BOXING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16202, 27 November 1926, Page 16

BOXING

A MATE U R, TOURNAMENT

HARD BATTLES

Tlio amateur boxing tournament staged last evening by the (Gisborne Association in aid of the Town queen candidate’s funds, could have been more warmly supported, but could hardly have been more entertaining. There was only one bout in the programme which did not- earn for the combatants very hearty applause, and that was an exhibition bout in which the boxers wore t\> in brothers, light and young, who made an excellent showing in a two-rouml tqar. The other contests were, fought v.'th great vigor, and in two cases the bouts were marked by earnest endeavors f n the part of the, contestants to score a. knock-out.

Undoubtedly the best of the contests was that between W. Robertson eihl V. Costello, a country lad whose experience seems to have been gained outside, the padded ring. Costello gave .‘■fol.wison one of the hardest fights he lias had, and the crowd was delighted to s..e the welterweight champion pen ort in something of his old style. C< su-ilo is one of the hardest- hitters among the amateurs anywhere in New Zealand, and he raised big wells on bis opi* m-iit, but Robertson fought coolly, and much move skilfully. In the final round the country boy started with a margin of points to make up, and a 11 u key right which caught his opponent in the air, and toppled him over, gained him much credit- in the eves of the spectators. The refree declared the result a draw, but Robertson was unlucky not to ; -tt the verdict. A lot of science lias been shown by A. Keenan in his previous fights in Gisborne, but against A. Buckingham last evening he was hard pressed by one whose pretensions to science are very small. Buckingham forced the fight- all the way, and though he was breathing heavily at the close of the first rcund. his efforts took much of the sting out- of the Aucklander. Keenan got the better of the first round, but Buckingham evened matters in the second, and l he third, fought at a great pace, did not make any change in affairs. Buckingtiam was best at about half-arm .ength, and Keenan kept even mainly by ms excellent use of close-quarters tactics. The matching of J. McKay and A. Curran produced a fine fight, ncra the point of view of the fans, but it will bo a pity if the first-mentioned la i is not given something a tritie easier in future. Curran is a bit too hard for him, and though -McKay has a good heart and a combative temperament, it will not do him any good to meet Curran again lor a while. The pair put, up a great fight, but McKay was fioored in the last round, and looked like being badly damaged, but the gong saved him. Two Maori lads, in Babbington and Katerie, were seen in an excellent spar. Katene had the longer reach, and somewhat more experience than liis rival, and ho displayed a long left that flushed into Babbington’s face time after tune. Babbington put up a good fight, but he requires coaching in the use of r-is hat ds at close quarters. Pints of blood were spilled i* the affair between .1. McLean and -T. Patterson. McLean was giving away a stone in weight, and in the first- round stopped ono or two solid swings that sickened him a bit. In the second and third he made up a lot of ground, however, and at the close of the bout, though the decision went to Patterson, the lighter man (Tot a really enthusiastic ovation from the spectators. Both were marked by the fight, but were not seriously hurt. The feature of the match was McLean s flashing left, which time and again disconcerted his opponent. Two more recruits loathe Tng were seen in the brothers McKay, a t ouple ot paper-weights with' a good idea of the game. They gave an entertaining spar. Rather inexperienced in every department of the ring game, A. Livingstone seemed to be, no match for the uteressive J. Plank, but- had the good sense to keep bis left busy, and with lus longer reach was able to score well all through the tight. There was no doubt that Plank was superior, and earned the verdict that came his way, but it was equally obvious that the beaten amateur will improve rapidly, if given the iigu sort of coaching.

A wrestling bout- between Middleweights was provided by J. Lynch and N. McConnell, the wrestling brightened by occasional bursts of fistic activity. Lynch adopted a, '‘Gunboat Smith crouch, and did most- of the iovcing, but McConnell came on in the concluding round, and won the decision. Lynch was palpably, unused to glovework, but was tough enough to give most of his weight a. fair fight.