BOXING

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2152, 19 May 1914, Page 3

BOXING

PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNEY . EVENTS OF FIRST NIGHT GOOD SHOWINGS-ANB BAD Tho Wellington Provincial Championship Boxing Tourney wa;s commenced in the Town Hall lust night. The form shown by flic competitors was of about average quality, although some new lads appeared with much more' than average skill. Others wore, however, equally disappointing, and breaches of tho rules were very frequent. For this tournament the association have revert«l to the two judges plan, with a referee Messrs. 11. J). Smith and J. E! Staples acted as judges, and Mr. C. K. iindge as referee, Mr. Bridge sought to enforco a very strict observance of the rules as interpreted here, which practically forbids any hitting in clinches, but in- this he was not supported either by the boxers or tlw crowd.

Tho attendance was poor, numbering certainly less than 1000, Time was when a boxing display of.-any sort would ml any place of amusement iu New Zeabut the public have grown to be discriminating, even fastidious, uml now they do not throng to sec- performances little above mediocrity. Following are'accounts of the bouts decided. The finals will bo contested this evening;— BANTAM-WEIGHT. L. Thompson, est. lib. (Wellington) beat B. Andrews, Sst. 218 (Wellington). This disturbance was—merely a disturbance. Very early the two'boys began to rush into clinches, grapple each, other close, ami hit for the body with the free. hand. This flagrant breach of the rules occurred with great frequency, and had it been possible to discover who was to blame most the affray plight have been ended:. Tlw series of clinches wont on, and the boys liad to bo torn asunder 6y the referee practically every time. After three rounds tho judges disagreed and the refer.ee ordered another round. At tho ■ end of it tho judges still disagreed, and the referee declared for Tlicmpson. The margin in his favour must have been small, but it Appeared ho was tho less at fault in tho holding serirnniagesf above referred to.

FEATHERWEIGHT. E, lloary, Sst. (Weßfngton) fcsat C. Wilson, 9st. (Wellington). In the first round Leary boxed and Wilson waited to deliver a punch. This ho did several times when Lcary did not happen to bo there. It was easily Leary's round. Early in the second Wilson landed a heavy right to tlio jaw and Leary took the coinit of nine," A second later another, not, nearly so dangerous, gave Leary tlie chance to take a .further rest and at the count- of "nino" ho jumped on his tors to shake Wilson with a straight-driven right to tbo chin. A little later Leary" went dowif as if .in pain for a hit .-jWod to be low, and again for another light body blow, but ho recovered and finished the round fairly well.—Wilson's round. The third round was very livoi.v. le&ty punched and hammered Wilson round tlio ring for about <KS seconds and then i both boxers were sadly tired. Lea>\v '■ always showed all his wonderful skill I m, blocking and dttckmg.. Wilson's mighty swings and upper-cuts, and finished the stronger of the two. i'lio decision in favour of tearv was well received. Stewart, 9st. (Petons) boat Sklrrley Bst. 131b. (W.oniflgton). Skinley, a likely {oddng ind enough and a two-handed boxer, «•=« still no match for the mare experienced Stewart, iho WeUniaton hoy had no defence in extricating himself from such tangles as occasionally occur in a. rejrutW I ,t , ln l tl ! 0 ring, and it was t&ii that he had to take his pmiislunent. throush tho second round.

h»; n" n r, . Sst m tCrass creek), beat D. Defoo, gst. {Wellington), An excellent bout. The bov from the country is a thoroughly Kotl-taught boxer with rare versatility m<l rt ill. Moo s onsets he always blocked with the greatest coolness anef. confidence, nni nevermico was lie caught- uap-pinj;. Oil e A f landj his tnck « SD " iu «'> selected by boxers nowadays, of -emmterug everything with spirit, might Defoe unawares more than once. -Neither lad «as liurt,_but Defoe was badly beaten at the beginning of the kst.wund/ajHl he tried to get square by a desperate effort, roughing Oliver round the viw. He had rather tho worst of the scuffle and thereafter Oliver was never in anv difficulties.

