BOXING

Southland Times, Issue 20207, 18 June 1927, Page 19 (Supplement)

BOXING

(By “Punch.”)

En Zedder McKnight’s kayo of Queenslander Les Robson in the third round of a Brisbane scrap last Saturday gave him the title of welterweight champion of Queensland. A donation of £5 5/- has been contributed by the Southland Boxing Association in answer to the appeal on behalf of the widow of the late Roy Overend sent out by the New Zealand Boxing Council to the provincial associations. The council headed the list with £25 —not a very generous sum when its satisfactory bank balance is taken into account. The associations — most of which are unfinancial—cannot be expected to contribute very much towards the fund.

A good number of novices from Bluff, Winton, Tuatapere and Invercargill having indicate their willingness to compete at the novice tournament to be staged at the Victoria Hall on Tuesday, June 28, the indications are that a good night’s sport will result. About six pupils from Freddy Jarvis’s revived school are prospective entrants. It has not as yet been decided what the classes will be, but in the meantime intending contestants of all shapes and sizes are invited to sign at the dotted line before the closing date, Monday, June 20. Tom Heeney’s next contest in America may be against Harry Wills. An American middleweight, Mike O’Connor, is now on the way to Australia. Artie Hay defends his welterweight title against Dick Loveridge at Hamilton on June 28. After nursing a broken rib for many months, Ern. Baxter is looking for a chance to come back. Spectators at the military tournament at Christchurch last week saw some good scraps for a modest shilling’s admission. Word has been received in Auckland that Reg. Trowern defeated Billy Chambers, on points, in a fifteen-round bout at the Leichardt Stadium, Sydney, on June 3. Squires, the South African heavyweight, who recently gained two decisions over George Cook, has accepted an offer from Stadiums Ltd., for a series of contests in Australia. A double bill will be staged at Dunedin on June 24, when Johnny Leckie meets Harry Gunn in his first “pro” ring battle ant} Hec. Leckie opposes Tommy Griffiths. Frankie Burns, a former middleweight champion of Australia, who has been fighting in England and the Continent for the last few years, is due back in Australia shortly. Paul Demsky passed through Wellington last week on his way back to Sydney. Paul began well in America and won several contests around San Francisco, but the effects of a bad tooth put him on the sick list. He is now reported to be quite well again. The American boxer, “Cowboy” Moore, has left Australia to return to the States. Whilst in Australia he had a great innings, getting four wins out of five contests, but because he refused to meet Tiger Payne, unless the latter made an almost impossible weight, he lost a great deal of the popularity he might otherwise have carried away with him. Moore’s ultimatum to Payne was to make 11.8 or forfeit £l5O. Remembering that Payne’s lowest fighting weight is 11.12, it was hardly reasonable to expect him to make 11.8 and be strong. Further news of Ted Scott, the former Wellington journalist, who is now in Panama, is contained in a letter received by a Wellington friend last week. Scott encloses a clipping of a report of a recent contest between himself and Sailor Busick. He knocked the sailor out in the second round. The Star and Herald, Panama, says: “The first round was Scott’s by a large margin, the sailor not having the ability to stop anything he put over. While Busick is a fairly clever boxer, he was no match for a man who is not so much a boxer as a fighter. When the round ended neither boy looked any worse for wear, and they were on their toes at the gong for the second. The second round started off fast, and it looked as if Busick might be going to make a showing after all, but after about a minute Scott shot over a right to the heart, followed by a left hook to the jaw, which said good night for the sailor. The New Zealander made a good impression in his first appearance here, and it is hoped that he will be matched with some good boy in the near future.” ...Scott received a tempting offer to go to Peru,

but he had not given his decision when the mail left. Raymond Jansen, his companion, was knocked out by Buddy Saunders, who was in Australia last year. Scott says that Jansen was home-sick, and intended leaving almost immediately for France. At the military boxing tourney held in Christchurch on Saturday, June 11 and on Monday, June 13, ex-Southlander “Twist” Jaggers was an easy winner in the welter class. Comment on his first bout reads as follows:—“From a scientific point of view, the best mill was between ‘Twist’ Jaggers and E. Diggs, who both have plenty of experience. Jaggers, however, had all the best of some snappy in fighting, despite the fact that he was handicapped with a stiff knee, which prevented him from using his footwork.” In the final “Twist” knocked out D. Hartley in the first round. He bored in and went for the wind. Hartley doubled up, and a left and a right to the head dropped him for keeps. As E. Diggs, his first opponent fought in three classes, securing a “double”—the middle and light-heavyweight classes —Jaggers secured a moral victory in three classes. He did not compete in the higher classes. A team is to be selected later to go to Wellington, there to meet a selected team of Wellington Territorials and Cadets in an inter-district tourney.