IN THE RING

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1932, Page 19

IN THE RING

Br "Aeneas"

A FIASCO

HANNABERRY V. SULLIVAN

PURSE OF ABOUT £1 1

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am disappointed with the showing of theso two men, and I will not give any decision. I will give my opinion to the committee." This was the rather startling announcement which was made by Befcree J. D. Donovan, at the conclusion of the boxing contest between "Yank" Hannaberry (12st) and Billy Sullivan (12st 41b) in the Hastings Drill Hall last week, and with it the association once more provided a sensation for its fans, states the Napier ['Daily Telegraph." In the meantime, it cannot be said who won the contest, or what is to happen to the purse, small as it might be, for it is understood that only about £.11 was available for division between the boxers. [Subsequently the association declared the bout "no contest."] The referee's action naturally created a topic for discussion, and the opinion was freely expressed that if he intended such action, he should have taken it earlier, and not waited until the contest was finished. One hundred per cent, of those present agreed that the contest was disappointing, but when it came to .saying that this was through the boxers not doing their best, it was a different matter. In fact, the majority were satisfied that they were doing their best. It was simply that their styles would not mix. Sullivan was undoubtedly tho stronger, fighter, and forced the pace. He was al^o awkward to hit. Realising this, Hannaberry adopted'a more or less defensive attitude, by which he made Sullivan miss badly, but he himself would not take the risk of standing toe to toe with his more rugged opponent, and .the result was a disappointing contest. Audience Dissatisfied. - Naturally, the crowd did not appreciate the position, and in the third round the referee was heard to warn the boxers to "put more sting into it," but the warning had ao effect. The most lively round of the lot was the eighth, when the boxers started' to "mis it." The : mixing, however, was not very thorough, and after a few seconds they were back at the same style of battling—Sullivan leading and Hannaberry ducking and dodging and invariably making Sullivan look somewhat foolish. There is no doubt that in his evasion Hannaberry was clover, and.really pretty to watch; but even this ; gradually becamo tiring to tho crowd, and more' than once he was roundly hooted for holding, and once also for using the "rabbit killer" punch. This, hooting was very pronounced in the twelfth session and again in the thirteenth, and when the fourteenth started a couple of. pennies found their way into the ring. When the last round started, someone called for a grandstand finish, but it.seemed as if'the boxers had not a finish left. The crowd started to count them. out. The count out finished almost simultaneously with the sounding of the gong, and then came the referee's dramatic announcement. Another Account. The bout was an impertinent farce from beginning to end (states the "Hawkes Bay Heraia"), and one of the officials of tho association privately expressod his view that the association had been "made a fool of." The whole of tho fifteen rounds consisted of a succession.' of' unbroken" stage-play, in which hardly one single blow of "any real sincerity was struck. At first the audience, which was fairly large, took the thing as a joke, and exercised their wit upon the two men. ■ Later, when it became obvious'that neither man intended to change his role of actor in the farce, the audience became extremely impatient, ana in the fifteenth round counted the contestants out. In more than one round the men seemed to make absolutely no effort to disguise their tomfoolery, and in; others there was but a thin disguise of hisses, angry look's, and seemingly savage' blows that aid not land; or landed in an apparently deliberately chosen ana harmless spot. Hastings has never before seen anything worse in. the boxing game. . Sullivan made amends in his next contest, knocking out "Blaekie" Miller at New Plymouth on Wednesday night in the eighth lountl. i . ■. A Win to Thornton. Bob Thorton, in his first ifight since returning to Australia from New Zealand, proved top good for Pat Appleton in their bout at the lieichhardt Stadium last week. Appleton was,altogether too wild in his punching, and, leaving himself open, he was a real target. In most of his previous contests in Sydney, says an Australian writer, especially when fighting his way up in the preliminaries, Thornton relied almost wholly on his right, and he practised defence very little. Against Appleton he brought the left more into play. Tho referee stopped the contest in the twelfth round wlien a cut above the eye proved troublesome to* Appleton. A Worth-while Bout. According to all accounts the clash bot\yeen Billy Sullivan and Blaekie Miller at Hawera this week was a good exhibition, the Hastings man completely redeeming himself after his unsatisfactory bout with Hannaberry at Napier by knocking out Miller in the eighth round after a vigorous^ display of speed and heavy punching. It is generally considered that Sullivan was hardly to be blamed for the fiasco at Napier> as he was not allowed to fight, although he wanted to. Under the circumstances a return bout, between Sullivan and . Miller should commend itself to the Wellington Association, which has been quite a spell without fights. The local public likes to see the big men in action occ ionally, and the meeting could probably be staged in conjunction with the amateur tvyout between Harold Thomas and. Val. Borcovsky. It would make an exceptionally attractive programme. Notes. Tommy Fielding and Bobby Delaney. were to meet last night a.t the Leiehhardt Stadium. ' ' Pablo Dano, one of the recent importations to Australia, met Vie White at Sydney recently, and while- not boxing right up to his reputation as one of the world's best flyweights, was not entirely disappointing to a capacity house, which yielded a gate of £220. A little "husky," revealing great strength, Dano punches rather hard and can use both hands well to body and face. He was open, however, to straight hits, with which the Sydney boy scored. "White was down for seven in the fifth, and was floored again just as the gong sounded the end of the concluding twelfth round. Dano was adjudged the winner. The Australian lightweight champion, Bobby Delane-y, defended his title recently against Norman Eoy, and" won without difficulty. Against weak opposition Delaney was more versatilo than usual, and used both hands well. Boy was saved by tho gong in the second round when he was down for eight, and the one-sided battle ended in the fourth, when the challenger was.knocked out.

Lectio and Donovan 'agreed' to fight at catch weights in their open-air bout at Napier yesterday, so that Leckie'a featherweight crown was not at stake.