WELTER-WEIGHT, J. Hunter, lost. sib. (Wellington), boat W. J. M'Fariane, lost. Tib. (wefMnston). The bout was unsatisfactory from the beginning. M'Farlane was warned very early tor holding, and the warnitm- was repeated more oiton than it need' nave been. Ho was majiy times guilty of the major oftence of holding aad hitting, and Ins frequent flagrant- breaches causal niVi. aho t0 ,IoW - Hunter escaped all ATI' arlane'e undeniably da-jiKerotis swings safely, and scored what poiuts wero going in a very poor bout. In' the third round M'Fariane was disqualified for holding, and the referee was treated to an unmerjted hostile demonstration. If he icaSe any mistake at all, it was in being ove'r-lenkmt to M'Farlane. MIDDLE-WEIGHT. B. Flnnle, list. (Wellington) boat W. N. Weston, list, 31b. (Wellington), Finnie c began as usual by slamming tho other man wherever he could reach him, but mostly he dammed Weston's gloves, shoulders, and elbows. He landed a very feeble straight left almost at will, and perhaps four times in t>lo bout sent across a fairly tmart right totho head. Weston manoeuvred as if he suspected himself of having a punch, but although opportunities ottered now nwi again, tho punch was never apparent. Finme won very easily.

Krausen, 11st. gib. (Wellington) beat H. Cahill, lost. ifllb. (Wellington). This was a faraxomedy affair. C:ihill, dark-skinned, long-armed, and long-haired, always telegraphed what was coining boforo letting one- of his terrific swings loose, and, of course, tiiey never hit anything' vulnerable. Occasionally, ho landed other blows well, but they wore not forcefal. He also showed absolnto kiek of form ami poor knowledge of the rules of boxing as interpreted here. Half-way throiigh the second round, vheii CaJiiU had fallen through the ropes, and was obviously treating the affair as a jofcß, the referee stopped the bout. HEAVY-WEIGHT. J. Clacling, I2st, 4lb> (Pot'one) beat W. Hume,, list. 81b. (Welltafiton). The men had been boxing for about a minuto whon Hume fell down, ami stayed down for a fetv seconds. The referee ordered him to get up, saying: j "Get up, Hume! You're not hit " I Gladins said: "What rot! He's hit." Mr. Bridge at onto raised Glading's Clove, and ended tlie liont. In point of fact, Glading hit Hume on th<? side or back lightly as the men rushed into a clinch, but it whs certain!* , not a Mow, of any. weight, e*3 it Jjaded on a nsrt

'■veil guarded with muscle. It appeared, however, that Hume tripped'ovcr Ins opponent's thigh in the scramble, and this mijjht have accounted for hjs laliiiiK. Hume got up at once afterwards, and limped to Ins comkt. but ho jus in no distress. . Tlie crowd at the "aekottlio'-liall hooted again at the referee's decision. '

Referee's fluflngs. ■ -. ■■■Interviewed after'iiis night's work has over as to liis interpretation of the nut's as to hitting in clinclles and his insistence on the .wen making a clean break, .Mr. Bridge said that he had acted strictly in accordance tvitli the rU -) " i,'l' llio rul ° is c ' ear clloU sV ho said) that a man must not bit unless Jio has his two hands free.,- \ man may hit while he is beiuir held by his opponent, but even if one'of his hands is neid he. nmy not hit with tho. other, uecanßo under these circumstances his two hands are not free. Tilat is the rule. Similarly a man may wot hold with one nand and Lit with the other." Asked about the disqualification of •I 118 ,,, 1 " lhe 'wavj-wciglit bout, be said; lirom what I saw of the occurrence, my opintosi is that Hume went down without being struck, and' tho rule is that a man going down without ueiiig struck must get up a.mi resume immediately.. I Ordered him twice to got up, aji<! as ho did not do so I had no option but to give the decision to tho otner man," ■■