BOXING SANDS OUTPOINTS MULLETT IN A GREAT FIGHT

Grey River Argus, 12 April 1948, Page 7

BOXING SANDS OUTPOINTS MULLETT IN A GREAT FIGHT

t * P.A. WELLINGTON, April 11 t Though he stripped better than at 3 any stage of his career, and fought ; one of his best fights, Don Mullett, the New Zealand heavyweight champion, y was clearly outpointed by Dave Sands, t of Australia, in their 12-round con- ■ test at Petone on Saturday night. = Sands offset his weight disadvantage ' of over two stone by some spells of j beautiful boxing agai/st an opponent who relentlessly, but unsuccessfully, . sought to slow up the Australian suf- _ ficiently to nail him with one of many . powerful rights and chops when he > unleashed. | Gate crashers marred a successful t financial outcome of the contest for the Hutt Valley Boxing Association. I The attendance was estimated at 5000. t but hundreds jumped the fences. So - great was this invasion that the auths orities were almost powerless to pre- ] vent it . But for this attitude by i many people, the Association would i have cleared ah\its previous losses. > The contest was a grand spectacle, > which kept the crowd in a constant t simmer of excitement. Mullet stalk- 1 L ed his opponent after the style of Joe I Louis. There was terrific weight bez hind his punches, but many of them i missed their target. Some which 1 landed visibly shook Sands, but he • scarcely bore a mark after the fight. I j Sands rode Mullett’s punches with I consumate ease. He back-moyed with > rare judgment, weaved brilliantly, - fought his way out of trouble wh;n I I on the ropes; and he also was danger- ( . ous with his long rights to the head. ; This last blow, the most lethal in i ■ Sands’s attack, was in the main, well parried by Mullett, who had obviously > given close study to the best means of countering this threat. Like Sands, Mullett came out of the hard contest surprisingly lightly marked. In the fifth round he received a slight cut over the right cheek bone.