LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 26, 31 July 1939, Page 4

LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE

HELD BY RAYNER

DRAW WITH AITKEN

i SURPRISE ACT BY SECOND (From "The Post's" Special Reporter.) In a fifteen-round bout for the pro- \. fessional lightweight boxing championi ' ship of New Zealand, Clarrie Rayner, : ' of Blenheim, the holder, drew with . Billy Aitken, of Wellington, at the I Opera House, Palmerston North, on j Saturday night. Rayner retained the 'title, but the majority of the biggest , "house" in Palmerston North for many years was of the opinion that he \ obtained a clear-cut victory. ■ Rayner boxed with considerably ■ | more confidence than his opponent, 'who, strictly speaking, could quite '■ well have been disqualified in the final round. The reason was that one of the boys in his corner, suspecting that vaseline was being applied to Ray- ; ner's face during the break prior to I the round,_ rushed across the ring and, j to the amazement of everybody, started | wiping Rayner's face with a towel. |He was still wiping when the gong ■for the final round sounded. The referee halted the bout and sent the youth- from the ring post haste —but the incident might have cost Aitken the bout. There was an abundance of action over the whole journey and, taking it all round, the crowd was well pleased. Aitken'did useful work with a straight left, but Rayner—in Itis very best form—boxed splendidly, punching cleanly with both hands and making his opponent miss very badly on occasions. In the preliminary professional bout -—over eight rounds—Joe Collins, of Manawatu, former Empire Games representative, beat Tom Loveridge, of Taranaki, on points. It was a catchweight contest. FAST PUNCHING. Rayner weighed 9st 7_lb and Aitken 9st 71b. Fast punching at close range by both boys, characterised the early stages of the first round, but Aitken scored with a left and a right when he bored in. Rayner drove a left to the face, but there was little power behind it. There was a roar when Aitken slammed home two lefts to the face and pummelled , Rayner on the ropes. Aitken crashed a left and a right to Rayner's head in the second session and the latter bottled Rayner up on the ropes for a spell. Clever weaving by Rayner prevented his being punished, but Aitken got a few. home. Aitken scored with a neat straight left and a solid right cross in round three, and Rayner was content to cover up for a spell. At this stage Aitken was beating him to the punches, and Rayner stopped a barrage on the ropes. He almost fell through the ropes on one occasion, and there were yells of disapproval as Aitken attempted to land a heavy left as Rayner was recovering his balance. Rayner ducked cleverly. Spasmodic fighting at long range featured- the fourth round, and both landed their quotas of blows, Rayner favoured a right cross, and "Aitken a rapier-like left. Both were moderately effective. Aitken, swinging some of his punches, sometimes missed. The fifth round was almost a repetition of the previous one. There was plenty of action, a fair amount of weight in the punching, and no one was complaining. The pace continued a cracker in round six, and Aitken scored well when he had Rayner forced against the ropes., Rayner slammed a right to Aitken's face; Aitken grinned happily, but the blow hurt. Rayner's landing a further right to Aitken's head in round seven was the signal for some real fireworks. Both slammed punches at each other and honours were easy. Rayner made Aitken miss and had considerably the better of a toe-to-toe exchange just prior to the gong. Rayner rushed out in round eight, evidently looking fo£ a quick victory, but Aitken was playing safe and, weaving and ducking cleverly, managed to avoid at least a portion of Rayner's deliveries. Aitken had a turn on attack, and a solid right to the point, knocked Rayner over, but he was up before the count started. Round nine was a hectic affray, with Aitken on top in the early stages and Rayner in the latter. The gem of the evening up till this stage was a beautiful left to Aitken's jaw by Rayner. Aitken was the aggressor in the tenth round and, bottling Rayner up, lie rattled home some left and right rips to the solar plexus. Positions were reversed in round eleven, and for a time Rayner scored very well in close. Rayner landed a hard right and Aitken weaved away from trouble. He darted in smartly with a left to Rayner's face, but Rayner was attacking at the gong. Aitken crashed to his knees when he missed with a swinging left and sailed past his opponent in round twelve. The pace was still on, but Aitken was inclined to hold at times. Rayner did some useful work with a left jab in close. In this round and in round thirteen he crashed home three successive rights. Aitken scored occasionally, but ■at this stage he appeared to be well behind. At the end of the round he was bleeding slightly from a cut on the cheekbone. Round fourteen had the crowd in an uproar, but Rayner was well on top both at long range and in close. Aitken's most effective work during the round was to push Rayner through the ropes. He appeared to need a knockout to win. There was a mild sensation in the final roxmd, as has previously been mentioned, but Rayner fought him off well,' and was scoring again at the gong. The decision of a draw was surprising". The referee was Mr. G. Watchorn. WIN FOIt COLONS. Displaying superior generalship all round Collins had little difficulty in beating Loveridge in the professional preliminary. Loveridge looked considerably heavier than his opponent, but he was carrying some condition. Collins scored time after time with a stinging left, for which Loveridge had no effective counter. Loveridge did practically his only scoring when he bored in and scored at close range. It was not • scintillating bou. by any means, but the decision in favour of Collins was the only possible one. The amateur bouts resulted:— D. Prentice, 9st 41b, beat R. Cantwell. 9st. on points; D Caughlan. lOst, beat S. Richards, lOst 71b. on points; J. Jones, Bst, beat V. Dye, 7st 71b, on points. ______________ ________ 1