BOXING.

Observer, Volume XXXV, Issue 48, 7 August 1915, Page 11

BOXING.

The Auckland Provincial Amateur Championships, ftimdler the auspices of the Northern Boxing Association, were started in the Town Hall on Monday night. Everything considered, the attendance of spectators was very satisfactory. An energetic executive, with Secretary Moss Ballin. had the usual complete arrangements made for a successful meeting. A word of praise is clue Mr F. Burns, the referee, whose decisions were well received , by the purely sporting section of the spectators. The opening programme decid-ed the prelimrnary heats, and , , while the boxine was not of the same standard as previous! years, some very promising material was unearthed.

In tlhe bantam division- the firs , " match was between J. Nickles (8.2) and E. A. Eamson (7.6). As the contestants entered the ring Eamswi appeared a very sDrifhtly little felliow, while Nickles had a. decided' advantage physically. The contest had , not been in nrowress very long before Ea-mson realised he was outmatched, and very wisely retired.

Gilchrist (holder) and Conway (8.0f) were next of the bantam section. This pair were well matched,. Nothing of not* occurred in the first round, whiffy, finished , with honours even. The second round was in Gilchrist'e favour, although Conwav got a couple home on the cheek. Both

contestants livened for the final three minutes. Cunway got his opponent on the chin aiitl sent liim to the Wards. Gilchrist was quickly on his feet, and with qiiick deliveries to the head sent Con way to the floor. He survived the count. Almost immediately he was down again and sought a count, but was ordered l to g»o on. Somewhat groggy he came uip, but Gilcnrist held the advantage amd won. Conway is a much improved man.

The first featherweight bout brought forward W. Whale (8.12) and 1 A. Campbell (8.13). This; was one of the poorest exhibitions. The finst exciting inwid'ent happened in the second round, when Campbell, who held thei advantage of height and reach, landed his more sturdy rival in the face. In the last round Campbell resorted too much to defensive tactics. There was very little between the boys and Whale gainthe verdict.

Next in the ring was T. A. Keesing (8.12 i) and E. Dowsrimg C 8.13). Thiiis provided one of the best bouts. Keesing set tip most of th© attack in the first roundl, but Dowsing'si height and 1 smart footwork assisted him to avoid trouble. Thie second , round left honours easy. The third round was entered 1 in a lively manner with Dowsing principally aggressive. Exchanges were frequent, and Keesing uisetl to effect a good! smother. A fine conitest ended in a popiilar win for Dowsing. Keesing, making his first appearance, suffered from nervousness in the open stages. No dotibt a different result would have been brought about hadl he endeavoured to get Dowsing iro the body instead of thie head, especially in the final round.

, (Continued) r .' M. James (holder) (9.7) and W: Smith (9.6|) were the first light weights to appear. James was the talleii of the two and set the pace. He used his length to advantage, and got Smith fully on the head!. Smith landed a. left on James's face, but last year's champion quickly retaliated,! and- with a heavy blow sent Smith to the - floor witJh a punch on the 'jaw.- The Taumarunui man failed to survive the count, ami the contest cJßsedl under the allotted time;for <*ne round. Craig (9.10) and J. Leewell This'was a well matched pair. I he work , was somewhat tame in the first two rounds, with the odds m Craig s favour. Opening the final three minutes, Craig scored well, but from then .on Leewell got home repeatedly. He left his efforts too late, tor Craig had the points in the early stages. F. Stanley (9.12) and A. Dennett (9 10) were the last of the light weights. Dennett hails from (xisborne, and is of the tall, slender build, while Stanley is more nuggety. The Jocal boy endeavoured to keep the coastal lad on; the ropes in the first two roundsi, and had the margin in his favour. Dennett changed at.faire- in the last round, and gave Stanley a lot of punishment Stanley, Specially in. the second round iisedi 1 the palm too often. Tiie draw in the middle weights brought together Robertson (10. iM) aid Sharplfn (11.3). The first round opened with a lot of reckless Jg£ J and the gong-, sounded with easy. Frequent exchan g|| pvvej| made in the second round, «j?M men:took plenty of punishment. , the third round, Robertson landed freely with straight lefts to the nose and knouth. and Sharpl.n bled freely. The Country man had taken a lot ot punishment, and was showing signs of much fatigue when the referee stopped the contest and; declared Robertson winner. Jones (10.4) and Laird! (10.2) opened operations for the. evening, .as well as the welter division. Laird opened with a left, which Jones checked and ■ replied with several heavy lefts and rights on the lace. The' Auckland man looked a eorrj figure as he took has corner when the fi,?st : gong sounded. Opening the secondi round, Laird suffered heavily from a better opponent, and relief came with the referee stopping operations,and giving Jones the verdict. Jales (10.9) and Allen (10.6*) advanoeS this division another stage. The Wmer is tall with a peculiar style 1 but good: smother. Allen is oi splendid phyedquc and neat in style The first round was i.n favour of James, who landed Allen on the nose and brought blood. Both men looked fresh for the second round, and good exchanges marked an exciting rWid in Allen's favour. Allen opened smartly with lefts and brought his gloves heavily in contact with James's face. The tall man became very groggy, but lasted out til the gong. Allen gamed; a populai win. The comedy of the evening was provided while J. Opai, a Maori, (10. 7) and T. Sheehan had possession, ot the roped area. It was a go between a tall slight white man and a short thick brown man wearing a big smile and exhibiting a fine row of white teeth. It was an . encounter of the rough order in which the peculiar antics of Opai caused endless laughter. The best fighting started in the second round, for Sheehan was forced to the ropes and heavily punished Next in a rough up Sheehan went to the floor but got up just as the gong went. The clinching was altogether too frequent in the third round and the referee had repeatedly to call on both men to break Opai dealt out the punishment and a storm of applause greeted the ieferee's decision as he awarded the contest to the dusky boxer. The Auckland provincial <'hampionsliip finals were decided on Friday night, the various titles being eained as follows -.—Bantam : H. failShrist, Ellerslie. Feather weight:

