BOXING

Southland Times, Issue 19291, 9 July 1924, Page 6

BOXING

l NOVICE CHAMPIONS. FINALS OF LOCAL TOURNAMENT. SOME EXCITING ENCOUNTERS. The semi finals and the final bouts of the local Novice Tournament were decided last evening in the Municipal Theatre. During the evening the President of the Southland Boxing Association, Mr T. A. Henry, thanked those present for their attendance and announced that the local championships would be held on August 4 and 5. A wire had been received from Les Murray, lightweight champion of the Dominion, accepting a purse of £l5O for a contest with Eugene Volaire, the popular French boxer. This contest would be staged in Invercargill some time in September. Competition was particularly keen in the light-weight class and “D. Fraser” had some hard-fought bouts before he emerged victorious. The cleverest individual display of the night, however, came from L. Jarvis, a son of the local instructor, who gave a good exhibition of boxing. A surprise w'as furnished in the bantam class. D. Jolly looked to have victory in sight by the time the second round had gone. From then on, however, “F. Owen” outfought the better boxer and took the decision after an extra round had been fought. The contest between T. Thompson and A. Dickson in the middle-weight class provided some exciting moments to the audience. The winners in the various classes were as follow, there being no award announced in the feather class, which was to have been contested between J. Kelly and )V. Cochrane:— Junior Paper-weight—L. Jarvis. Senior Paper-weight—C. Jarvis. Bantam-weight—“M. Owen.” Light-weight—“D. Fraser.” Welter-weight—B. Smith. Middle-weight—T. Thompson. Heavy-weight—D. Graham. The officials were as follow: —Referee, Mr C. Dixon; judges, Messrs D., 'Stalker and S. A. Lindsay; time-keeper, Mr A. D. Burn; and announcer, Mr J. A. Doig. JUNIOR PAPER-WEIGHT. L. Jarvis (4st 131 b), of Invercargill, beat M. Little (sst 91b), of Invercargill. Little was out-boxed from the beginning. Jarvis worked in and out, jabbing his opponent with both hands. There was scarcely a pause between the attacks, the blows coming in with regularity but always with some feint or change of attack to give them variety. Little remained on the defensive practically all the time. Jarvis was the winner. SENIOR PAPER-WEIGHT. C. Jarvis (sst 51b), of Invercargill, beat J. Leslie (sst 101 b >, of Riverton. Leslie was the taller but allowed Jarvis to carry the fight to him. The smaller lad found it difficult to reach his opponent but landed much more frequently. Jarvis won the decision. SPECIAL PAPER-WEIGHT. A special no-decision bout of three twominute rounds was fought between N. and L. McKnight, 3st 131 b and 4st 51b respectively. The smaller boy was the more aggressive and won the favour of the crowd. BANTAM-WEIGHT. “M. Owen” (Bst 41b), of Invercargill, beat H. Bevin (7st 111 b), of Tuatapere. Both held off and let go punches at long range, but the contestants were too far apart to land effectively. This continued all through the bout, each hit being preceded by careful manoeuvring. Owen was adjudged to be the winner. “M. Owen” (Bst 41b), of Invercargill, beat D. Jolly (Bst 41b), of Wallacetown. Owen retreated to a corner in the first round and Jolly kept him there, shooting in with both hands to the head. The fight went back to the same corner in the second and Jolly continued to hold an advantage, but in the final round Owen made more use of the ring and moved about more freely. He jolted home several rights and lefts which shook Jolly. An extra round was ordered in which Owen continued his successful tactics of the previous round and gained the judge’s award. LIGHT-WEIGHT. “D. Fraser” (9sh» 71b), of Invercargill, beat “F. Oven” (9st 21b), of Tuatapere. Both rushed to the attack and began battering away at the body. The second was a great fighting round, neither letting up for a minute although Owen looked tired and dazed in the later stages. Fraser was landing more often while his opponent’s blows did not carry much power. An extra round was ordered in which Fraser forced the fight and received the decision. Both were loudly applauded on leaving the ring. “P. Mills” (9st 111 b), of Invercargill, beat J. Dennis (lOst), of Riverton. The opening rounds were very montonous but in the third round Mills began to send home punches to the face and gained the verdict. “D. Fraser” (9st 71b), of Invercargill, beat “F. Mills,” of Invercargill. The opening rounds were quietly fought, but Fraser was doing more of the hitting, although Malls was cool. More vigour was shown in the closing round, Mills being sent to the ropes and receiving heavy jabs at the jaw. Fraser worked in persistently and usually managed to send home his leads. Fraser was the winner. MIDDLE-WEIGHT. T. Thompson (list 41b), of Invercargill, beat A. Dickson (list 41b), of Tuatapere. A heavy right sent Dixon off his balance mid-way in the round and they closed on the ropes. Thompson slipped in the second and as he rose Dickson shot in with a heavy drive. It landed but did not send him down. In the closing round, Thompson dealt Dickson severely with left jabs. The decision went to Thompson. HEAVY-WEIGHT. D. Graham (12st 31b), of Hedgehope, beat C. Kidd (12st 71b), of Invercargill. The opening rounds ‘her cautions but the final was more uly fought, Graham doing most of the hitting. The verdict went to Graham.