AUSTRALIAN THOUGHTS ON BOXING IN N.Z.

Southland Times, Issue 23499, 4 May 1938, Page 14

AUSTRALIAN THOUGHTS ON BOXING IN N.Z.

System Of Preliminary Bouts Finds Favour

By

VERITAS

Mr Harold Baker, well-known Australian sportsman, who has been on a visit to New Zealand, writes from New Zealand to The Referee, Sydney, and gives some interesting impressions of boxing in New Zealand. For about three months I have been touring New Zealand and during that period have visited almost every centre, he writes under date, April 14. _ Every centre here has a boxing association, amateur-controlled which conducts, perhaps, once a week about four preliminary amateur bouts followed by a professional bout. This seems to me an excellent scheme and very much better than the idea we have in New South Wales of having only championships once a year, that being the only opportunity men have to compete. Some bouts are good and some are indifferent.

I was privileged while in Dunedin to control the professional side of one night’s entertainment and saw there a particularly prominent welterweight named Jenkin. He is a big, rangy boy, built rather like Carroll, and has a very long left that has a continual habit of hitting out, and poking in a puzzling way his opponent’s face. At Auckland the other night I controlled one of the professional bouts. The houses in both instances were packed, the bouts being held in the Town Hall. My refereeing has been commented on by the Press, and it seemed rather ' astonishing to some men here to watch me go right through a contest without “going through the men” once during the fight. Some referees here, incidentally, rush between the men, pulling their arms and interfering generally with their boxing. I think the particular style of refereeing I adopt is definitely correct. There are only two men in a fight and not three, as is frequently the case when the referee is interfering with them all the time. JENKIN HOLDS TITLE One of the fastest and hardest fights seen in Christchurch for many a long day kept the spectators in a frenzy for an hour last week, when Stan Jenkin successfully defended his professional welterweight championship at the King Edward Barracks. The challenger, Jack Jarvis, Christchurch Dominion-born lightweight titleholder, put up a sterling exhibition, and his defeat was in no way due to his lack of attacking (says The Christchurch Star-Sun), flight from the first gong, it was a furious contest, neither contestant letting up throughout the whole 15 rounds. Jenkin owed his victory to his height and his longer reach, which enabled him to connect more cleanly and score more points. Both boxers received an enthusiastic reception from the big crowd. Jenkin weighed in at 10.3 and Jarvis at 9.7. Ron Richards, middleweight champion of Australia, will fight Ray Actis at Sydney on May 7, and the return Henneberry-Sabatino bout will be fought on May 17. No announcement has yet been made regarding the Wellington Boxing Association’s plans to import boys from Australia, particularly with a view to arranging bouts with Jack Jarvis. Two Australian boxers are to be imported by the Napier Boxing Association, and they will be offered all expenses and substantial purses for three contests. The revival in Napier boxing is due to the completion of the new Municipal Theatre, the association having been unable to obtain suitable halls for its matches since the earthquake.

Max Baer knocked out Ben Foord in nine rounds in England last year. Foord went the 12-round route with Schmeling just recently in Hamburg, and Max did not even have him on the floor (says an American writer). When Pete Sarron lost the world featherweight crown to Henry Armstrong he had to travel 15,000 miles and to reduce 161 b in 18 days, also taking off 31b on the day of the fight. Sarron is now seeking a match with Armstrong at the lightweight limit. Tommy Farr will leave Hollywood soon and return to England, where he is billed to defend his British Empire title against Jack Doyle, Len Harvey, or Ben Foord. NEW AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION Victorian Jack McNamee is the new welterweight champion of Australia. Though not in the same street as his predecessor, Jack Carroll, he had a convincing victory over Bill Pluto last week. The towel came in from Pluto’s corner at the end of the eighth round. Then the West Australian’s left eye was practically closed, and he was an easy target for punishment (says a Sydney writer). Pluto had a shade the better of the points in a negative first round, shared the second, but thereafter was not in the class. McNamee, rather belatedly took on the role of aggressor in the third round, and kept on jabbing his left with telling effect. There were rounds when Pluto scarcely landed a scoring blow, and McNamee was always beating him to the punch. It was rather a pity that in the closing rounds McNamee spoilt his work by an overhand chop. As a , right cross it was a badly-timed blow, intended to play on Pluto’s left eye, I which was cut in the sixth and nearly .' closed in the next round.

