WRESTLING TITLE

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 16, 16 August 1940, Page 6

WRESTLING TITLE

Blomfield Now Empire Champion BOUT WITH KATAN Interrupted By Collapse Of Ring For the second time, the British : Empire Wrestling Championship ' title changed hands in Wellington I last night. Sergeant-Major Lofty I Blomfield won it from John Katan, holder since he captured it from .McCready a month ago. The New Zealander obtained the sole fall of an exciting and vigorous bout. In the sixth round Blomfield, pinned on the mat by Katan, kicked upward and connected with Katan s face, tumbling him backward. Blomfield then took a fall with a body press. The Town Hall was jammed full Many stood throughout the lengthy

bout, which was interrupted tor half an hour when the ring col- 1 lapsed and had to be re-erected. At the conclusion of the bout the g president of the Wellington Wrestling L Association, Mr. F. Campbell, present- t ed the winner with a silver cup, the , gift of Sir Charles Norwood, yice-pre- t sident of the association. Earl McCready, who watched the bout from the ( ringside, challenged the winner. Katan protested after the bout that ( it should be "re-fought because of the . interruption. He stated that he had wrestled Blomfield on three previous occasions and had.' won twice and drawn once. He said he was entitled/ to a return match before the title was contested by anybody else. Mr. Alf. Jenkins refereed. Blomfield weighed 16st. 61b., Katan Kist. 101 b. Both received tremendous ovations. Blomfield appeared very fit, even more so than when last seen in Wellington, i Blomfield gave Katan an uncomfortable time with a shortarm scissors in the first round. In the second, Katan held Blomfield' in vice-like headlocks, knuckling and pounding his face. The referee warned him for use of fists.. Blomfield hunted Katan round the ring with jolts and hatches, crashing home repeated blows. He then frog-marched Katan with a full-nelson. But Katan held. him writhing on the mat standing over him applying a powerful keylock of the type introduced recently by McCready. Blomfield kicked him off ; Katan jolted Blomfield twice, and recovered his keylock. Blomfield, after some endeavours, succeeded in break- , ing it. Collapse of King. Katan was setting the pace in a series exchanges on the mat when the southwest corner post of the ring gently collapsed. The wrestlers were too preoccupied to notice, till the referee point--1 ed out that, the ropes having subsided, . there was no longer a ring.' They then retired to their corners and filled in time signing autographs, while officials bustled . about rigging a new post. The crowd took the interruption in good part, barracking. the attendants, referee, seconds • and others who tallied onto a block-and-I tackle and hauled the ropes taut again. A couple of humorists from, the crowd 1 clambered into the ring and began a bur- . lesque grapple, but were separated and ejected by the referee. 5 After a half-hour interval, the wrestlers j took up the fray where they left off in the middle of the fourth round. Thougl they needed a minute or two to warn

up again after the long pause tU sumed in vigorous style, - with 'n ? re ' elbow-jolts. Blomfield tossed of several times with headlocks. -I®®There was a brisk exchange A f • . in the fifth round. First Blomfi!]? ts peatedly rapped Katan in the face nKatan reciprocated. Blomfield tri? Katan smartly and applied an O J’ W clamp. The crowd surged to it s f 1 ’” 5 shouting, but Katan gained the soon?’ of the ropes. / Uri( ! Blomfield’s Fall. Katan held Blomfield on the mat vi a double-barred toehold. Blomfield kid; upward, planting his feet in Kato? face and as Katan tumbled he p O A on him and pinned him. Katan show signs of ■ annoyance and protested— Va ? —to the referee. Katan opened the seventh - round Ibattering Blomfield with jolts, and dun ing him ; he failed to pin him. wrestling verged on burlesque when t 1 wrestlers danced about the ring exchai ing jolts, punches and taunts. The j feree again warned them to desist fro; punching. The last round, though vigorous, and when the bell rang spent someth discussing the outcome with the refer? without fall. Katan took the offensi in a final attempt to set the falls equi