent miss a lot. L. Jarvis (Southland) B.l| beat J. A. Wilson 8.1. The pair were fairly evenly matched in the first round, *>ut in the second Jarvis got home well with his left to the face and did most of the scoring. The Southland champion bantam-weight did most of the work in the last round, using a good left. The timing of both boxers, however, was faulty. Final.

Jarvis beat Craik. Jarvis connected well with a straight left in the first round, Craik’s best scoring shot being a right swing to the head. Jarvis kept Craik busy in the second round using both hands well, but Craik connected several times with his left to the face just before the gong went. Jarvis held the advantage in the last round, Craik timing very badly with his right. FEATHER-WEIGHTS. C. Buckley 9.10 beat J. Anderson 9.0. Anderson was always willing to make a fight of it, but Buckley was too clever for him. and scored well with both lefts and rights to the head and body. Buckley was twice warned for not breaking cleanly. W. G. Reekie 8.13 J beat T. W. Webber 9.0. Leckie attacked in vigorous style, coming in with a left lead and a strong right swing to the head. Webber was doing better towards the end of the round, connecting now and again with a right swing to the head. In the second round Leckie did great work with his left to the face, and now and again connecting with a right to the head. Webber’s hitting was rather wild. Three times in successon commencing the last round Leckie dropped Webber with right swings to the head, but Webber was up again in a moment, and made a great recovery, carrying the fight to his opponent. In a desperate rally just before the gong went Webber was more than holding his own.

Final. Leckie beat Buckley. • In the first round Buckley got out of trouble by clever ducking, and then jumped in with his left. Leckie did most of the forcing in the second round, but found it difficult to land a clean blow, Buckley blocking well. Leckie did most of the forcing in the last round, and won comfortably. LIGHT-WEIGHTS. R. Fulcher 9.6 beat R. D. B. Paterson 9.104. Paterson had the advantage in height and reach, but Fulcher was too clever for him, and made him miss many times. Paterson was quite willing to mix it in the second round, but Fulcher was doing the better work, and he shook his opponent with two lefts to the face as the ‘ gong went. _ln the last round Fulcher outboxed his game opponent, and appeared to be generous to him more than once. M’Carten 9.61 beat Drew 9.7. . Drew forced his opponent round the ring in the first round, using both left and right to the head, and M’Carten coming back now and again with a solid straight left to the face. Drew did most of the leading in the second round, and although he is not a very clean hitter he was connecting with rights from all angles. Drew kept up the pressure in the third round, and M’Carten could not hold him off. Drew connected time and ■again with his left, and then swung in his - right, and won the fight easily—in fact, he won all the three rounds. A bad decision. Final. . Fulcher beat M’Carten, Hard infighting opened the first round, and in the range fighting some clever boxln?- was seen, Fulcher hitting smartly "With lefts and rights. A good exhibition of boxing followed in the second and third rounds, Fulcher being very clever with both hands. WELTER-WEIGHTS. S. Olsen 10.6 beat A. Wilkinson 10.5 J. Olsen forced the fight in the first round and drove Wilkinson to the ropes. He then sent his left to the body and brought his right across to the jaw, Wilkinson going down for the count.

FINAL. L. Adams (Invercargill) 10.5 beat Olsen.

Some hard punching took place in the first. round, Olsen scoring with a left swing to the jaw and Adams connecting

with a good left to the face. There were some solid exchanges in the next round, Olsen swinging in wild lefts and rights, and mostly missing, and Adams getting home with good lefts. More hard work followed in the last round, Adams doing tlie cleaner hitting. MIDDLE-WEIGHTS. A. E. Leckie 11.0 beat J. Farmer (Waipiata) 11.0 J, Farmer has not much science, but can send in strong left and right swings. He caught Leckie with a solid left swing to the jaw early in the round, and the Dunedin man was down for eight. Farmer kept moving in with lefts and rights, but Leckie managed to survive the attack. In the second round Farmer began to tire, and Leckie kept him off with his left to the face. Another vigorous rally took place, and Leckie connected with a right to the jaw. Farmer was down for one second, and on rising stopped another solid right punch to the jaw, falling on his back. On rising, Leckie hit him again, and the referee stopped the contest. B. Davis 11.3 beat W. Miller 11.24. Miller started off well, boring in with lefts and rights, but Davis then commenced to score, and twice connected with solid lefts to the jaw. Miller was down for two, one, and three seconds starting the second round, and the referee stopped the fight.

