BOXING

Southland Times, Issue 21649, 10 March 1932, Page 9

BOXING

SOUTHLAND ASSOCIATION. THE ANNUAL REPORT. The following is the annual report of the Southland Boxing Association to be presented at the annual meeting to be held tonight : Your committee have pleasure in presenting the twenty-fifth annual report and bal-ance-sheet of the association: Tournaments.—The usual Southland Championships and Open and Novice Tournaments were held during the year, and in addition five professional bo*uts were staged. Championships.—The annual Southland Championships were held in the Municipal Theatre on July 26. The entries were quite good and the contestants provided a high standard of boxing. The. winners of the various classes were as follows:—Featherweight, H. Calder; lightweight, J. Kelly; welterweight, W. Pascoe; middleweight, G. McEwan; light-heavyweight, F. Prendergast; heavyweight, G. Spencer. Novice and Open Tournaments.—Five tournaments were held during the year, including one at Gore which was controlled by the Gore Association, and all were well patronized, showing that amateur boxing in Southland is popular with the public. The standard shown by the competitors was excellent and augurs well for the coming season. The total number of bouts conducted during the year, including preliminaries to the professional contests, was 74. # New Zealand Championships.—The association sent forward a team to Ashburton for the New Zealand Championships under the

management of Mr A. Tall. Although not meeting with much success, all the representatives gave of their best and upheld the good record of our past teams. To Mr W. J. Sycamore (trainer) and to the selected members we extend our congratulations on their worthy efforts, and to Mr A. Tall for his able management and representations at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Boxing Council our sincere thanks. The members of the team were as follows:— Lightweight, J. Kelly; welterweight, M. Burke; middleweight, G. McEwan; lightheavyweight, F. Prendergast; heavyweight, G. Spencer.

Professional Contests.—The first contest promoted was between Alan Campbell and F. Larby and it proved a disappointing exhibition, Campbell proving too experienced for his opponent. The remaining bouts were promoted for Ray Nicol, who contested many bouts as an amateur under our association, and who decided to join the ranks of the professionals. The contests were against Fred Parker (Tirnaru), Jim Broadfout (Auckland), Billy Sullivan (Hastings), and a return with Jim Broadfoot for the lightheavyweight title, all the bouts being won by Nicol on points. In all the contests Nicol provided excellent fare and the title fight was voted by most fans as the best contest in Invercargill for some years. Owing to the heavy expense in bringing boxers from the north our association has not benefited a great deal financially over same, but we hope that with the added interest given to the sport by these fine displays, that the coming season will allow the association to reap the benefit of these matchings. We extend to Ray Nicol and his mentor, W. J. Taylor, our congratulations for such a successful entry into professional contests.

Meetings.—There were 22 meetings of the committee held during the year and the attendances were as follows:—S. A. Lindsay 22, A. D. Burn 22, W. Gellatly 20, A. Tall 20, A. C. Hannon 20, J. M. Wilson 20, W. Hannon 18, A. Dicks 17, A. Fyffe 16, J. Payne 15, G. McChesney 15, A. H. Courtis 13, M. Ward 12, N. McGorlick 10, G. Rogerson 8, C. Dixon 3. Membership.—The active membership remains at 25 and the honorary membership totals 206, which shows a decrease of 64 over the previous year. In this respect your committee trusts that all members will endeavour to increase our honorary membership to enable the association to maintain its present financial position and also increase the popularity of the sport. Finance.—The association has again experienced a successful season considering the difficult period we have been passing

through. Our finances have been carefully managed as the following figures show :— Commencing with a credit of £l4O 10/1 the end of the year shows a credit of £176 2/5. Thanks.—The thanks of your committee are tendered to all our willing helpers who so loyally assisted them by free services in control of the. doors and ticket offices; to Mr A. Cundall in donating a trophy; to the police for their courtesy and assistance; to our medical officers, Dr. S. Brown, Dr. F. O. Mac Gibbon, Dr. David Pottinger and Dr. W. B. Reekie; to the Press for their many reports. In conclusion, your committee tender their thanks to all the trainers and competitors who ably assisted in providing the excellent contests throughout the season and trust a continuance of such support will be extended to the incoming executive.