THE BOXING RING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 342, 1 May 1928, Page 11

THE BOXING RING

Notes From Far and Near

By

"LEFT COUNTER"

On leaving the shores of Australia, “Tiger” Payne, who won the heavyweight championship of tha’t country, forfeits the title, which reverts to George Thompson the former holder.

Norman Radford, the clever English feather-weight, has returned to Australia and is matched to fight Tommy Barber, the former feather-weight champion of Australia, early this month.

In a cable from Portland (Oregon), Mr. Richard Lean, manager of Stadiums, Ltd., says: “The following boxers are leaving America on May 2 arid 3 for Australia: Charlie Van Rudan (bantam), Tommy Jones, light-weight (New York), Benny Peltz, feather (San Francisco), Danny Lewis, welter, Joe Marcus, light-weight (Portland), Vance Wampler (Seattle), and West Ketchel, middle-weights. Jack Carroll, welter-weight champion of Australia, is anxious to fight Johnny Sullivan, the English middle-weight.

“Carroll is confident he can defeat the English boxer, and will give away weight to get a chance at him,” said Carroll’s trainer. “When he sparred with Sullivan, who is away from my gymnasium, he used to tickle up the English fighter, who, after a few tussles, gave up boxing with him. I think Carroll can defeat Sullivan.”

Bantam-weights are scarce in New Zealand at the present time. Frank Taylor, of Auckland, recently advanced a claim for the vacant title, but this was not allowed. Advice now comes from the South that the trainer of H. Larsen, the amateur bantam of Wellington, is anxious to turn his charge into the professional ranks if a guarantee can be offered. The Wellingtonian should make a worthy opponent for Taylor. There are too many New Zealand titles vacant, and if a bout for the bantam-weight title was staged between Taylor and Larsen one championship would be settled. Taylor is only a light bantam and can make the fly-weight limit, but it is not known whether Larsen can do the same.

Mason and Socks for Australia “Kid” Socks, a leading English bantam-weight, is due to leave England this month en route for Australia where he will meet Billy McAllister,' the Australian bantam champion. It is probable that Harry Mason, present holder of the European light-weight championship, will accompany Socks. The English bantam holds a decision over Elky Clarke and he recently outpointed Johnny Brown, holder of the European title. It is on the cards that the fight between McAllister and Socks will be for the bantam-weight championship of the British Empire.

Mr. E. Davis’s Generous Gift The Northern Boxing Association showed a loss of nearly £B9 on the year’s work, but at the annual meeting last week Mr. Ernest Davis said that he would have much pleasure in making up the deficit, thus allowing the association to commence the new year on the right side of the sheet. Mr. Davis is well known in Auckland sporting circles for his generosity, and his gift to the Northern Association was made in liis usual quiet and modest way. Mr. Davis and his brother, Mr. Elliot Davis recently gave £25 towards the cost of sending the Olympic team to Amsterdam. Auckland is indeed fortunate in having such men among its supporters of sport.

Gillespie proved a hard nut for Leckie to crack on Saturday evening when the pair met at Dunedin. The I contest went the full distance, Leckie being the victor on points. Full accounts of the fight are not yet to hand and so a definite criticism of the fight cannot be made. “It is common to hear people talking about the Government establishing a board to control boxing,” writes Charlie Lucas, the well-known trainer. “Such a board, in my opinion, is an impossibility, for one reason that it could not pay for itself, and for another that the country is too small in a boxing sense, I maintain that Stadiums, Ltd., which has made boxing worth while in this country at the cost of many thousands of pounds, should become the governing body for the game throughout Aus- | tralia. I think the company should i take up control of the sport in a similar way to the A.J.C. (N.S.W.), V.R.C. (Victoria), and racing clubs In other States in regard to horse-racing. The different State Governments should legalise control; then clubs, referees, boxers, and trainers would all have to be registered.” Leckie and Green The following paragraph taken from the Sydney “Referee” should be of interest to followers of boxing in New Zealand: Theo, Jackie, and Ted Green, who went to New Zealand a few short weeks back, returned on Saturday full of praise of their wonderful time in that hospitable land. The reason of their hasty return is not the nonsuccess of Teddie, for, though beaten by Leckie, he made a big name for scientific attack and defence. The cable news concerning the battle appears to have been somewhat misleading. It appears that Green was the more likely winner when he ceased firing in the tenth round owing to a head bump received a round of two earlier. Theo states that he, the referee, and one of the judges thought his brother was winning when the contest ended, and the other judge thought that if Green had continued as lie was going in the ninth and tenth sessions, he would have won. Leckie was so impressed with the little fellow’s science that he wanted Green to stay and act as sparring partner. If he would return to the Dominion, Teddie would receive a hearty welcome, lie came home because he was attacked by sciatica, after recovering from the concussion. Mickey Walker’s Hard Fight Mickey Walker won the referee’s decision, but Jack Willis won a moral victory, in their battle in America recently. The middle-weight champion of the world, badly battered and hopelessly outclassed at various stages in the early rounds, came back with the furv and determination of the Trojan of old in the hectic and nerve-racking closing sessions of a gruelling battle royal to receive the referee’s decision. Willis literally wilted away in those last three telling rounds—the eighth, ninth, and tenth, but he was doggedly standing on his weary legs, fighting back desperately and courageously when the final bell sounded, to receive the plaudits of a crowd of 11,000. Many of those persons lingered minutes after the finish to accord Willis a rousing reception of hand-clapping and cheering. Some remained to hoot the referee’s decision, and to shower him with a fusillade of programmes and newspapers as he walked down the aisle.

From start to finish the slam-bang encounter held the crowd spelL bound.

Critics of the manly art of selfdefence were unanimous in the belief that Walker his seen his palmiest days. If Mickey’s showing is the best he has to offer, the middle-weight crown will not rest long on his brow. Many ringsiders also voiced the opinion that Walker is at the end of his rope. It was not the same Mickey Walker who, as welter-weight champion, punched “Lefty” Cooper into submission at Ewing Field three years ago. Much of the champion’s speed has gone. He does not punch as strongly nor iis accurately as of yore. But he is still tough, and can take a whale of a beating.