THE BOXING RING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 444, 28 August 1928, Page 14

THE BOXING RING

Notes From Far and Near

=.By "LEFT COUNTER” =

The Northern Boxing Association has been successful in its negotiations with Monson, middle-weight champion of Australia, who will come to Auckland to fight Tommy Mclnnes in the Town Hall on September 24. This should be another, great bout and a worthy follower of the McDonald-Mclnnes fight. New Zealand Championships In the opinion of men prominent in the boxing world, the 1928 amateur championships were hardly up to standard. Somer of the divisions were lamentably weak in classy boxers and straight punchers. Richmond deserved his win in the fly-weight division. He has a nice style and can take a punch as well as give one. With a little more experience he bids fair to be one of the best boxers New Zealand has produced for some time. Hurne The Star The star of the tournament was undoubtedly Hurne, of Wellington, who won the bantam-weight class and annexed the Jamieson Belt for the most scientific boxer. Not only can Hurne box with the best but he can also fight. He should become a fine type of boxer-fighter. He had a hard fight in the final against Knuckey, of Hawke’s Bay, who fought tenaciously, and although he did not have the cleverness of I-lurne he made a great fight. Aucklander Wins

Auckland’s only hope in the tournament was successful. Leslie won the feather-weight championship after a hard struggle with , Donovan, the bouncing little man from Taranaki who won the title last year. Science was entirely lacking from the bout, but the pair made it willing in a fight which pleased the crowd. Before the commencement of the tournament Leslie did not appear to have much a chance of winnig, but he rose to the occasion splendidly and fought well throughout the tourney, his culminating effort being the best that has been seen of him in the Auckland ring. Leslie’s correct name is Urquhart and he is a son of the well-known trainer of that name. * * * McKnight A Surprise Clarrie McKnight was not successful in the Auckland championships but he won the South Auckland championship and was nominated by Franktoo. He filled the position of runner-up to Fulcher in the light-weight class on Saturday. Fulcher is a good all round boxer with brilliance, but his fight with McKnight in the final was a splendid effort. He won, but only by a slight margin. McKnight’s display came as a surprise. Much has been seen of him in the Auckland ring, but

his displays have all been marred by to much flashiness. But on Saturday he fought the fight of his life and although beaten, was by no means disgraced If he can reproduce that form he will be in demand for future preliminaries. * * * Stone Wins Cup Stone was the only boxer to fight two bouts on Saturday, and he came through with flying colours, winning incidentally the Morgan Cup which has been presented for annual compentitiqn among the welter-weights in commemoration of Ted Morgan’s success at the Olympic Games. In the first bout he spoiled his work by too much ducking and dodging, but he atoned for this in a fine bout against Moynihan in the final. * « • A Close Fight Turner had a hard task in winning the final of the middle-weight division, Nichol giving him a hard tussle. The latter was the superior “boxer at long range but Turner forced the fight and had the better of matters at close range. It was only by a slight margin that he secured the title. Light-heavies Poor The light-heavy-weight boxers were very poor exponents. Mullins of Auckland was very unlucky to lose to Pearce in the semi-final as he was undoubtedly the better boxer. In the final Gardiner defeated Pearce after a poor exhibition, neither of the boxers being anywhere near championship calibre. * » * Heavy-weights Wanted The heavy-weights were also very disappointing and McCarthney of Auckland was another unlucky boxeir. It is a moot point whether the Aucklander won or not, but in the opinion of many he defeated Carlson in the semi-final. However, he did not get the decision. He was a better boxer than any of the other competitors in the weight. After a poor fight Campbell defeated Carlson in the final. Somebody should make a journey of discovery among the heavy men of New Zealand to see if a man worthy to be styled champion can be found. Unless somebody is discovered soon Heeney will not have anybody to follow in his footsteps. • * * Although nothing definite is known it is very probable that Johnny Leckie will be going across the Tasman in the near future, and the wishes of the Australian followers of the game will be thus gratified. His opponents have not yet been selected. An American paper asserts that Tex Rickard has signed Jack Dempsey to meet an unnamed opponent in the elimination bouts in September. Rickard has not committed himself to a reply. The same paper says that

“Young” Stribling is coming forward rapidly as a contestant for heavyweight honours. * * * Matt Hatton added to his reputation when he drew with Archie Hughes at Napier. Hughes stated that he was in better condition than when he fought Leckie and therefore the Auckland boxer’s performance, especially as he had much the worst of the weights and suffered a badly-cut eye early in the fight, makes him the “logical contender” for Leckie’s title

BOXING AT HUNTLY

SUCCESSFUL CARNIVAL (From Our Own Correspondent) HUNTLY, Monday. A fitting close to the Webster Shield competition was the boxing carnival held in the Town Hall, Huntly, on Friday. Mr. Charles Scott (president of the North Island Primary Schools Football Association) acted as announcer, and Mr. H. R. McLachlan, of Hamilton, as referee. Following were the results of the bouts, after which Mr. E. George (chairman of the Town Board) presented the prizes to the winners. Schoolboys.—T. Kendall (Palmerston North), beat C. Zimmerman (Palmerston North); M. Cooper (Cambridge) beat R. Metcalfe (Palmerston North) ; J. Morgan (Palmerston North) beat S. Wells (Cambridge). E. Adams (Te Awamutu) beat A. Milicich (Frankton) and won the special prize given by Mr. E. H. Durrad for the most scientific boxer in the boys’ contests. The winner is a very promising lad, his boxing being very crisp and clean. Roy Singer (Huntly) beat R. Merriman (Frankton) in a good bout. Amateur contests: — P. Harford (Te Awamutu) beat W. Blair (Frankton). E. Stewart (Te Aroha) won by default from Ben Hinton (Frankton). A. Craig (Te Awamutu) and J. Wilson (Frankton) fought a draw, the latter tiring towards the finish. D. Jensen (Te Aroha) beat W. Craig (Te Awamutu). H. Verall (Frankton) had little to spare against H. Bennett (Te Awamutu), but did the leading and took the fight to his opponent, gaining the decision. C. Griffiths (Ngaruawahia) beat J. Horan (Te Awamutu) comfortably. Les Hall (Huntly) beat J. Graham (Frankton). The winner was too good and soon had his opponent in trouble.

C. Craig (Te Awamutu) gave an exhibition spar with W. Elliot of Frankton.