Murphy Won Empire Boxing Title With His Left Hand; He Will Need Both Next Time

Wanganui Chronicle, 28 January 1948, Page 5

Murphy Won Empire Boxing Title With His Left Hand; He Will Need Both Next Time

COMMENT ON HIS DEFEAT, ON POINTS, OF VINCE HAWKINS

(By Alan Mitchell, Special N.Z.P.A. Correspondent)

Received 6 p.m.

LONDON, Jan. 27

Bos Murphy owed a great deal of his defeat of Vince Hawkins (Empire champion) to Nat Sellers, trainer and second, who had previously trained Hawkins when he won the British. Empire middleweight title from Roderick. The New Zealander fought all the way through to Sellers’ instructions, which were to use his left and keep the Englishman at long range. This was largely due to Murphy’s previous injury to his right hand. He was inclined to be nervous of using it and during every interval he asked Sellers whether he should punch more with it.

“No,” was Sellers’ invariable reply. “It doesn’t matter what the crowd says; just keep plugging away with that left.” RELIED ON PILING POINTS. The result was that Murphy relied on boxing Hawkins and piling up as many points as possible. This suited him very well, for, as he admitted in his dressing room later, when covered with sweat but unmarkeri save for a slight “mouse” on the left eye, "I could have done with another fight under my belt” Murphy started slowly, and he was handicapped for the first four rounds by an injury to his left ankle. He slipped in the first round and must have twisted his foot. He seemed slightly bemused, and went to his wrong corner when the gong sounded, then did a half skip and hobble to his second’s with a rueful grin. WARMED UP IN THE THIRD ROUND. It was not until the third round that he really seemed to get warmed up, and then the odds round the ringside dropped, from six to four in Hawkins’ favour to evens—a large notice over the dorway stating “Betting strictly prohibited,” being entirely' superfluous. Hawkins was cautious of Murphy’s snaking left, keeping his distance and preferring to make fight by rushing in and getting under Murphy’s guard. Murphy’s favourite tactic was to feint with his right, and then weigh in with his or else to keep darting it out as Hawkins came in. By the sixth round he had marked Hawkins’ right eye, and in the eighth Hawkins returned the compliment by making the New Zealander's nose bleed. , HAWKINS’ TACTICS PAY WELL. By the ninth round Hawkins’ tactics of getting in close appeared to be paying him .well. Murphy seemed to wilt under some of the heavy body blows delivered at a range of one foot, but in the next two rounds, obviously, it seemed, acting under Sellers’ instructions, he kept Hawkins at long range and when the twelfth began the odds had changed to five to two in Murphy’s .favour. Both men were now beginning to show signs of tiredness. In the fourteenth round it seemed that the fight might swing Hawkins' way. It was chiefly one long pummelling at close quarters. In the last round Hawkins landed some vicious punches. But Murphy had piled up his points and the referee hardly hestitated before he walked over to the New Zealander’s corner and raised his right arm. The closeness of the fight led to some slight booing from the fans, who thought Hawkins’ last two rounds —he seemed the much stronger fighter—had pulled the fight his way. BILL JORDAN PLEASED. Murphy immediately walked over to Hawkins’ corner and patted him on his back. When the New Zealander returned to his own seat he was met by an excited High Commissioner, Bill Jordan, who practically climbed into the ring to pump Murphy’s blood-, ed glove. Murphy now stands in line for a fight with Marcel Cerdan, for the European title. Judging by accounts of the Frenchman Murphy will require to have his right hand in full working order. It cannot be'said that his fight with Hawkins was packed with excitement. It was rather a battle of skill, in which the brains in the corner of the ring and ability in the ring itself beat ruggedness. Hawkins lacked a powerful punch, but it was a good deal stronger than those

who were calling out "Go In Bos! He can’t hurt you!” Leaping from comparative obscurity to top line news overnight by winning the New Zealand welterweight crown after a short professional career, and then obtaining a points decision over Vic Patrick, former Australian lightweight and welter-weight champion, Bos Murphy has become a boxing celebrity in shorter time than Tom Heeney, whose rise to fame was meteoric. Murphy’s professional career began late in 1944, and in his first 13 fights he had 12 wins, six by knock-outs and six on points. His onlv loss, apart from the fights with Willie Jones, was due to an ankle injury in his first professional fights. Murphy was seen in action in Wanganui in December, 1945, when he beat Danny O'Keefe, on a points decision, at Spriggens Park. Murphy follows in the wake of a famous namesake —the famous Billy Murphy, the only New Zealander to win a world boxing title. The lure of the ring, the newspaper clippings, the applause and cheers, and the popularity that go with it have encouraged nearly all fighters to go as far as human endurance will allow. How far will Bos Murphy go? —“Oberver."