RARE FISTIC FARE.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13642, 28 August 1937, Page 4

RARE FISTIC FARE.

AT LAST NIGHTS TOURNEY. HAROLD' REEVE OUTPOINTS PLUTO. The fare provided at the Pahiatua Boxing Association’s Tournament last night must have satisfied the most exacting boxing fans. The house was particularly well filled despite a wretchedly wet night and there was an air of expectancy when Announcer Bob Mabey welcomed the crowd prior to the start of- the preliminaries. And those preliminaries! Without fear of contradiction they were the best that have ever been staged in Pahiatua. The “prelims” at any contest are usually a source of worry to the officials by reason of the fac t that many engagements are not kej>t and last minute matchings have to be made, but this was not the cas.3 last night. It was regrettable that Finnegan could not be present for his encounter with Joe Collins, the Palmerston North star, but the other bouts compensated for this. As usual the officials were a great team of workers and every mail carried out his job very satisfactorily, with the result that the bouts were got on with the minimum delay. The officials were as follows:—Referee, Mr L. Poupard (Rongotea) ; timekeeper, Mr Geo. Oxley ; announcer, Mr R. Mabey ; glove stewards, Messrs Ben Draper and Val Baker; medical steward, Mr Sefton Walsh; weight steward, Mr A. C. Timms; match committee, Messrs Monerieff, Pratt and Phil Davies; call steward, Mr lan Taylor; door steward, Mr 1 . C. Smythe; official seconds, Messrs H. Trask and J- Davies.

There were many who thought that Pluto would outpoint Reeve if the latter did not get a. knock-out, but from the first it seemed as though Reeve was the only fighter in tinring. He was aggressive to a far greater degree than Pluto and won seven rounds to two scored by Pluto. Pluto did not begin soon enough and evidently pinned his hopes on Reeve being worn down by the very persistency of Ill's aggressif li- -liis fatal error for Reeve maintained these tactics throughout, his only faulr being too much reliance oil his left and an, apparent hesitancy ii. following up an advantage. It will be remembered that Pluto outpointed Reeve at Gisborne when the pair last met. After the fight riuto expressed satisfaction with the decision and said lie had no kick coming. THE PRELIMINARIES.

Ted Pratt, 5.8 (Pahiatua) v. Sin Beales, 6.11 (Pahiatua). The two local midgets set the ball rolling in good style mixing it well to the delight of the crowd who applauded the decision for Beales. Pratt stood up to his bigger opjionent well. H. Parsons, 9.3 (Palmerston Northl v. McFarland, 9.3 (Feilding). Fought over three rounds, this bout was fraught with plenty of hard hitting in which McFarland had the better <>i the first round. The second, round began with fireworks in which both boys lashed each other with terrific punches, Parsons matching his stronger opjionent very well. McFarland forced the fight in the last round, but Parsons disputed every inch of the way and in the finish was giving the Feilding boy all he wanted. The draw was a popular decision.

Norm Cooper, 10.1 (Eketahuna) v. Norm Pratt, 9.7 (Pahiatua). Giving away much in jioundage, Pratt decided to seek a short way home and made a. set at his opponent from the gong. Cooper stoppled one or two but stood off and waited a chance, sending him down for eight in the first round. In the second round Pratt was floored again with a driving right to the head and his second threw in the towel. Pratt put uji a good showing and was given a hand by the crowd for his game fight against a tough opponent. H. Christensen, 10.1 (Palmerston North) v A. Cadwallader, 10.5 (Masterton). Clinching marked tile opening of the first round and then Christensen brought his right into play, but the Masterton boy scored well with a succession of lefts. Christensen drove Cadwallader back to the ropes in round two and the pair went into clinches, both trying to bring uppiereuts into play. Cadwalleder slammed home some hefty jiunches to Christensen’s face and body in the last round, which was characterised by too much wrestling. A decision to Cadwallader.

W. Nix, 11.0 (Masterton) v. M. Feeney, 11.5 (Palmerston North). Nix entered the ring with a knee bandage on, which was explained by a stiff right leg. Feeney sailed into Nix from the gong and made the scarlet flow-, but Nix measured his man and drove some devastating punches to the latter's face which was soon streaming blood. Feeney showed more caution in the second round and tried to stand off and hit Nix, who could not recover very quickly. Nix made the juice in the final round and boxed with more deliberation, making Feeney miss rejieatedly. The verdict for Nix was a liojiular one. Morris , 9.5 (Eketahuna) v. I. Priest, 9.5 (Wairarapa). This bout lasted but one round and had the crowd shaking throughout. Priest dashed into the fray with utter recklessness and attacked Morris in ’ a manner which delighted the crowd. Morris had a look of sheer astonishment on liis face and was content to hold him off, biding his time for a favourable chance which was not not long in juresenting itself. Morris then went in and dealt Priest a tattoo which sent the latter down for the count. Never before had a Pahiatua crowd seen such nnmziug tactics and they were quite in sympathy with the Masterton boy when he was neljied from the ring. L. Bailey, 12.8 (Pahiatua) v. L. Edhouse, 13.3 (Feilding). Fdhouse, stocky of build and massive of frame, wasted a lot of effort dancing around liis lighter opponent whcT contrary to the colour of his hair’ boxed coolly and scored a first round

