THE BOXING RING

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 160, 27 September 1927, Page 11

THE BOXING RING

Notes From Far and Near

===== By

“LEFT COUNTER’’

The proceeds of the Hay-Casey fight Wellington are to be handed to the ijnemployntoru Fund. > The takings at the Leekie-O’Connor ~,1,1 amounted to £470. constituting record for a boxing bout in Dunedin. Stan Thurbon. ex-champion of Aus®,ia w ho is known as a hard, willing *sfeter. may visit these shores in the -ear future. m m m t Nelson? of Greymouth, ex-amateur Titer- weight champion of New Zea- ?[*., ls tinn king of joining the professional ranks. # Curran, ex-feather-weight wwinioD of New Zealand, has gone to SSney 'Together with hia wife, he "Vied from Wellington and so far as {J, knows they will live in Sydney In tt!« future. t „ , It is proposed by the Napier Aasolation to promote two ten-round conon September 29. The proposed mlicliei! being Duke Maddox v. Hector r*ke and Tommy Griffiths v. Jimmy sirr.' cf Wellington. In i hollow of tlie pivot stone in the vidisen Squari Garden building is a. hito of Jack Dempsey, a likeness of T,x Rickard, a bottle of ginger ale, iiveral boxing contracts, miscellaneous toiris. 1 onc dollar bill and a Confederate dim J- . • There is a chance that Tommy Milli7. the English middle-weight, who •V' t j,, s loser in the recent battle with Vit key Walker for the middle-weight fxunpionship of the world, will journey W Australia in the near future. It is reported that the. Napier BoxIns Vseociation has cancelled the rUckie-O’Connor return fight. A. fine iiht resulted at the first meeting of ceir and though Leckie won on a inl»l knock-out in the 12th round, return would have been interestIns- . * • High hopes are entertained for the future of Johnny Mann, a noted Engiuh ex-amateur boxer, who has succeeded in making his mark in the profMSional ranks A. leading boxer in cnirnetitions and amateur championSSS “. boxed brilliantly in h e first MCfessioral fight and succeeded in Socking out his opponent. X London writer states that George Pook may not rank with the high-class world, but he lias a heart and physique that have carried him through many a hard-fought contest and only the best and stoutest can beat him. He is a type the public like to see, and that is why he was able to earn more money in a few years than all other heavy-weights iri England combined. yamily is nothing if not A boxirg family. There are five bovs m the business besides Archie, who is the best known trainer in the south. Johnny is the professional featherweight title-holder and Hector is another professional feather. Jim is the ■giateur heavy-weight champion and Dick and Walter are also performing amorg the amateurs. Johnny and waiter are brothers and Dick and Hector belong to another branch of tha family, but the whole are cousins. h» a contest with Havilah Uren IS ißonfhe ago, Ern Baxter suffered severe injuries to his eyes through what was •stated to be s , head-on collision. Owing !• his impaired vision, he decided to from the ring. He recently reUirned and challenged Billy Jones |or the light-weight title and a side At. Newcastle the pair 'net m & 20 two-minute rounds conwt. Baxter A’as outpointed. He showed much of his old cleverness up lU trie ninth round when he received to iis eye and he then faded <V well-known English feather- ♦ , »t* Johl,n >' Curley, was expected o s,iil f«j:r Australia at the beginning ?5 we-?k. A London message states tnat rive opponents have been selected '° **j?bt him and. that he will probably renu.ln for siven or c ight months. If «bb report; is correct it is to be hoped taat a New Zealand association will -ring Curley to the Dominion at the enoination of his Australian engageThe New Zealand featherAppear to be of good class and utn a geed English boxer opposed to r.ajti th* public would have an idea °- now they would fare in the Old Land. conference of the Australian mateur Boxing Union at which the ! ew Z®*dand Boxing Association and ir? “ le Zealand Amateur Boxing Wc-n are to be represented, has been postponed until October 19. The tUn ew Zealand Associa®n Australian championships ere refused because of the existence ni^ tWO * NMlleß ia New Zealand at the Cme. The recognised body is anrf • w Zealand Boxing Association, ar« . U \ aEy the boxers themselves rtot affected by the existence of the t u®° c * a Hon and the union, and should *refore have been eligible to compete. tw i 41 ? 13- eur relationship between the Jinion and the Commonwealth will aiscu at the conference. American coloured light-weight lirJZ’ Hall, who was refused a Hie New r Zealand Boxing 0 * cu c ’ n Hie ground that the policy coin« e j y . waa to refuse licences to Mat with the excerption of in * 118 ha<l an interesting career Jim* WniV la ' T °svthcr with Sunny ,1" '"uliams and I’risco McGale, Hall in i Sydney late in 1925, and while hi- he has met the best in wirnii* -He not succeed in in miSl! 1 ” but he did succeed on nft A Kl J 8 ' interesting for his '*a rhr 1 tS ' Bil, y Grime defeated him occasions, but though beaten Mllv nj f v not disgraced. He defeated *ncek_. * ards tw ice. once by the utd rro te. the other on points, Dun* aso knocked-out Fairhall in 11 'ounH a ? d Bert McCarthy in 18 3or n ?s, . Hall outpointed Billy Thur.J? 1 <*rew with Bid Buxton. Against • w , , . p elkey he had one win and Hall lost to Paul Demskey, ro u L ,L by a foul in the second in hT ,w? d E <3die Butcher by a foul fa,.**™ term. His last contest in the* •• 'T as Chariie Purdy and The ', rl8 *°n was given against him. thrimli ollred oxe r booked his passage riv;*i • ® an Francisco, but on artha\ th " e *^ n gton he was informed I e . was a Prospect of him obtheref 8 fi^hts in the Dominion, and he The h° T . dec ided to break his journej'. cii « n e the New Zealand Counefusi | ig a licence w r ill prevent *^ an< i enthusiasts from seeing tion a 1 nun in action. The quesis whetller the council’s decision of'.Uivi r wrong is largely a matter tw.ru. *° n ' Hall has behaved like a pieman whll- across the Tasman, hav. 1 Rame cannot be said of all who W,l to ** n there. Provided that a cr coloured, has a good th«t e in and out of the ring. fcfej * acJnc” t 0 be no da nser in