E. Dowsing, Auckland. Light weight: M. James, Onehunga. Welter weight: J. Kellamd, Taumarunui. Middle weight: P. Oloss, Aiickland. - Heavy Aveight: J. McHugh,

Auckland.

The programme was varied by the introduction of a couple of bouts by Vie. Cliffe's midgets. The youthful boxers got to their tasks in a very eager manner. The appearance created a good impression andl a lot of interest. The Gilchrist-Nickl&s contest saw the latter, possessed of a greater reach, do most of the leading at the start, but once warmed Gilchrist gained the ascendancy, and, displaying a greater kmowledlge, had Nickles so sorely troubled in the second round that the referee stopped operation® before the gong went and awarded Gilchrist the title. The feather weight final brought too-other E. Dowsing (8.13) and W. Whale. Dowsing's height gave him the advantage of roach, which ho used with judgment. With straight lefts and rights Dowsing forced Whale to the cornier. The New Lynn lad got a couple back, but most of his efforts went wildly into the air. The second round saw Whale sent to the floor, but he survived the count and took a lot of punishment until the gong. In the final round Dowsing displayed better knowledge throughout. Wluile received and took further punishment in good spirit, and the gong sounded with Dowsing an easy winner for his first championship. ■■' ; The isemPfttial was the only bout of light weights'"toftght': Craig, Auckland, and the Gisborne" boy, Dennett met: Tljey were a well matched Upair fortnight, but. in the first round f.; : djispLayec][very 'careful tactics. Dento force the pace in but for the most ; partvthe boys and the > referee had itM£#/%> break. In the Last round Dennettfgot lefts repeatedly to Craig's jaw/and the latter s responded with left and rights to >, Dennett's head. Then on until the [ gong Dunnett .scored freely with his left, and! a lively round finished with a Avell received' win for the Gis- , bornite. [ Dunnett aprahiod his thumb, and j was unable to contest the final with 1 M. James, who thus retained the . title. ' Kelland 4iid Jones met to. decide - the welter honour. Kehuul was alto- ■ ; gether too %iart with his footwork, ' fl'nd would End Jones and then get r out. The AVaihi man went to his - corner looking bad when the gong went. Opening the secondl round, - Kelland dealt out heavy punishment, and welcome relief to Jones came by ■ the referee stopping the contest in f the second round, and Kelland retained' his title. f The"-liveliest' bout of the tourna- -' nvent was between, the old rivals C. - R. Robertson and P. Closs. It prov- ' ed a test of wild versus cool methods. ', Robertson sot the pace from the 1 jump, but the clever movements of 1 Close resulted in the blows going into t the air, and. Robertson meeting several hard and unexpected lefts. Much I the same order marked the second l " round, with Robertson getting the worst of the exchanges. The third 3 round roused the audience to a high pitch of excitement. The fighting F was very rapid, and Robertson, with ! a hard "right to the jaw, sent Closs b to the floor. He survived) the count, r and recovered quickly. The cxl changes were hard and frequent, and L - an upper cut by Closs just missed its . mark. Robertson displayed: plenty s of gameness, and against odds lasted I out time. Gloss's win was well re--3 ceived, and both men Avere loudly . applauded as they left the ring, i The heavy weight bout was disap- ' pointing. McHugh was too good for * Lewis, who for the most part had to I act on the defensive. McHugh got - several good blows home on the right •of his opponent's face. What work 1 was clone was of a lively nature for - heavy men. McHugh regained the i title. An interesting three three-min- - uk* spar took place between welter - weight J . Luttrill, who is matched to ; meet Sid. Mitchell at Wanganui, and - the Auckland light weight champion : M. James.

It was announced last Tuesday n ;,rh+ \™ fVio IVT O Mr F Farrell, had Lnmade by the Northern Boxing Association fi a maSh between Harold Hardwioke, Australian champion, and.Albert i'ooley, New Zealand champion, for the profeissional cliarupionship or Auestralasia, at Auckland, on Sep tember 14th