BOXING TOURNEYS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 626, 1 October 1909, Page 5

BOXING TOURNEYS.

middle-weight contest. . CLARK AGAIN DEFEATS LECKIE. ■ ;The popularity of boxing ■in this city was 'again unmistakably shown last night, when a large gathering assembled at the Opera House to witness - the fourth tourney of (he season .under . the. auspices '■ of' the local association. Among the spectators were' the Hon. D. Buddo, Minister for Internal Affairs, and numbers of prominent citizens.: Of. theamateur.events, the contest, between Havill, of Palmerston Norfii. ; and Iggulden;'of Wellingtohj was by. far-the ; most scientific and attractive. The-return encounter between J.: Clark,: of England, and A; Leckie, of Wellington, was followed" with the closest' interest, and, once more, Clark asserted his superiority in knowledge of ' the art, generalship, and ring craft. . - AMATEUR CONTESTS. ' LEWIS AND GOODER. ,Two ladsi from., the'PhysicaV Training School V.„ Lewis: and E. Gooder—opened proceedings with a four two-minute round contest. During the' opening round Lewis was'somewhat aggre. sivei whilst Gooder contented himself with defehoe work. '.There, was nothing of '.note in round No. 2, excepting that both exerted themselves a little, which they had previously been loth to do/ In the third round both'did fair .work at- times, but : their -'blows lacked weight. : Round 4 iSaw much brisker ■ boxing. 'By arrangement,'no decision' was given.y '■ Iggulden : Excels Havill. . From - the outset the next contest, which was between A. Havill (Palmerston North), Bstl 2jlb., and: W. A, Iggulden (Wellington), ■Bst., .'gave promise of providing an interesting encounter. During the initial round Iggulden '.was. assertive, and .Havill, who was; as cool : as-a cucumber; relied mainly on heavy swings and upper-cuts. There .was some keen'hitting in-the, second round, when the pair came to'gettier frequently. The contestants took things movo quietly.'in the third; round, which,, was fairly even. On several occasions in the fourth rounds Iggulden narrowly missed' hard blows by clever-defence, and he also countered opportunely now and again, , Iggulden 'had . the best of. the -fifth round, -being espeoially suc-cessful-during its opening stages., There- was considerable excitement during the'last-round,' .which * was one - of. the hottest .seen here forsome time. By now making a point of , getting into'close quarters as' often- as possible Iggulden adopted tactics which secured for him a-popular-.verdict.- -■ •• • ■ . Lepper Surpasses Etowart.. .'Almost devoid of interest was'the succeeding battle, in ; ,which the . principals were 'two Petone" feather-weights Lepper,. (Bst; 10Jib)' and- L.'Stewart ?Bst. 101b.). In-the course of the first round-Lepper took things,easily,, and' ■ who was handicapped by nervousness, ■hit'wildly.'/ Only once: in- the second rounddid the pair come together, in l real earnest, audi'then but .for a brief.,- period.-. Neither, ieho'wed skilful' work '.during the -third' round. Early in'the fourth round Stewart did wejl in a mix-up, but, subsequently,"'Lepper had' tho best' of-matters when the pair got to close quarters; From'this out Lepper had the best of 1 the' contest,.; and received the award.Comedy: Maloney:and Turner. • Comedy would' be a better description 'than; boxing for :the; contest- that .followed, .the, contestants being'; F. /Maloney (Wellington, 9st. 51b.), and W. J. Turner (Wellington, 9st. : 181b.). Attired; in a'scarlet costume, Maloney adopted .'very peOuliar'methods,'and struok' strange attitudes... For the 'tfirst- two - rounds -he had ' his - opponeiit'iiu a .quandary as to how'.he should' DOx'him., When Maloney "edged away in-char-acteristic-' manner' .eatlji in", the '.'third . round,' arid 'smothered.' 'fnrner,' ho, . created' ; roars of laughter." by betiding over him 'and' administering/a": number: Of -Johnsonian, blows; - From' this out Maloney' tobk things more .Seriously;' but he showed litjje judgment., .Turner,-, who-neg-lected- to'-follow l up' his advantages;' did really, good'work'oply'in the'fifth 'round, i Upon the showing there- was' not; a "great' deal between .the pair,' but; Turner t emerged the winner. ';

' PROFESSIONAL CONTEST.

