EMPIRE TITLE BOUT

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20917, 23 September 1939, Page 20 (Supplement)

EMPIRE TITLE BOUT

WRESTLING CHAMPIONS BLOMFIELD AND McCREADY VIEWS OF TWO CONTESTANTS (By “Ringsider”) Biggest wrestling match of the season in New Zealand is yet to be staged. That is the meeting of Lofty Blomfield, the New Zealand champion, and Earl McCready, British Empire title holder, who will be called upon to defend his championship. A discussion on the bout was had with McCready when he was in Hamilton last week to wrestle Paul Jones. Open Air Bout McCready is of the opinion that the match with Blomfield will attract the biggest house of the season—even though there is a war—and he is anxious to see the fixture finalised. No delinilo date has been fixed and no final action has been taken by the New Zealand wrestling authorities. It would be an open air bout and the most likely venue at present seems to be Auckland. McCready realises that Blomfield is a fine wrestler now but he is anxious to meet the New Zealand champion while feeling confident that ho can retain his title, Blomfleld’s Views Blomfield has not wrestled McCready since 1937. Whether the outbreak of war will hasten the engagement and mean that the bout will be held indoors remains Jo be seen. In the 1937 contest between Blomfield and McCready the result was a draw, no falls being registered. Blomfield is confident of victory this season and ho has had plenty of hard matches to bring him to the best condition. McCready is of the opinion that the New Zealander is called upon to wrestle a little too often and that he should spell for a while. In the meantime, Blomfield is not willing to relax until after he has won the British Empire title. Wha.t Are the Prospects Earlier in the season it could have been said with confidence that McCready would have won the title match against Blomfield. Now the New Zealander seems to have excellent chances, but a more definite idea of the prospects can be gauged after next Monday, when Pinder and McCready battle out a decision and Blomfield meets Wright. Recently McCready has had some difficulty in beating Pinder and Wright, while Blomfield revealed a new high degree of ability this week against Pinder. It was a draw but Blomfield is reported to have outmatched his opponent in speed. To outpace Pinder requires a great deal of smart wrestling because McCready, usually considered a master at keeping in a safe position, had great difficulty in matching Pinder’s smartness. Hamilton’s Match Last Week Many of the wrestling fans in the Waikato who saw the match in Hamilton between McCready and Paul Jones are of the opinion that the British Empire champion was somewhat lucky to have won. The manner in which he secured his fall was smart, but he was fortunate to have secured tlie opportunity. At the time McCready appeared to be down on points against his opponent who had carried the fight most of the way. Incidently the house was the smallest this season. It was unfortunate because the match was a good one. The war may have accounted for the lack of public support to some degree but most iikely it was the petrol restrictions preventing the country people from coming to town. It indicated what a large measure of support the association receives from the rural dwellers. Jim Londos Turns Home Regret that Jim Londos, world’s wrestling champion turned for home on the outbreak of war when he was on bis way to Australia, was express-