Final. Davis beat Leckie.

Leckie was down for nine seconds in the first round from a solid left hook, and then went down again from a left to the body and a right to the head, the referee stopping the contest.

HEAVY-WEIGHTS. A. Campbell (Oamaru) 12.8 beat W. Watson 12.1 J.

Some hard punching took place in the first round, Campbell getting home with heavy blows. Watson fought back gamely, but his. opponent was too heavy and too strong and too long in the reach. Campbell had all the best of the next two rounds, Watson taking heavy punishment, but fighting back when the opportunity offered. Campbell was the better boxer of the two and the harder hitter, but Watson put up a very game fight.

RADFORD v. GRIFFITHS. The professional boxing contest between Norman Radford who has fought in England, South Africa, and Australia, and Tommy Griffiths (8.11) for a purse of £l5O drew a fairly large crowd to the Drill Hall on Saturday night. The contest went the full 15 rounds, and both men finished quite fresh. It was not a very spectacular affair, and Radford did not fight so well as he did against Leckie. Griffiths put up a very clever exhibition, and the Englishman, who never gets bustled, found his own cleverness well matched. He quickly discovered that he could not drive home any effective attack, and his tactics were mostly to jump in with a left hook to the body and then go for infighting. Radford did the leading nearly all the v.ay. however, but the elusive Griffiths proved hard to hit in the open, and in the close work the Dunedin man well held his own. Griffiths, indeed, put up his best fight in Dunedin so far on .Saturday night, and was in such fine condition that it would have been to his advantage to have gone in and forced the fight from the start. Neither of the men has a powerful punch, and so far as that point is concerned both failed to bring their body through with their blows to any extent. Griffiths, for once in his boxing career, could not connect cleanly with his wellknown left jab to the face, Radford taking many of the blows on his shoulder and coming in with a right rip to the body, or else making Griffiths miss altogether. Griffiths was inclined to hold m the first part of the contest, but Radford was also an offender in this respect in the final stages Where Radford had the advantage was in the greater variety of his attack, and in the infighting he used both left and right from all directions. As stated, however. Griffiths would have done better to have carried the fight to Radford instead of letting it come to him. He certainly shaped very well indeed in the close work, and was punching hard to the body when the last gong went. Both men, it may be added, missed _ a lot in the open. The boxers had evidently been warned by the referee (Mr J. Kilmartin) that he was going to stand no nonsense regarding “ holding ” or “ claiming,” and thi s caused the men at times to be rather uncertain when they were clinched or when they were not. The decision was well received, and was the correct one.

THE PRELIMINARIES. In the preliminaries J. Donaldson (8.0) beat J. Richmond (7.10) and J. Craik (8.0 beat S. Burkes (8.2). M INNIS DEFEATS POCOCK. AUCKLAND, August 3. 2k middle-weight boxing contest between Tommy MTnnis list 21b (Scotland) and Clarrie Pocock list 3Jlb (Christchurch) resulted in a verdict for MTnnis on a technical knock-out in the second round, WIN FOR VINCE PARKER. SYDNEY, August 5. At the Stadium Vince Parker, 10 2 (New Zealand) beat Mick Hallam, 10.10, in the seventh round of a 10-round contest, the referee stopping the fight owing to an injury to Hallam’s hand. The New Zealander was well ahead on points at the finish. Several times he almost scored a knockout. TUNNEY’S RETIREMENT.