lead. Bailey made a target of Edhouse's heart and als"> caused a flow of red down the bridge of the latter's nose. Edhouse made deft use of his feet for a heavy man and several of Bailey’s blows went over his shoulder in the next round. Bailey took some smashing two-handed punishment at the opening of the last round, which saw Edhouse gradually slow down and miss his objective. Buitey then found play for his right and lashed the Feilding boy who made futile attempts to reach Bailey's face with his right blows, which he telegraphed. Bailey the winner and a popular one too. » TROPHIES PRESENTED. * At the conclusion of the preliminaries, Mr A P. Jensen, president of the Association, thanked tlie crowd for their jiatronage and presented trophies as under: Mr L. O’Neil’s cup, L. Bailey; Mr MeKellar's cup, W. Nix; anonymous cup (from Palmerston North), D. Cadwallader; anonymous cuj> (from Pahiatua . N. Cooper; club tups, Morns, Beales, Parsons and McFarland. THE PROFESSIONAL BOIT. Bill Pluto entered the ring at 11.3. and Harold Reeve weighed in at 11.12, cheers ringing out for the pair as they went to their corners. Pluto showed evidence of lightning sjx-ed with his left directly they faced one another and Reeve, always advancing, tried to work him round to get home with liis right, but failing to find an opening. The pair went into clinches frequently and sparred the rest of the round. In the second round Reeve twice drove Pluto to the ropes and darted out his left to the Australian s face but there was no weight in the blows and they had to be called out of the clinch jßceve continued to force the fight for the remainder of the round. Round three was characterised by too much in-fighting and clinching and Reeve repeatedly held Pluto’s left in to his body, a move evidently forced by Pluto. Reeve still iu the lead. During the fourth round Reeve landed Pluto with some beautituliytimed blows to the face as he advanced on the Australian, and Pluto gave ground against the rojies, where he took some punishment to the head from Reeve's right, which was not being brought into play very much. Round five saw the j>a~ir exchange lefts to good advantage and again Reeve had Pluto back against the ropes, going for Pluto's solar plexus. Pluto was making a better fight of it at the end of the round when he drove hard for Reeve’s face. The following round gave play to some wild punching which did not savour of much venom, Reeve seeming to be waiting for a body blow and Pluto rarely anxious to force the fight. Pluto came out of his apparent lethargy in the seventh and exchanged occasional blows to Reeve s jaw, the Pahiatua lad replying effeetiveIv. This time it was a fairly even break.

Making good use of his clever infighting ability, Pluto scored well in the opening of the eighth round and had R eeve defending. As they came into the centre ot the ring Reeve bored in but failed to time Lis left just when he had Pluto in a tough spot. Pluto's round. Reeve put on the fireworks in flashes of the ninth round and battered Pluto's body with both gloves. Pluto came again toward the end of the round and brought his right into play with disturbing effect on Reeve's face.

Hard punches were taken on their gloves as they started the tenth i;ound, then Pluto ripped home a beautiful left which got under Reeve’s guard and opened his right e3*e which bled profusely. Pluto's glove actually missed its mark but his wrist appeared to do the damage and this upset Reeve to some extent. Pluto, with this advantage, failed to follow up a golden opportunity, opportunity. Pluto’s round. With one round to go Pluto jumped out after Reeve who was forced into the corner, where the Australian allowed him to come clear. Reeve came to light with liis right again and let fly some killers at the Australian's body, which made t-he latter stagger against the ro|x»s. Reeve was evidently trying to plant Pluto and took some risks which the Australian turned to good account, squaring the round. Cheers broke out for Reeve when the pair shook hands at the twelfth. Reeve bounded out after Pluto, using both left and right as he drove for the Australian’s head and body. Pluto resorted to a twohanded body hold in an effort to stall Reeve off and they went into a clinch. Pluto landed Reeve on toe face with some uppercuts but Reeve was untroubled by them and *on-tinuc-d to make tlie Australian retreat before his attack. Reeve tried all he could to floor Piuto with his right but the latter covered up well and made good use of his 1« »t as Reeve came toward him. The result was conclusive and Reeve was wildly cheered when Referee Poupard lifted liis hard.

After the tournament the visiting boxers were entertained by the Association to supper and the former appreciated this generous gesture.