McNamee had the longer reach, and at long range was too awkward a customer for Pluto’s limited technique. While Lofty Blomfield was in America and Canada he wrestled both under the rounds system as it is observed in New Zealand and under the non-stop (except for falls) method. His considered opinion is that the rounds system is the better from the spectacular aspect. And particularly the eight-minute rounds which have been introduced in New Zealand this season. Blomfield said that rounds are becoming increasingly popular for main events in America and are being more widely adopted every day. In Vancouver rounds have always been observed.

DEFEAT OF BAKER BY PARKES

SOUTHLANDER’S GOOD SHOWING Further details of the Baker-Parkes bout on Monday are to hand from The Otago Daily Times. Parkes very soon showed his pace, rushing Baker to the ropes early in the piece and then flashing a left and right to the face. He had a slight advantage in height and weighed in at 10.2 to Baker’s 10.0. His tactics were made apparent in the first round—to draw his opponent in and counter snappily with both hands. Baker was his equal for pace, but found his side-on stance troublesome. He was made to miss

repeatedly in the first three rounds, but in the fourth he brought his right over and scored with his left. Parkes was wasting no time with in-fighting, breaking cleanly and refusing to do any forcing at long range. Baker’s ducking got him out of the way of a vicious left just at the end of a round in which he began to look like getting the negro’s measure. Baker’s left was earning him points, but he could not manage Parkes confidently in close. The negro showed a flash of aggressiveness in the eighth, shooting home two lefts and stalking Baker round the ring. He took a hard right to the face and another right cross in return for a left jab. Baker was very wary of the negro’s charged right glove, but connected with another left to the chin at the end of the round. The Southlander’s left was earning him most of his points, and he drove it in snappily two or three times early in the ninth round. Parkes was fighting more energetically at close range now, and he connected with a hard right to the stomach as Baker came in. It was Baker’s round. He had found range with his leads and both hands were do‘ng good work, while he was smothering Parkes’s counters more successfully. He came off second best in two rushes in the tenth round, however. BAKER OUT-PUNCHED Parkes back-moved from a menacing left swing at the beginning of the eleventh, and planted a hard right to the face as Baker came in again. A short, beautifully-timed left followed it, and Baker took a count of nine. Parkis was moving forward now, and a vicious left and a short right cross sent the Southlander down again. He stayed down for nine, and had to move fast for the remainder of the round to keep out of trouble. Parkes could not measure him off, but that spasm of fast punching showed that Baker was wise to keep at a distance. Baker seemed to have recovered when he came out for the last round, and carried on with his leads. Parkes savaged him twice at close quarters, jolting both hands up hard, and then shot a right down to the stomach as Baker came at him again. He was too strong for the Southlander in these tallies, and at the end of the second he jolted his left up to the chin, and Baker took another count of nine. He was dazed, and a swing which connected with the back of his neck had him on the canvas just as the gong sounded. The decision was well received. The experienced Parkes is colourful in his fighting as well as in appearance, and his method of drawing his opponent in, countering and breaking quickly made him very difficult for the comparatively inexperienced Baker to handle. The Southlander has a big deputation for a new professional, and, despite his defeat, he did not lose prestige in this bout. W. ENWRIGHT BEATS ADAMS Following are descriptions of the bouts in which Southland amateurs fought:— W. Enwright 10.2 beat A. B. Adams (Invercargill) (Dunedin) This bout was a good one between two fast and straight punchers. Both poked out stiff lefts, and Enwright countered solidly. Adams did most of the forcing, but Enwright used his teach well ; and won a hard last round. He was given a decision which must have been a narrow one. Adams was the only New Zealand University champion to lose his bout. A. T. Wheeler 10.0 beat T. Denny 10.0 (Dunedin) (Invercargill) Wheeler found Denny an awkward opponent. The Invercargill man did most of the leading, and Wheeler had to fight mostly on the back move. There was nothing between them at the beginning of the last round. Denny appeared to have a shade the better of a good, fast bout, but the decision went to Wheeler. There was very little in it. N. Leckie 8.3 beat A. Cameron 8.0 (Dunedin) (Menzies Ferry) Cameron was giving away weight and reach, but he conceded nothing in aggressiveness. Leckie used his left effectively and brought his right over occasionally. His countering, too, was snappy, but Cameron was eager and was responsible for a very good losing fight. The decision to Leckie was not popular.