RUNANGA BOXING TOURNAMENT.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1262, 25 June 1914, Page 33

RUNANGA BOXING TOURNAMENT.

The above tournament was held in the Miners’ Hall, Runanga, West Coast, on Friday evening, June 12. There was a very fair attendance of spectators, including a numbers of “sports” from Greymouth, who arrived by special train. The boxing was of a good standard for a West Coast tournament, and at times the excitement was up to fever heat. The. chief „ fault the writer noticed was that most of the maiden boxers didn’t make enough use of the straight left, which always counts in the matter of points, and it is to be hoped that young aspiring boxers will not forget to use this very effective hand in the future.

The star item of the evening was a ten-round no-decision bout between Jack Griffen, the one time New Zealand lightweight, and Jim Mussen, a coming West Coast lightweight. The bout was really a treat to witness, both men boxing very clean. The six-round bout between the featherweights, O’Neil and Willis, proved very one-sided, as O’Neil knocked Willis out in the third round. The following were the results: — Novice Lightweight (three rounds). —Nesbit beat Dalzell on points after a good bout. Maloney a bye. Six-round Bout (Feather). —Willis knocked out O’Neil in third round after a one-sided contest.

Flyweight (three rounds), Duggan v. McLean. —These boys were very evenly matched, and the referee ordered an extra round, McLean gaining the verdict.

Six-round Bout (Lightweight), Galley v. Docker. —This was a very poor contest. Both men were told to wake by the referee, who finally declared no fight in the second round. Novice Lightweight (Final), Nesbit v. Maloney.—This was a ding-dong-go, both men being all out, but Nesbit got the verdict by a narrow margin. Featherweight (three rounds). — O’Neill and Williams fought a draw. This was a splendid exhibition, both lads boxing very clean, O’Neill using his right to advantage, and landing frequently. Williams started to use his left, and it seemed to check O’Neill’s damaging right. Had the latter used his left as effectively as he used his right there would undoubtedly have been a different verdict. The writer would like to see the same two boys matched for a six-round bout.

z Ten-round Exhibition, Griffen v. Mussen.—This was a very interesting bout. Of course, Griffen was the experienced man, but Mussen is a coming lightweight,, and it would cause no surprise were he to win this year’s championship. Mr. J. Andrews, of Greymouth, acted as referee, and gave general satisfaction.

A Bradford boxer, Jerry Delaney, has established a big reputation at Home, and is to be matched with Freddy Welsh, the British lightweight champion.