BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 280, 7 August 1909, Page 12

BOXING.

U3t Mehcurt.)

The Wellington Boxing Association is to bo congratulated upon the excellence of it 3 recent tournament. ', Of the : three amateur bouts the JCutner-Iggulden event was bj', far the- host from a 'scientific, boxing point of.view, ; Kutner mado the pace, from the jump, and in the first three rounds hold an undoubted advantage. This was more than counterbalanced, how-over, :; by Iggulden's clever display in tho concluding three. In the last round especially the lad from Kaiwarra scored heavily with, a clean straight loft, which found Kutnor's' guard' an easy, obstacle to surniount. Kutner's cleverness on his feet is his prinoipal safeguard from punishment, and when he tired in tho fifth u.nd\ sixth rounds he was no match <for ; : his, doughty littlo opponent. .■; < The Cairns-Porter contest, after opening with the promise'of an exciting battle, ended disappointingly; Cairns being -disqualified on a foul. Dr. Ai'Loan's decision was. a cor r rccfc.one, but one is inclined to think that ho is just a: little too strict in refereeing ainateur bouts. If the'contest had lasted the full six rounds it is. difficult,to .■say;. 1 who wbuld. have secured' tho verdict, 'Porter's wonderful' stamina may have pulled him through, but as .far as, it went the/fight was all in-favour of Cairns, who, attaching l with ■ great dash, had Porter completely puzzled in tho first round. Indeed, the latter hardly ■touched Cairns all through. ■....•..'. Clever boxing was at a discount compared with hard hitting in the .."go" between Tailored and Parry. The last time these two met Tataod created a surprise J>y- soundly •trouncing Parry in the,,extra round oivlered by the referee, after'threo exciting and very even,rounds. On this occasion Parry was, expected'to even matters up, but except for a few seconds 'in each 'round Taiicred ' easily had his opponent's measure, and the fight 1 might easily have: been stopped earlier "in the' sixth round. ' One of the gamest boxers seen in Wellington, Parry's ■ qualifications would almost sepm to stop at thaV Certainly he displayed a woeful lack of head w'ork in the way he worked round Tailored.' Agaiust; ft'i right-hand foremost .boxer like Tailored,' ho, should have wwked round to the left.all the time, but instead' he kept edging contiriu-1 ally to the right, thus exposing himself to-1 his .antagonists left, and . Taiicred ■: nover, missed the opportunity of the .advantage"' thus given whenever tho chance offered. ■.'.-; ■ The ■ principal event'of the evening, the 15-round professional contest between J. Clarke l (late >of- London) and A.' Lectio (of Wellington); was. a. stirring prolific of good hard hitting, yet fought in an; admirable' manner, .and altogether v free from any display of temper, bad feeling, or rough-; house tactics'. : , As full,''accounts of., the battlo have appeared, the ', Writer ■': confines himself to a few general,remarks. Clarke is a splendid stamp of the middlo-weiglit boxer, clean.in build, sloping Bhoul-d&rs, good, arms and logs, free and- active, in .his movements, .and with: no'; appearance of "being.-,., muscle-' bound. . ,In ,the|,riiig he faces his opponent with a pronounced, crouch, left arm: 1 extended well forward, and right brought,well' up the body to cover the chin.,' His right' guard,is vory. effective as a covering for uis face, and .it troubled Leckie not a little, especially' in ttio first three rounds.' Howevor, Clarke's, maiuierof using his right"qs a guard; for his face, "and his peculiar'bend to tho right with the loft extended well'out, exposed his left, sido| very much,' and Leckio was not slow to : notice thi3.''All through his most effective blow was a straight 'fight delivered on;Clarke*b loftsidej .just round the region of the heart, Clarke .was' very effective at' close range, battering Leckie s back unremittingly from' a distance of. often not more than a'foot. Hiß punches w'cro ■ very neatly executed, : and it was: only Leckie's grand physique and'capacity,to take punishment that made them appear comparatively • ineffective. Both men displayed good'footwork, but without proving themselves thing, out of thei ordinary in-this 'depart-' ment.-i v '

