THE BOXING RING

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 112, 2 August 1927, Page 7

THE BOXING RING

NOTES FROM FAR AND NEAR It has been stated in other papers that Frank Taylor, the Auckland bantam-weight, repented his action of joining the professionals and applied for reinstatement, but that the New Zealand Council refused to entertain the application. This is not correct. Taylor has no wish to return to the amateur side of the sport and has not made application for reinstatement. He is, in fact, looking for matches. * * * The Hawke’s Bay champions are: Fly-weight, Wells; feather, Knuckey: light, M. Mitchell; welter, Repsch; middle, Gordon. Bert Brown, formerly of Palmerston North, has been doing well in Canada and America. He has had 15 fights, and won 12 of them. Johnny Leckie carried too many guns for Mark Carroll in their match in Dunedin last Tuesday evening. In the eighth round Carroll put his weight into the fight, but Leckie was much too good a boxer to be caught. He had the better of the contest throughout, and in the eleventh round, in which Carroll was down three times, the referee stopped the fight. The following team will represent Otago at the New Zealand championships at Invercargill: Fly-weight, E. M. Rix; bantam, W. Parker; feather, W. G. Leckie; light, R. Fulcher; welter, S. Hughes; middle, R. Anderson; heavy, J. G. Leckie. Reg Trowern finished well ahead on points in his contest with Billy Chambers at Sydney. The New Zealander severely punished the other boy, but tired over the last four rounds. Chambers, however, could not avail himself of the opportunity. Clinching marred the contest.

An American writer states that Billy Grime is sure to take the feather title back to Australia with him. and that if Sammy Mandel is all that he has to beat for the light-weight title, he will bring that back, too. An Australian writer says: “In a New Zealand paper I notice that Purdy is said to be better than any other boxer that left New Zealand, and the “authority’ throws in Billy Murphy, Bob Fitzsimmons, and Dan Creedon. Nothing could be so absurd.” The Scottish welter-weight, Tommy Mclnnes, is to embark on an Australian tour, states an exchange. Writing of this boxer, “Sporting Life” says: “Many consider that Mclnnes has one of the best body punches in Great Britain. This is his favourite form of fighting, and has been indirectly responsible for* a number of controversial disqualifications.” The Dempsey-Sliarkey contest provided the greatest gate ver taken at a non-championship fight.

When training for his match with Sharkey, Dempsey spent much time perfecting his famous left hook. It was too perfect for Sharkey. Tex Rickard admitted prior to the fight between Dempsey and Sharkey that Dempsey suffered an injury to his left arm while training, and though the pain was considerable, the hurt was not serious. Dempsey was also annoyed by newspaper stories of his being a “hollow shell.”

“In have never been a noted puncher, but I will out-box and out-punch Dempsey,” said Sharkey prior to meeting Dempsey. “When I hit him he will think Bob Fitzsimmons has returned to life. I am so certain of defeating Dempsey, and then Tunney, that I made a contract with a certain organisation to-day for my tenure as title-holder.” This sort of talk failed to intimidate Dempsey, though it did Wills. Jim Jeffries and Tom Sharkey, rivals of about 25 years ago, who have been appearing on a circus programme in America for some months, are to visit Australia in October. They have been booked for a 21 weeks' engagement by the J. C. Williamson Company, and will give boxing exhibitions, and probably a monologue turn. The islands in the Pacific sometimes have more to amuse them than the popular novelist’s idea of the white man going “native.” Sometimes there is a boxing match, and the following account of a fight between a representative of Fiji and a representative of Tonga is taken from the “Fiji Times”: A* fight between Ratu Ba, of Fiji, and Fakaua, of Vaini, Tonga, was sta.ged recently on a vacant plot of land in the centre of Nukualofa city. The stake was £25 a-side, and the “gate” to be equally divided after paying expenses. The battle was scheduled for 15 rounds. For a long time the Nukualofa public has been fooled with so-called fights that never came to anything more than howling farces and fakes. This one was different; both were out to win, and a willing go from start to finish was the order of the day. Early in the third round the Fijian managed to land a beautiful wallop on the Tongun's eye, nearly closing that useful member. The tactics he repeated at intervals, sort of stirring up the old stuff, and eventually partially “bunged” up the other lamp. The scrap lasted 11 rounds, and was lost by the Tongan through exhaustion. Pie was not actually knocked out. As a slogging match it was exhilarating, but as an exhibition of the science of boxing it was a failure. Anyhow, the audience enjoyed it, and there is no doubt that one at least of the combatants did, too. The winner’s share of the profits was £56, and the loser, besides getting a couple of black eyes and a sore feeling generally, collected £3l. RUSSELL REGATTA CLUB A meeting of the Russell Regatta Club was held in the Public Hall at Russell on Friday, when it was decided to hold a modified regatta this coming season. Outboard motor events will occupy the major portion of the day’s programme. The outboard speed championship of New Zealand will be competed for and it is expected that the yachting centres throughout the Dominion will be well represented. A proposed programme of the outboard events will be distributed among the yacht clubs, and a promise has already been received from as far south as Dunedin that that centre will be a competitor for the sfteed outboard championship of New Zealand. Mr. T. R. C. Low was elected president, and Mr. IP. S. Williams was appointed secretary.