BOXING

Southland Times, Issue 19290, 8 July 1924, Page 6

BOXING

SOUTHLAND NOVICE TOURNAMENT. AMATEURS IN ACTION. THE ELIMINATION BOUTS. A good crowd filled the seats at the Municipal Theatre last evening when the preliminary bouts of the annual Novice Tournament promoted by the Southland Boxing Association were decided:. There were fifteen bouts and on the whole the exhibitions were interesting, proving that the novices had gained a fair insight into the finer points of the fistic art. The officials were as follows: —Referee, Mr C. Dixon; judges, Messrs S .A. Lindsay and D. Stalker; ringmaster, Mr T. A. Henry; time-keeper, Mr A. D. Burn and announcer, Mr J. A. Doig. JUNIOR PAPER-WEIGHT. L. Jarvis (4st 131bs) of Invercargill beat S. Johnstone (sst 21bs) of Invercargill, in a keenly fought contest. Johnstone was the stronger, but Jarvis was faster and cleverer and did most of the point scoring. Roy Massey (4st 71b), of Bluff, beat N. McKnight (4st 51b), of Invercargill. Ai( three rounds were keenly fought but Massey was more forceful and received the decision. SENIOR PAPER-WEIGHT. C. Parsons (sst 101 b), of Bluff, beat E. Little (sst 91b), of Invercargill. The Invercargill boy was little in name and size, but nothing daunted set to work vigorously but was badly handicapped by his short reach. The verdict went to Parsons. C. Jarvis (sst 51b), of Invercargill, beat W. McQuarrie (sst 61b), of Bluff. The first round was fairly even but in the succeeding rounds Jarvis showed more science and met McQuarrie’s onrushes with stiff uppercuts. Jarvis got the verdict. BANTAM-WEIGHT. D. Jolly (Bst 41b), of Wallacetown, beat L. Harris (Bst), of Invercargill. Jolly attacked from the beginning and jolted his opponent heavily with leads to the face. He was much the faster and continued attacking with both hands all through the bout. Harris attempted to fight back for a period in the final round but could not reach his man. The decision, a popular one, went to Jolly. M. Bevin (7st 111 b), of Tuatapere, beat F. Kennedy (Bst 21b), of Fortification. Both squared up for the greater part of the time but there was little hitting. In the second and third rounds some blows were landed but the majority were on shoulders or arms. The judges found it so difficult to name the winner that another round was ordered, after which Bevin emerged the victor. FEATHER-WEIGHT. W. Cochrane (9st), of Invercargill, beat “M. Owen” (Bst 41b), of Invercargill. Cock rane landed heavily but could not reach Owen’s unprotected jaw. The whole of the second round was fought in one corner, Cochrane standing off and awaiting a chance of planting his blows. In the final round Cochrane followed Owen round the ring and sent home punches all the way, eventually receiving the verdict. W. Gilson (Bst 121 b), of Bluff, beat W. Holland (Bst 121 b), of Invercargill. In the opening round Gilson retreated before Holland but in the following rounds he sent home leads but.did not disturb his opponent. Holland had his man on the ropes for a period in the final round but afterwards Gilson began tossing over a useful left and gained the decision. J. Kelly (9st), of Makarewa, beat J. O’Neill (9st), of Winton. There was a great disparity in size, O’Neill being very stockily built. Neither could land cleanly. In the second round Kelly put more snap into his blows and landed persistently on the face. The referee intervened and gave the bout to Kelly. LIGHT-WEIGHTS.

“F. Owen” (9st 21bI, of Invercargill, beat “J. Burke” (9st 91b), of Invercargill. Both rushed into a clinch and aimed heavy swings to the body and head, some of which hurlbd harmlessly through the air. Owen held off in the later stages of the round. He continued these tactics in the following rounds but planted an occasional point-scorer. The decision went to Owen. “F. Mills” (9st 111 b), of Invercargill, beat J. Powley (lOst), of Invercargill. Both fought briskly in the opening round, but Powley’s blows were the faster and undoubtedly he was having the better of affairs. The referee, however, found occasion to warm him for using the “rabbit’ punch. In the second round he warned Powley again and finally awarded the fight to Mills —an award which did not meet with the crowd’s approval. F. Massey, of Bluff, defaulted to J. Dennis, of Invercargill, giving as his reason that he expected to fight 2-minute rounds instead of 3-minute ones, “D. Fraser” (9st 71b), of Invercargill, beat “G. Joyce” (9st 111 b), of Invercargill. A furious opening was in Fraser’s favour. He clipped in his blows faster and cleaner than his opponent, whose face showed red and blobby when the gong went. Joyce fought back gamely and landed some heavy blows but they were fewer than Fraser’s. The referee gave the bout to Fraser. WELTER-WEIGHT. B Smith (lOst 91b), of Wallacetown, beat A. Murphy (lOst 91b), of South Hillend. Smith was the aggressor, Murphy holding his hands before his face all the time. Near the end of the first round Murphy landed his first punch, but then went down for “five” when the gong saved him. ’ln the second round Smith did a deal of feinting while Murphy showed the crowd many different varieties of ducking, finally emerging between his opponent’s legs to the amusement of the house. He slipped down and the referee had to stop the monotony of a one-sided fight ewarded it to Smith. B. Smith (lOst 91b), of Wallacetown, beat J. 'Clark (lOst), of South Hillend. Clark forced the fight in spite of the blows rained on his face and ribs. He tired as the round progressed and Smith planted blows at will. In the second round he wilted under the shower of blows shot home by Smith and the towel fluttered in from his corner. MIDDLE-WEIGHT. T. Thompson (list 41b), of Invercargill, beat T. Plunkett (lOst 121 b), of South Hillend. Thompson was the more experienced of the two and shot in lefts and rights as the bout progressed. In the second round the referee stopped the bout and awarded it to Thompson.