■ On the whole, Leckie made a distinctly creditable first appearance in tho / professional ranks,'and with more attention to his • left will improvo■'vastly.. For one who uses his right so Well, according to tho' best canons of boxiug, Leckie has a comparatively ineffective left, liis blows with that-hand being a sort of chop from-the elbow. When he cultivates an effective left, shooting straight out from tbe shoulder, -or a left-hook liko that possessed by Watchorn, he will be a decidedly difficult man to beat. ! His perfect build excited genei'al . admiration, and his. splendid condition at the end of 15 rounds was a striking ■ tribute to the - conscientious preparation which he had 'gone through. ■; • Mie decision of the-Wellington Boxing Association to arrange --a- match between Clarke and /.somo well-known Australian-middle-weight is a good ono. After his display \last week, Clarke : certainly deserves something of the sort. It is to be hoped/ too; that Leckio will be given another contest at an early,date./ . " r :The conference of centres held in; coiijunction with'th© recent New Zealand championship meeting-sat for six hours,' and transacted a large! amount of important business. On;several questions tho debating was very keen, and it is duo to,the fact that the Wollington Centre'was represented so ably by its secretary (Mr./ W. Coffey) that' it was able to carry most of tho points raised. Indeed, the conference right through, seems to have been a Dickson (Canterbury)' and Coffoy. (Wellington) contest.•: Proceedings, despite the keenness with which dele-' gates put forward the views of, their associations, were of ' a harmonious nature; throughout, and this was largely duo to an excellent chairman—Dr., Crawford.

Perhaps'tho most important question decided was the advisability of abolishing' the present system, of. centre government. :Some time ago, the. New Zealand Council; which fatheral tho proposal, suggested to the centres that they should be abolished. Principally on account of strenuous opposition.on the part of ■the Wellington Association, the question was deferred,, but tho council again returned to tho charge, and, on Wellington making a further determined protest, agreed to lofcr tho whole matter to tho conference Mcanwhilo the Wellington Association converted all tho other centres to its view, with tho result that, at the conference, a largo majority voted for tho continuance of tho present system. ...■'"'," . '. Tho rearrangement of centro boundaries— another outcome of tho conference— takes a load off the'shoulders of the Wellington Boxing Association, but' it, remains to ' bo seen whether one or two of tho now centres ivro quite capable of managing their own affairs. 'For the. sake of the.sport it is to bo hoped so. . By a : narrow majority the Canterbury proposal to limit the value of' prizes to ho oifcred for professional contests was carried, . though in view of the vigorous oppositioii.it . is doubtful whether any attempt will bo 'made-to enforce the principle. What .is wanted is not that the 'prizes" should; ,bo limited,, but that .sqmo of tho associations, should exorcise woro caxe in niatohinc pro-

fcssionals. . Tho Christchurch Sports Club, for instance, made a bad blunder in matching Griffin and Smith, Such absurdly onesilted tiifuirs as this proved to be do tho sport,more harm than good.

Apropos professional, contests, a bombshell! has been dropped in the camp or the Wellington Boxing Association by the City Council. Tiw "City Fathers," in their wisdom, have decided that the Town Hall 'shall not in future be used for boxing purposes other than amateur contests. In view of the fact that professional boxing, sinco the, solo control of the sport was vested in the boxing nnsociations by Act of Parliament, has been cle'ared of tho old abuses which tended to degrade-' it years ago, this 'decision' is a remarkable ono. Professional, boxers at tho present day areas a body as respectable a class of society as any other body of professional athletes, and certainly those engaged by the Wellington Boxing. Association.'during tho wliolo of its existence have, with one solitary exception, proved themselves good sportsmen in the ring and out of it. There seems to ben survival (in the'minds of the City Councillors) of that old barbaric conception of a professional pugilist—tho brokonnos6rl blackguard, who, in the. later decadent days of the old 'London prize ring, really did oxist, but who has utterly-disappeared : n these- days of stringent polico supervision and well-governed boxing associations. Tbo council has displayed its'ignorar.coof presentday professional'boxing in the Dominion. Nowadays the - only difference between amateurs and professionals in the boxing world is that the former receive trophies, for their winning efforts, while tho latter receive ; cash, and with this further difference in their favour—they are more' skilful .than the amateurs. Actually at the present time, it is the professional contest which arouses most interest in tho sport, and this because tho "pros.' 1 can give a better exhibition of science than the amateurs.

Even thpso opposed to professionalism in tho sport cannot : ; charge "the' Wellington Association with existing for the sole benefit of the'professional. There are never more . than four.'contests for money decided hero during the year, aid, oti : each occasion,' at least three. amateur bouts take place. _ Tho council • should at least' bi consistent in its attitude. By allowing amateur tourneys to take place; it admits tho respectability of tho sport. .It is idle for it to argue that, under .the present, governing 'body, there 13 anything degrading in the'professional congests- submitted for the approval, of' 'ocal boxing patrons. ; -, : •