CONCLUSION OF SUCCESSFUL TOURNEY.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIX, Issue 1109, 13 July 1911, Page 12

CONCLUSION OF SUCCESSFUL TOURNEY.

GAULT BEATS MURPHY. His Majesty’s Theatre was packed in all parts on Tuesday night, when the Northern Boxing Association concluded their provincial championships. It is no platitude to say that the tourney was an immense success, and reflects the greatest credit on secretary Greenhough and the committee of the Association. Credit is also due to Messrs. A. Plugge, T. P. Burke, A.

Hamilton, F. Dyer, F. Burns and T. Brown, who had control of all the bouts. With the sole exception of the ruling in the contest between Leslie and Craig in the feather-weight class, the decisions of these gentlemen were in complete accord with the public’s ideas. In the bout mentioned the two boys were very evenly matched and although Craig-scored well in the first two rounds he was undoubtedly outclassed in the last, and it is probable the crowd were led away by the very plucky fight young Craig put up under severe punishment. . It was somewhat unfortunate that in three classes the championships went by default in the finals. In the middle-weights Holt defeated Patrick, and Spear beat Douglas in the semifinals, but when the final was called it was announced that Spear could not pass the doctor, and consequently the championship went to Holt by default. As Leslie injured his shoulder in his semi-final with F. Craig, he could not enter the ring again. Chapman accordingly was the featherweight champion by default. It may be here noted that the previous week at the Waikato championships Holt

knocked Spear out in the first round. Again in the heavy-weignt class Pooley was to have met Barclay, but as the latter failed to come forward Pooley was awarded tne championship. Despite, however, these defaults, there can be no doubt that the declared champions in each class were the peers of those who contested the honours, they having shown in their elimination bouts their marked superiority over the other contestants in their classes.

The champions of the tourney were G. Brown (bantam), E. W. Chapman (feather), J. Burns (light), G. Olsen (welter), F. Holt (middle) and APooley (heavy). The chief event of the evening—but not the most interesting—was the professional contest between Alf. Gault, of Auckland, and Bert Murphy, of Hawke’s Bay, for a purse. Mr. T. P. Burke acted as referee.

Murphy (9.10%) had the advantage in both height and reach over Gault (9.9), who was of much more compact and sturdy build, with the ability to put every ounce of his weight into

the punches he delivered? Murphy was undoubtedly the more finished boxer, with a clever defence, but his hitting lacked steam. The match which was fairly evenly contested throughout was in the nature of a match 'between a boxer and a fighter, and the latter won as a result of his superior strength. The first round opened with spme free sparring and then the two got to clinches, in which Gault was particularly quick in getting in short body stabs. The round ended without damage to either. Murphy set the pace in the second round and landed two heavy blows in quick succession, and ding dong slogging characterised the rest of the round, which was slightly in favour of Gault. Round three saw Gault deliver some deadly punches, but Murphy was very clever in defence and saved himself a lot, although the points were against him. Murphy opened the next round with some bright sparring, and landed several pretty hits, but on getting at close range Gault put in some solid work. The fifth round was very willing and Gault got most of the knocks, which, however, had not enough weight behind them to do much dam-

age. The sixth round finished up with Murphy well ahead on points. Gault apparently fearing the points were against him, started the seventh round with vim, and, getting to close quarters, rained his short, quick thumps into Murphy’s body. Murphy finished up a bit groggy. Murphy got in the first blow in the eighth round, but Gault followed with two stinging blows that told. Murphy returned with a straight on the point, but Gault returned all he got, and administered severe punishment, which drove Murphy to the ropes. Murphy again rallied, but when the gong went Gault had piled up the points. The ninth round saw Gault again aggressive, and on returning to corners Murphy was dazed. The last round opened with Murphy defending. He had lost power, but after a willing exchange at close quarters, Murphy pluckily rallied, and did most of the leading from that out, but he had lost a lot of points during the three previous rounds, and so the decision had to go to Gault. The winner was heartily applauded.

The details of the amateur bouts were as follows: — BANTAM-WEIGHTS.. G- Brown (7.4) beat R. Conway (7.10) on points after a splendid contest. Conway had all the advantage of size and at the opening rained blows on the little fellow. However, Brown, with his clever smother saved himself a lot and never lost a chance to get in hot and strong on his opponent. “Little Brownie’’ distinguished himself in the last round by the plucky way he stood up to several right swings that had a lot of sting in them, but which he. took undauntedly. Towards the end of the last round the little fellow was simply chasing Conway round the ring peppering him with blows from all directions. Brown was popularly acclaimed the bantam champion. FEATHER-WEIGHTS. E. W. Chapman (8-11%), beat G. -Sparrow (8.10%), by a knock-out blow in the third round. The bout was a particularly lively one in which there was some very solid slogging on both sides. Chapman had all the advantage from the start, but Sparrow took his grueling like a Trojan. In the final Chapman was to have met Leslie, but the latter had injured his shoulder and could not again enter the ring. Chapman accordingly won the championship. LIGHT-WEIGHTS. J. Burns (9.12), beat Coyle (9.12%), in the semi-finals. The opening round was an uninteresting sparring match, but early in the second, Burns forced the fighting and soon had his njan floored with a right hook. F. Warren (9.9%), beat R. Craig (9.13), after a keen and even contest. Both boys showed a lot of skill and at the end of three rounds, the referee could not separate them and a further round was ordered, which was in favour of Warren. In the final, J. Burns beat F. Warren. The latter had evidently had a lot taken out of him in his encounter with Craig, but put up a very plucky stand against a stronger fighter. Towards the end of the second round, Burifs got in a succession of heavy

' befriended. The great prison scenes are introduced through the character of Tom Robinson, a Cockney thief and burglar- He is arrested for fraud and sentenced to imprisonment in an English gaol, afterwards being transported to Australia for ten years. In the gaol he is subjected to brutality beyond words to describe by the cruel Governor, Hawes and his satellites and gaolers, some of whom are felons. The atrocities practised in the name of the law are vividly shown in the picture. The doing to death of the lad Jessop and the physical ruin of Robinson, the fearful sufferings inflicted in the way of solitary confinement and brutal assaults on the prisoners are realistically portrayed and familiarise one with the horrors of those prison days. Realism is addedto the scene by the forceful and graphic recital of that well-known elocutionist, Mr. Alfred Boothman. The music, under Mr. E. J. Burke’s direction, is deserving of special mention. A budget of miscellaneous films occupies the second half of the programme. “It’s Never Too Late to Mend” is but another proof of the high standard of cinematography presented by Messrs. Fuller and Sons.