KING KONG FINED

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20891, 24 August 1939, Page 7

KING KONG FINED

WRESTLING BOUT SEQUEL ASSAULT ON REFEREE COURT PROCEED IN OS (By Telegraph.—press Association) AUCKLAND, Wednesday “That he did strike Thomas Marriott ‘Jack’; McLean with his hand on the face in the Auckland Town Hall on August 21,” was a charge to which a plea of guilty was entered by Ted Cox, otherwise known as "King Kong,” the wrestler, in the Police Court before Mr F. 11. Levien, S.M., today. "On Monday night,” said SubInspector Pender, “defendant was engaged in a wrestling contest with Lofty Blomfield. McLean refereed the bout, which was full of showmanship and rough tactics. Cox secured a fall against Blomfield in the fourth round, and Blomfield got a fall in the sixth round. After that Cox seemed to have lost his head and wanted to clean up everything before him. When the referee stepped in between the two wrestlers to stop their tactics Cox put a headlock on him and also irave him a severe elbow jolt, which knocked McLean off his feet to the mat. The police then entered the ring and stopped the contest. “Cox is a very respectable and quiet man outside the ring, but when inside he appears to lose his head when the referee interferes and the crowd becomes hostile and it is difficult to control them,” said Mr Pender. "I didn’t put my arms around the man,” Cox told the magistrate. “An elbow jolt missed Lofty and the referee came round and got it. When the referee came around me, 1 pushed him over the ropes. 1 didn’t lose my head.” The (Magistrate: “Why plead guilty to the change then?” "But 1 hit the man when down," replied Cox. The Magistrate: “You wouldn’t be here if it were pure misadventure. It is suggested you lost your head.’ “Perhaps I did, but plenty of referees get knocked out in boxing matches. 1 did hit him.” 'Remarking that it was probably difficult to distinguish between showmanship and something else, the magistrate imposed a line of £2 10s and costs 10s.