HEENEY DEFEATS FLETT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 16195, 3 August 1923, Page 9

HEENEY DEFEATS FLETT.

TOWEL SKIED IN NINTH ROUND

GOOD AMATEUR FINALS

The professional heavy weigh! match contested nt the Opera. House Inst even ing between Jim Fiett, iȣ Australia, and Lorn lleeney, ol Gisborne, resulted in n win for lleeney in the ninth round, the Australian's seconds throwing in the towel to save- their man from territtic punishment. The tight was followed with very keen interest by an audience thai ailed every sent in the theatre. The amateur championship finals provided exceedingly good prelimnnries. Ln the. big fight, both men looked fit and well as they entered the ring. Flett's advantage in height was balanced by lleeney"s greater sturdines. Of the two, lleeney had n good deal of the best of things' in a physical comparison, and there was little surprise when his weight was announced as l3sl. 81b., the saunas Flett. Heeuey has never been seen to such advantage before, in Gisborne. lie was aggressive from the start, and delivered heavy punishment, all through the eight and a-half rounds. He had his opponent very unsteady, in the fourth and succeeding rounds, and his eagerness to retain the advantage might have given Flett a chance of recovery, Heeney nurled a couple of dozen vicious punches at Flett's forehead, and at his forearms, in the hope of breaking the Australian's smother. These blows did not trouble Flett as much, as they did lleeney, the latter soon realising that a continuation of these tactics would ruin his hands. He therefore refused to be drawn into profitless punching, and, awaiting his opportunity, found it possible to achieve his object by clean hitting at long range. Flett later stated that lleeney dazed him in the first round, and after that ho (Flett) could not. see his opponent. This would account for the rapid collapse of the, Australian, who never showed the form on which his good reputation must be based. It is a certainty that Flett never reached his presentprominence in the Australian ring without better qualifications than the audience was able to judge of at last night's fight.

THE BIG FIGHT

ROUND BY ROUND

The local man was accompanied 11■ his corner by F. Dominey, and Jack and Arthur Heeney, his brothers. Flett was attended by Tom Moylan, and A. Ingram. The weights were announced as 13st. 81bs. each..

The difference in styles was apparent from' the start. Heeney fought standing upright, and Flett adopted a slight crouch. There were some heavy exchanges in the initial round, Flett doing theb u'k of the leading. Heeney was superior in the infighting, and connected with heavy jolts to the body. Flett paid a lot of attention to Heeney's ribs, but found it hard to hit about the wind. The best exchange at long range was when Flett led. to Heeney's face, and received left, right, and left counters in return, thp blows connecting to ear and jaw. Heeney was the more aggresivo in the second spell, in which the Australian was warned for holding. Twice the local man scored with right uppercuts to the face, and Flett's body showed the result of the pounding when the round closed. The Australian connected to the head and body with the right, and twice with flash hits to the ear.

The third round was fought determinedly. Flett seemed to be playing for time, and smothered. Heeney several times endeavored to break the guard, and only part of the weight of his blows was wasted. During the latter part of the round, Flett succeeded with leads to tho head, and put a couple of weighty lefts to the stomach. The round was warmly applauded, especially when Flett skilfully evaded a right swing that carried danger. The fourth round was distinguished by Heeney's leading, his left finding- the jaw twice in succession, and then drubbing the stomach. Flett was not unwilling to indulge Heeney's taste for exchanges, and scored some nice rights, but again the round was Heeney's. A fast hook launched by the local man was only a fraction of an inch short. Flett opened the next well with two lefts and a right to Heeney's head, but. his momentary advantage was offset by Heeney's work at close quarters. The Australian retreated into the crouch again, and launched uppercuts at tho attacking Heeney. One of these connected with force, but did not affect the local man.

In the sixth, Flett was aggravated by repeated blows on the forehead into opening up from his crouch, and a couple of lively i-allies took place. It was evident at this stage that Heeney was a great deal the better of the two. He was fighting with great confidence, and bis jabs were telling on his opponent. A clean left to tho jaw in the seventh round unsteadied Flett, and he began to open up more. He connected to Heeney's jaw several times, but the local man was too strong to take any harm from the blows, and returned them with interest. Tom was concentrating on his opponent's jaw, and was in a position to invito Flett's lead, countering with right and left hooks.

