BOXING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 8 December 1927, Page 3

BOXING

THE NAPIER ASSOCIATION LAST NIGHT'S FINE PROGRAMME. The fine programme staged by the Napier Boxing Association last night in the Municipal Theatre was greeted' by an excellent house. In the first professional bout, between Johnnie Leckie. of Dunedin, featherweight champion of New Zealand, and Alark Carroll, of Wanganui, the towel was thrown in by the latter’s seconds in the fifth round. In the other contest. T. Griffiths, of Dunedin, was given the verdict over F. Taylor, of Auckland—a decision that met with strong disapproval from the house. The association is to be complimented upon the fine brace of amateur bouts, which were fought in clean, open style, and' at a great speed. The manner in which all the bouts were got through reflects great credit upon the committee and the various officials. Later in the evening, when it was announced that Carroll was feeling quite well, he was loudly cheered. | THE AMATEURS.

L. Knuckey, Bst 31b (Hastings) v. J. Taylor, Bst 101 b (Hastings). The bout opened with both men sparring cautiously, until Taylor. Becoming aggressive, had his man on the ropes. To this Knuckey soon retaliated, driving Taylor into the corner at the same time inflicting some telling punishment. The rest of the round saw a ding : dong go, with the lighter man getting home very frequently, although Taylor, who was using his feet well, caused him to swing some wild blows. The next round opened with Taylor connecting with a fine left, following on an even exchange of blows. Punishment was aga'n meted out, both connc 'ting with clean hits. The next round was a hurricane go. The enthusiasm of the house became unbounded. Knuckev evened up by planting his left well in quick succession. The last round saw both boys all out, clinches and in-fighting being out- of the question. Both had now become very tired, but fought to a standstill. Knuckey being awarded the judges' decision, which was accorded a mixgd reception.

T. Williams, 9st 51b (Napier) v L Eddy. 9st 101 b (Napier).

The bout opened with neither contestant willing to take a chance. After a series of fighting at close quarters, Williams broke away with a clean left to the face. Eddy now took matters more seriously, and gave Williams some telling punishment against the ropes. A straight one to the face by Williams marked the opening, of the second round Eddy then made matters interesting by chasing his man to the ropes, where he sent in a couple of .labs. An exciting opening took place in the next round. Eddy rushing his opponent to the ropes. An equal exchange of well-connected blows followed. Eddy being the more aggressive. His' rushing tactics were, however, steadied with a nasty left to the face. The last round opened at a terrific pace, Eddy rushing his man around the arena and raining in blows in rapid succession. Williams was, however, not to be denied, and until the gon- sounded he meted out punishment with both hands, scoring very freely and making up for anything that he lost earlier in the bout. He gained the judges’ ’decision, which was received with loud applause from the house. THE PROFESSIONALS.

J. Leckio Bst 121 b (Dunedin) v. Mark Carroll 9st lib (Wanganui).

Both men stripped well, Carroll having tho advantage in reach. Carroll attempted to force matters, omy to find that tho champion knew tiiu fin# points of guard. Although the referee was obliged to frequeal(y “break” them inc round was muck more interesting than is the case in the opening round of many contest#. The champion went straignt at dis opponent tn the second round but got no chance. Following a senes i>* willing in-lighting Leckio got tioiue a glancing blow to the nose, causing the blood to run freely. This seemed to warm Carroll up properly, and towards the end he was giving the champ tion all he wanted. Fighting at close quarters followed in the next round, the champion displaying a wonderful guard, at the same time making several of his short arm jabs. The Wanganui man fought stubbornly, repeatedly aiming for Leckie T> face, la the next round Carroll opened with a telling left to the face which he followed up with further well connected hits. This advantage was, however, short-lived the champion retaliating with a terrific right to the face, send ing Carroll down for nine. Going back into the mill he was very groggy, being no match for the terrific shower of blows which the champion began to bestow at will, the gong saving him from gaining a victory by the short cut route. The end, however, camo early in the next the fifth round. Carroll went into it gamely, but was no match for the champion, who, lost no time in driving home a terrific left, which sent the Wanganui man down for nine. He was hardly on his feet when he was sent to the mat after falling from tho ropes. Again the referee counted nine. Tho end camo after a brief exchange at close range. Carroll again went to tho floor, his seconds this time time throwing in the towel. Ho was helped to his corner by the champion. Leckio received a great ovation for his very clever and clean fight Griffiths Sst 31b (Dunedin) v. F Taylor Sst 71b (Auckland). Thie bout opened rather tamely, both boxers appearing to want lo got the measure of his opponent before getting down to his task serionnly. Following a series of light sparring Taylor attempted to open up the fight, but clever ducking on the part of Griffiths resulted in his efforts being of little avail. In the second round much better boxing was witnessed. Taylor was on the aggressive. While Griffith was in the n«t of rising from a “duck,” I ho Aucklander caught him with a nasty left to tho face. The third round saw much more sting in the blows of both men. Feinting on the part of Griffiths caused Taylor to nut in a lot of extra footwork, but both showed remarkable coolness in their attacks. Tho fourth round opened with in fighting in which hon ours were equal, but in getting clear. Taylor planted a nasty loft which however, did not affect his nnggcty

opponent. Tho remainder of the round was uninteresting, most of it .being at close quarters. Clever sidestepping by Taylor in the next rouna had Griffiths somewhat puzzled, the latter receiving a quota of hits to tho face in the in lighting. With half the distance gone Taylor attempted to force matters. Ho initiated several rushes but the nimble southerner was always able to avoid the heavy sulf. In the next round Griffiths attempted to do some effective work which did not materialise, through his opponent side-stepping. ’ The eighth round saw both men boxing very coolly. Taylor was quite undismayed when his opponent put in a couple of lefts and rights at short range, retaliating with effective blows to the body. The southern man now forced the pace, having slightly the better of things as the gong sounded. With the second to last round reached both men were all out tor the decision. From close quarters Taylor planted a neat upper cut with his left, afterwards rushing ins opponent to the ropes. Spurred on by wild cheering both men set out in the last round to place the issued beyond doubt. It was a great mill, Tayior replying vigorously to some effecttive two-handed jolts. Of the two Grif fiths finished the fresher, coringmore frequently in the last session. At the gong the referee raised Griffiths’ glove to which the house voiced its disapproval.