BOXING.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 238, 24 May 1928, Page 8

BOXING.

HAY v. McKNIGHT. (Own Reporter). There was a great crowd in the ! Auckland Town Hall on Friday, when Artie Hay, of Hastings, met Nelson McKnight, of Ham- i ilton, in als round contest. It was j expected that McKnight would produce a few tricks learned in America but the Hamilton boy gave a very poor showing, and was beaten in ring-craft, in boxir.g and, most surprising of all, in fighting.

It was sometime before the contestants could be induced to enter the ring, each demanding that the other lead the way. However, fifteen minutes late, they made their appearance simultaneously. Hay seemed drawn and somewhat haggard, while McKnight though showing a healthy appearance gave the impression of being muscle-bound. This proved to be the case for his I movements were very stilted, and ! Hay had his measure throughout. In j the writer’s opinion Hay won every round with the exception perhaps of the eleventh, in which honours were fairly even.

At times both men’s actions were very wild, though McKnight was the most frequent offender. Realising that his only chance was a knock-out he persisted in a wild right swing which could be seen coming on every occasion. In endeavouring to get this home the Hamilton boy stood up to some heavy punishment on the left side and kidneys, which slowed him up until he became almost cumbersome.

McKnight lost through being overtrained, through endeavouring to give away 10Mb, and through bad judgment on the referee’s part. The first has already been referred to, while a boxer has to be very outoutstanding to concede an opponent 10Mb. In regard to the referee, it would almost seem as if he was affected as much as the boxers were. Hay is a past master at holding with his left, and in the first two rounds gripped McKnight repeatedly in clever fashion, while he belaboured him with his right. All this escaped the referee, and

McKnight, evidently annoyed, held Hay rather obviously a few seconds afterwards. Evidently fearing some Yankee tricks the referee stopped the fight and loudly threatened McKnight with disqualification if he did it again. Had the referee jdone his work well in the first two rounds this incident would not have happened. Mr. Meale’s greatest lapse, however, was in the fourteenth round, when McKnight, slipping after a blow, took i full advantage of the count, only to i hear the referee say “ out ” as he stood on his feet. In the writer’s opinion McKnight had his glove off the floor before the final count, but after all such is purely a matter of opinion. In regard to the speed of the count, however, there is no doubt, and it is safe to say that even a Charlie Paddock could not run more than seventy to eighty yards at most in the time the count was made. Especially was this obvious towards the end, when “ nine,” “ out ” was given without pause. The crowd gasped, and then followed a prolonged and very general j demonstration of disapproval. It v.-as a most unfortunate ending, but j nevertheless on Friday’s form McI Knight is much below Hay in class, ; and does not seem to have improved by his trip to America. His form, however, seemed too bad to be true.