CLAKK V. LECKIE. .'■Ujien entering the".ring the principals'in .the' "star"., contest—J. Clark', (of England), lOst. 81b., and A. Leckie (of Wellington, 10st. 1111b.— had > a cordial • reception.-; When the' pair" met on the.previous occasion, Clark (it will be.'romembored)_ won. on points. Last night, it soon ■became qvidontv that the .contest ."was .going to bo more strenuous than its predecessor. Benefiting from the experience which he gained in the: former' match, Lcckie; made. the. pace ' a •merry one-from the outset.' Each; time ho however,iClark; came forward, .with tho result that either a mix-up or a clinch followed. As Clark got the. best of.tho'work at close quarters; Leckie. began to resort to heavy full-arm swings, but'his aim, though better than on the last.' occasion, :was still .somewhat .'astray. • Hound"2 "saw Leckie shbwjngs greatly-improved form. One of his onslaughts was repelled with a vigorous attack for the body. ' Towards . the close of the round Leckie made 'better-use of his weight,, which fact pleased' his numerous a'dmirers immensely. ' ' ' ■ During the third round Leckie boxed better than at. any other period' of the - encounter. Although he did not score so heavily when' the pair 'came together, he had much the best of the out-boxing. In roiind No. 4 Leckie used a straight left'to advantage. Invariably at this stage he ! did the leading; but'Clark showed sound hand and arm defence. Bound,s'saw Clark extend hiniself,.'with : the . result. that : Leckie'felt'the strain. ■ As.Leckie essayed.® left lead,'.'Clark caught; him -anartly Svith a hard jolt/,which had a steadying effect. - When ,the next round : opened, Clark' again put additioniil vim into; hiswork.' - Early in the round • there.-was, some'excitement owing to Glark, being successjul with a half-arm. blow as Leckio. was .retreating from a clinch. ' Towards.the conclusion ,of this round, frhich went-in his favour,. Clark occasioned the disapproval'of a' section of the crowd, by trying to' draw Leckie by. means of pulling faces. ■ ■■ ' There'was not'a great deal to pick'., and choose between the pair .in the seventh round. Once, in the, eighth round, ; Leckie was again cau'gh t' napping.' after.a : clinch;' but ■ Glark apparently did not have much weight behind the upper-cut which lie landed.' -Leckie now relaxed 'his : efforts considerably, -for a -j time. Round Xo. 9 had .not been long, in progress, before .Clark' rushed Leckie. to the, ropes t ;-but Leckie' extricated himself. bv<retaliating for the •to'dy: Soon' Afterwards, Clark, tumbled in on 1/jkie,'who was again forced; to the- ropes. .Thonext, round ,was' conspicuous for • a lively rally, jftnd ended, with, honours, 60-for ;as. it .was .concerned, fairly even. Somewhat, slower .than-its, predecessors,; round .No. 11 .was'not eventful." - As soon . as. the gong went for. the ' twelfth - roufld, 'Leckie renewed • hostilities' with commendable vigour.. His display was,' however, marred by .wild swinging; Later on.Clark put in some good work, n.ut Leqkie continued to. press gamely. In the thirteenth' round .a slower pace was maintained; but no' material advantage was gained' by - either contestant; ' go that there should be no doubt .in ■ the matter,-Clark showed his very best .form in the last two rounds. .In the penultimate round he was much more aggressive than Leckie, and scored'.' more heavily, especially "at close quarters.'' ' Round- ' 15—the final—saw both extended to their utmost. Boxing'at top speed Glark' easily maintained his ascendancy- over Leckie. Just ' after ; the commencement-; he rained quite a' torrent of blows',on him, .amid great excitement. : Subsequently ; he ' rushed Leckie .into his' cornW: and,'when .the '.pair worked-back to the centre of the ring, :Leckie accidentally; dropped on, one knee. There could be no dftubt as to which had the better of"'this; round.' "Clark .'is ' the " winner"—{< > '' Referring to - the contest, later, the referee expressed the opinion that Leckie came out on top : only, in-two of the rounds.' '■ : .