Flett's inclination not to enter into exchanges, but rather to encourage Heeney's tactics, by his crouching smother, was very noticeable in the eighth round, and cries of "Fight! Fight!" wero heard from the auditorium. Jleeny wasted a lot ©£ good force on his opponents elbows, but repeatedly landed about the heart. In the ninth, a sensational series of knock-downs culminated in a slinging-in of the town from Flett's corner. The round had gone half a minute, perhaps, and Flett was protecting his heart, wind, and jaw with his smother, lying on Heeney to hamper the latter's actions. Heeney stepped back, and the instant Flett opened his smother the local lad stepped in again and landed the left to tho jaw and the right to the heart. Flett staggered and fell, but was up again at the count of six. Otice again Heeney rushed, and connected savagely with the Australian's head and body, breaking the smother which Flett weakly endeavored to resume. It was now obvious that Heeney had his man at his mercy, but Flett was game, and though he hit the canvas twice more, he rose at "six" each time, and was endeavoring to stave off the knock-out when his seconds threw the towel into the ring. The conclusion to the long-anticipatotl fight was a highly popular one, and Heeney's improved showing against his big opponent delighted the spectators, who, however, gave Flett a hearty round of applause for his game losing fight. THE. AMATEUR. BOUTS. The first of tho amateur bouts, was between H. Sydney (12.1), and Nelson (13st). Both were natives, and opened with tremendous energy. The round was a. hard-hitting one, many of the blows wasting their force on the air or on glove contacts. The lighter man used a close smother, and so warded many of the heavy blows, but he. received considerable punishment, giving as much as he gave. Both tired as the round progressed, and the gong was welcomed by both. In the second round Nelson scored frequently with heavy body blows, and Sydney was groggy at the'close of the round, but fought bade gamely. In the third Nelson was easily superior, and. landed many heavy rights as tho little fellow opened his smother. Before tho round was through the referee stepped the fight, and declared Nelson the winner. Sydney was applauded for his game display. A bantamweight contest was fought by Turbitt and Roderick (both 8.2). The •ads nhowed a. good knowledge of the game, and they provided a willing display Tufbitt was very aggressive, and

ti very fast hitter, Using loft and right with equal facility. .Roderick fought back splendidly, and scored almost as frequently as his opponent, but his blows did not cany the same weight, and he

suffered more in the exchanges,. In the second round', Turbitt's exceptional strength told heavily, and his upstanding style gave him a big advantage. lie fought Roderick to a standstill, Hie light being stopped by the referee, and Turbitt getting the decision. Roderick was good, but lie wits up against a lad who shows real championship promise. The feat her-weight Una) was fought between A. E. Robertson (&st 81bs) and L. (\ Fletcher (Bst lOlbs). Robertson gut the better uf lie.- first round, using Ins fast left in advantage, Fletcher did not have Ibe same accuracy in bitting, anil left- himself very open. The second I'otmd was easily Fletcher's. lie opened aggressively, and scored repeatedly, eluding :i lot more of his opponent's blows, .lust before the gong, Robinson received a. knock-down blow, and was in a very gtoggy state when the gong went. He made a great recovery in the third round, however, and fought back through the series of torrid exchanges which constituted the round, He was warned repeatedly for holding, but was in better shape at the end than at tho end of the second. The fourth round was., in the parlance, a "corker." the lads exchanging blows from all directions. Fletcher used his weight a good deal, and forced Robertson three times through the ropes, but appeared to bear an equal share in the exchanges. The decision was given in favor of Robertson, and evoked coun-ter-demonstrations from supporters of both fighters. O. Murland (lOst) met W. Rickard (9st Bibs) in the final of the light-weight division. There was not much fighting in the first round, Rickard provoking the majority of exchanges. In the second Rickard twice had -Murland in his own corner, and punished him a good deal. Murland had a hefty right, and connected occasionally. The third was also RickardV, by a. good margin, Murland rallying well towards (he end of I lie round. 'The, referee warned Murland for holding in the fourth round, threatening to disqualify him if be repeated the offence. Rickard won Ihe bout, the decision being creeled with cheers. During the inlerv.il \"V. Rickard was presented with the Memorial Cup. awarded to the most scientific, boxer in the tournament. The award was heartily applauded.

Tho arrangements for the tournament were well up to standard. Mr. Baillie filled the post of official announcer, and members of the Boxing Association acted as judges, in connection with the amateur fights. Messrs. B. 11. Aislabie and M. W. Craig were the judges for the big match, and Mr. J. A. Mae Kay refereed. The ringside arrangements were in tho hands of Mr. C. Somervell, and could not have been improved upon. The splendid house was highly gratifying to the association, and fully justified the optimism with which the tournament was organised. ,

COMMENTS ON THE FIGHT.

"HEENEY WONDERFULLY IM-

PROVED.

"Heeney is a wonderfully improved man. lie has progressed out of sight since I met him at Rockhampton," was the tribute of tho beaten man, Flett, when interviewed after the match. .In reply to a query as to his own condition, Flett said that Heeney had staggered him in tho first round, with blows to the point, and he had not been able to see him except at intervals from that stage on. He himself was in tip-top condition, but he could not shako off the effects of that first round. Heeney had fought a. good, clean, sportsmanlike fight, and he (Flett) could make no excuses for his defeat.

Flett. appeared much chagrined at his failure to put up a better showing. Heeney -was surrounded by supporters in his dressing room, and our representative had opportunity for only a few words with him.

"How did this fight compare witli yonr previous meeting?" Heeney was asked. He replied that Flett had fought far better before, and would probably do himself much better justice another time. He knew he had Flett done from tho third round, but the Australian had put up a very game fight, and had indulged in no unfair tactics. Flett was a game boxer, and one he had a lot of respect for.