BOXING

Southland Times, Issue 22475, 10 November 1934, Page 15

BOXING

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

(By

"Veritas.”)

Answer to Correspondent

“W.H.L.” (Earn Street) —Messrs G. Rogerson and W. Gellatly were the judges for the Barber-Leckie fight at Invercargill. It was staged in the Drill Hall on September 5, 1928. “Veritas.”

The Southland Boxing Association has no immediate programme in hand, and it is unlikely that there will be any fixtures in Southland until after the holiday season is over. Should anything of importance crop up in the interim however the officials will be on hand to control matters in their usual efficient way. At the present time Ray Nicol is in Australia and it is not known whether he will be called upon to defend either of his heavyweight titles in the near future. There is one thing . certain, however: Nicol will be back in New Zealand to defend his title whenever he is wanted. There has been sound talk lately about Maurice Strickland wanting another shot at the heavy title, but beyond that there has been no actual challenging done. It is now unlikely that Strickland will meet Nicol in the near future at least as it is understood that he will be departing for Australia shortly. There is a likelihood of W. Pasco, departing for Melbourne on a holiday visit very soon. Southland’s amateur heavy champion might consider entering the professional ranks while in Australia, provided, of course, that he can get suitable matches. Australian experience would be a good thing for Pasco if he is contemplating taking up the profession when he returns to New Zealand.

The prospects of a visit from Johnny Freeman, the American heavyweight, are much brighter than they were a couple of years ago when the S.B.A. sounded Freeman while he was in Australia. If the S.B.A. could manage to arrange a Freeman-Palmer clash at Invercargill the world would look on it with envy. Further evidence of the interest taken in amateur boxing in Invercargill was forthcoming at a social evening arranged for members and supporters of Les Adams’s school on Saturday night last In order to encourage the novices of the school Mr W; Graham made a donation

of £2 2/- for a trophy to go to the most improved novice next season. Mr Graham’s generous offer was gratefully ac- ■ cepted. A Wellington writer states that there is every likelihood of Alec Dasler, the Blenheim heavyweight, entering the professional ranks shortly. Dasler won the amateur heavyweight championship of New Zealand last year but did not go to Australia with hte New Zealand team. He met Pasco twice, once at Invercargill and once at Blenheim, and won the Invercargill fight on points. Should Pasco decide to turn professional before he leaves for Australia he would make a first-class opponent for Dasler, and such a match would be sure to be a draw at Invercargill. Maurice Strickland meets Alan Campbell at Timaru on Thursday next. After that bout if there are no fights offering for him, Strickland proposes going to Australia, with England in view later on. The date named for his departure for England is December 7, so it is evident that Strickland and his trainer, W. Crawford, mean business. In conjunction with the management of the Wimbledon Stadium, Jimmy Wilde, the former flyweight champion of the world, is to promote boxing tournaments at the Wimbledon Stadium.

According to the Free Lance, Maurice Strickland would like to meet Ray Nicol for the heavyweight title at Blenheim. He would be content with a small purse just to get another chance to lift the title, but Nicol would require something substantial to tempt him to make the journey and risk his crown. In a recent rating Ambrose Palmer holds pride of place as the world’s best light heavyweight, John Henry Lewis and Maxie Rosenbloom (title holder) coming second and third respectively. Such a rating means a small fortune to Palmer and the request for his services are not likely to be confined to Australia and New Zealand. Jack Pettifer, the heavyweight boxer, of Brighton (England), has issued a unique challenge for £2OO. .He is willing to meet any athlete of his own size and weight in a four-rounds contest, swim half a mile in the sea, ride a bicycle for five miles, and run any distance from 100yds to one mile. Pettifer weighs nearly 17st., and stands 6ft 7iin. The very latest is that Pete Sarron is to make the trip to Australia with a team being taken over by Al Lippe, well-known American fight manager. During the past twelve months a visit by Sarron to Australia has been on and off so often as to cease being of interest. However, it now seems that Pete may be seeing old friends in New Zealand again shortly, as he is sure to hop off here for a look round. That Sarron is still among the top-most branches may be gleaned from the fact that he recently defeated Benny Bass on a foul in six rounds. W. BROWN FOR AUSTRALIA. Fresh zest was imparted to boxing in Sydney by the news recently that Willard Brown, welterweight from Memphis, Tennessee, where Les Darcy died, was to leave for Sydney on the Monterey on November 13. Brown will engage in s series of matches at the Sydney Stadium. He will be accompanied by Pat Murphy, a lightweight from the same town. Brown has a rating of fourth amongst the welterweights. One of the men he has defeated is Eddie “Kid” Wolfe. Billy Haack, who befriended Les Darcy, is sending Brown to Australia after original communication with Sam Hart. Brown is 20 years of age, and is regarded as a likely champion of the future. He is described as a mixture of boxer and fighter.—Sydney Sun.