STATEMENT BY MANAGER. GISBORNE. July 31. A wireless message from the New York Times. states that Tunney’s career is definitely at an end. A statement to . this effect vas made by his manager, Billy Gibson;

TUNNEY’S ANNOUNCEMENT. NEW YORK, July 31. Tunney made a statement at the luncheon he gave to Mr Tex Rickard and Mr William Muldoon, chairman of the New York State Boxing Commission. The champion expressed gratitude for all boxing had done for him, and said: I have fought my last bout as a professional . boxer,” explaining “ There is no contender at the present time in sight capable of attracting real public interest. If there were, I might delay my retirement long enough to face him in the ring, but it looks as if it might be two or three years before a dangerous opponent develops. That is too long to stand and wait.”

Tunney paid a high tribute to Mr Rickard, and then concluded: “ The time has come when professional boxing can offer me nothing further that I desire. I am putting it behind me, grateful for benefits conferred, but with the feeling that I am still young enough to make a new start in other fields.” . AN ELIMINATION SERIES. NEW YORK. July 31. Tunney has announced that hia successor will be chosen by an elimination series under the direction of Tex Rickard and the New York State Boxing Commissioner, Mr Muldoon. A cup named the Muldoon-Tunney trophy will be entrusted to a committee of 26, headed by Rickard and Muldoon. HEENEY’S INTENTIONS.

HOLIDAY IN NEW ZEALAND. NEW YORK, August 1. Admitting that he had received an offer from an Australian source for a series of fights in Australia, Heeney told an interviewer definitely that he would not accept it, explaining that in the first place, “ I am going to New Zealand simply for a holiday, and have to be back here for a fight in November, so T shall not have time to go to Australia.” Heeney’s date of departure has not been definitely settled. He is considering motoring across the continent to San Francisco, and leaving there on August 22, but he may change his plans. TOM HEENEY MARRIES. NEW YORK, August 3. Tom Heeney was married to Marion Dunn, of Port Washington, Long Island, at Ladentown (New York), last night. A justice of the peace, Mr Margulies, said: “A man who gave his name as Tom Heeney and said he was a boxer came here with a girl and licenses, and asked me to marry them. I did, and .they left immediately afterwards withsaying where they were going.” Someone at Heeney’s late apartment. New York, stated that Heeney was now on his way to the coast. Eddie Harvey, a brother of Mr Charlie Harvey, Heeney’s American manager, was not informed of th° marriage by Tom, but said it was undoubtedly true. “ Tom and Miss Dunn "have been going together for some time, and the marriage is no surprise tame.” The bride’s home is now reported to be Spring Valley, New York.

Mr John Mortimer stated that Heeney wished to marry Miss Dunn before the Tunney fight, but his managers dissuaded him. Mr Mortimer confirmed the marriage, and said: “They met about 18 months ago at a party, and they are now motoring to New Jersey.”

THE FUTURE CHAMPION. . AN ELIMINATION SERIES. NEW YORK, August 1. Following . Tunney’s retirement Mr Rickard will begin a heavy-weight elimination tournament in September to determine the next champion. The first bout may be between Jack Sharkey (Boston) and Knute Hansen (the Wisconsin Dane), who stopped Phil Scott in one round. DEMPSEY’S POSITION. VANCOUVER, August 1. Tex Rickard, with an eye on box office receipts, will undoubtedly again interview Dempsey with a view to trying to induce him to appear once more, fol lowing a movie contract which will occupy him for the next three months. Firpo cabled to-dav from Buenos Aires stating that he would come' for . any elimination series. Risko, Sharkey, and other second-raters will also claim recognition. STATEMENT BY DEMPSEY. LOS ANGELES, August 2.

“ If I am any good as an actor, then I shall never box- again,” said Dempsey, commenting on the reports that Tex Rickard would soon offer him £160,000 to re-enter the ring. “ I figure there is just one chance in 53,000,000 that I shall fight,” added Jack loftily. The former champion suggests that Sharkey, Delaney, Heeney and others should look out for young Stribling when they go gunning for Tunney’s crown.