Adams Made Good Showing Against Dick Baker

Southland Times, Issue 23838, 8 June 1939, Page 11

Adams Made Good Showing Against Dick Baker

By

VERITAS

Les Adams fought one of the best fights of his career against Dick Baker last Wednesday night. He was cleaner in his work than when he previously fought in Invercargill and confirmed the good impressions which had been formed by northern critics about his ability and ranking in the New Zealand welterweight division. On that form it was not difficult to see how he succeeded against Mudgway and other champions, and at this stage it is not too much to say that he might yet win a New Zealand title. That is Adams’s ambition. He has beaten several New Zealand champions but it never has been his good fortune to meet the champion in a title contest. He is no longer a young boxer. He still has all the dash of an improver, however, and if he can repeat his form of Wednesday against the title-holder, should they meet, it is quite possible that he will realize his ambition.

Baker now has' won four out of five fights as a professional. He was opposed to one of the strongest welters in New Zealand when he met Adams and as he came through that bout. with honours he should do well in future matches this season. A section of the big crowd thought that Adams had won, but there appeared to be no doubt that Baker won and won well. The fact that he was 1 all in” at the last gong did not mean that he was worn down by punishment from Adams. The contrary was the case. Baker threw everything he had in the last round in his attempt to go for a knockout and took more out of himself in that way than he did throughout the whole bout. It was the first time he had been opposed to such a rugged in-fighter and it was the first time he had been called upon to fight 10 solid rounds right to the finish. An improvement in his stamina may be expected with each fight. Adams must be regarded as one of the severest trial horses in professional boxing and to get past a man of his type and strength is more than an ordinary performance. Baker’s work at long range was as good as tire most exacting could desire. He was unlucky perhaps in striking a boxer of Adams’s calibre, one who could absorb the hardest of punishment, otherwise the bout might not have gone the full distance. In other words Adams took punishment from Baker that many others in the same division probably could not take. He was unable to block Baker’s left. rips to the abdomen, and in the middle rounds he stopped some very hard punches. In close Baker was not so effective. He employed a good smother, however, and although Adams worked hard on his body he took many of the short jabs on his arms and gloves. All round Baker made a good showing and his next bout will be followed with just as much interest as his latest one. BAKER’S NEXT BOUT June 19 is the date set for Baker’s next bout, but who his opponent will be has not yet been decided by the Southland Boxing Association. Arrangements are being made to engage either Mayne Morton, of Wellington, or T. Loveridge, of Taranaki. Morton put up a very good showing against Billy Parris in his first bout as a professional. He drew with Parris who subsequently knocked out Norman Fisher and beat Don Johnson. Don Anderson, Southland heavyweight champion and W. E. Enwright, Southland welterweight champion, are engaged to fight amateur preliminaries at Dunedin on Monday night. Ander-

son has been matched against Rutherford, the University champion, and Enwright will fight Diamond, the Otago welterweight champion. Enwright fought well against Tonks last Wednesday night. His punching was very clean and he had a good margin in his favour at the finish. Tonks put up a good showing against a formidable opponent. The bout between Jones and W. Brown was an interesting one. Brown’s longer reach stood to him and he scored freely when Jones carried the fight to him and tried to mix it at close quarters. Brown is spoiling h* boxing with a pawing punch—it really is not a punch—which although doing damage to his opponents is not a point-scorer. He has no need to use the slap when throwing his right. H. Calder’s first appearance in an Invercargill ring for several years was marked by a win against J. Ramsay, the Otago lightweight champion, who tended to spoil the fight by holding and

claiming. Calder tried hard to make a fight of it and risked much to get in close. He should be seen to advantage against an opponent more equal in build than Ramsay.

As a result of further consideration having been given to the matter the New Zealand Boxing Council has de- 1 cided to recommend to those who gave the John Dewer Shield that it should go to the champion in the heavyweight class at the annual amateur tournament and not to the winner of the featherweight title, as previously suggested. It is felt that the heavyweights are a class who deserve to be encouraged, whereas there is. seldom any lack of entries in the feather division. Another point is that the award for science is always likely to be won by a featherweight. Ken Wright, of Timaru, gave a splendid account of himself in his professional debut against Doug Eddington, and it was only the latter’s greater experience that turned the scales narrowly. Wright hit crisply and displayed a useful left hand. Clarrie Gordon, the second of the 1936 Olympic boxers to turn professional, gave a highly-promising display at Auckland against Bert McKay who was also making his cash debut. Gordon proved himself to be a snappy puncher, was faster than the Aucklander, varied his punches cleverly, and was very successful with two-handed body attacks. McKay, however, footed it with Gordon all the way, and it came as a big disappointment when a right cross cut his eye open and put him out of action. It had looked like developing into a highly-interesting finish. BEST BEHAVED BOXER “I had a long chat with Henry Armstrong and his manager, Eddie Meade, on their arrival in England,” says an English critic. “Henry is quiet, the quietest and most unassuming fighter I have met. You’d never know he held three world titles at the same time—and he’d be the last to tell you. He is an intellectual negro, a friend of Paul Robeson, fond of music. He is the best type of negro boxer. He is a bit of a nightbird. He likes staying up till all hours, even in training, but he gets his full eight hours’ sleep. He’s not one of the early-to-bed, early-to-rise people, but he’s rich just the same. If he goes to bed early he wakes up restless after an hour or two—and that’s what he is—a restless little man, and, incidentally, the best-behaved boxer the world has ever seen.