’■ie n ßl h ackbu?!,° Les - Clarland boxer of ’threl Auck§SS“ to'SrJSl'Vft Frances one-time idol o£ He out» on °n the stage in Paris, son/ g ° od turn - including a pentier tried ,I®, flnlsl ? ed fl Shting Carpenuer itried the movies, but he failed a the-ftre with' He latcly opened at • the a th n ew dance entitled and b?^ dance, m which both he Stoves' IJy P art ner wore boxing * * * Jack Johnson, in his ' Memoirs” in an wPh ri T an I , U , P n r ' states that his fight , 1 J „ e ' Sf ? Willard for the championship of the -world was a faked affair. He states that he was offered a. sum in cash and a larger share in the moving picture receipts than he was previously promised, also an assurance that ho might return to the United States from which I© was? a fugitive. It is hardly likely that this statement will be taken seriously, as the fight went 26 rounds before coloured man succumbed ,o his younger opponent. Johnson had been living a fast and easy hie, and this and his age, were the causes of his downfall. It was remarkable that he stayed as long in that fight as he did. • * m When a deputation representing the Napier and Hawke’s Bay Boxing Associations waited on the Mayor of Hastings, it was decided that the £135 collected in aid of Mrs. Roy Overend be vested in Mr A. M. Brodie, president of the Hawke’s Ba.y Association, and Mr. G. A. Maildison, acting as trustees m tho administration of the fun€. The Napier Boxing Association has subscribed over £4O in addition for the purpose of erecting a suitable headstone on the grave of the deceased boxer. The fund was contributed to by the New 2lealand Boxing Council and the following associations: Wellington, Patea, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Westport. Gisborne, Southland, and Greymouth. Individual followers of the sport also contributed. Most present-day boxers start on their fistic career at an earlier age than has been customary in the past. They have, however, learned some trade before turning to the ring as a profession. No particular calling has been responsible for starting any of the world’s champions on their ring career, nearly all of them having had begun life in different trades. Jack Dempsey started life as a farmer, and tried his hand as a rancher and a hobo before he aspired to championship honours. Jess Willard was a rancher and horse trader; Jack Johnson | was a stevedore; Jim Jeffries an iron | worker; Fitzsimmons a blacksmith; Jim Corbett, a bank clerk; and Gene Tunney, a stenographer before he became a fighter.