BOXING CONTROL IN N.Z.

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 484, 13 October 1928, Page 7

BOXING CONTROL IN N.Z.

IS AT HIGH STANDARD CHARLES PEOPLES’S VIEWS Now that the popularity of boxing in the Eastern States of Australia has l#.en eclipsed by that of wrestling, New Zealand is becoming the Mecca of the best Australian fighters, so writes Charles Peoples, now manager of the Hay Street Gymnasium in Perth, in the course of an article in the “Perth Daily News.” Charles Peoples, who is well known in this city—and in fact throughout the Dominion —as a boxer-manager of some ability, has written: “In New. Zealand, boxing is conducted by associations supervised by the New Zealand Boxing Council, the headquarters of which are at Wellington. Such associations are found at Blenheim, Nelson, Christchurch, Timaru, and Dunedin, *in the South Island, while the North Island has similar organisations at Wellington, Palmerston North, Napier, Gisborne, Taranaki, Pukekohe, Whangarej, and Auckland. Each association consists of about 20 members and a,re each supervised by a committee of six men, including the match-maker of the association.

“Any contest in the Dominion must be recognised by the local association, which acts according to the law of the country. The rules of the association are strictly adhered to, and a boxer guilty of a breach may lose the licence which every professional boxer must have. Let that fighter be guilty of any misdemeanour or any act in or out of the ring which is not considered to be in the best interests of the game, and liis licence is cancelled. “Only qualified fighters are allowed to engage in main event contests, for

which a maximum purse of £2OO might be awarded, with average purses of £BO to £l5O for matches of lesser importance. On the sight of a fight the arena must carry at least two inches of padding under the canvas. The glove

and ring equipment are inspected by the police, who are instructed that, nothing detrimental to „ the safety of the fighters can be present. “Members of the association committee and the referee appear on the night of the fight in evening dress, while it is incumbent on each boxer to see that his boots and ring attire are clean and neat. He must be also medically certified fit to fight the scheduled number of rounds. Each second must wear white boots, flannels. and sweater. “The Boxing Council debars travelling showmen from running boxing tents at the various agricultural shows, so that the sport is never held away from its supervisors. ENfiOURAGEMENT TO AMATEURS “A point that explains the success of New Zealand amateur boxers is that preliminary contests are always between amateurs. At the Olympic Games this year Morgan won his division, while Qleverley triumphed in the Tailteann Games soon after. Another boxer to perform creditably at the 1924 Olympic Games, and who then won at Dublin, was the New Zealander. Charles Purdy, who turned professional, and won the light-weight championship of Australasia when he beat Billy Jones in Sydney this year. Johnny Leekie, formerly an amateur, has recently won the professional feather-weight championship of Aus-

tralasia, beating such men are Toni Barber, Norm. Radford, and Norm Gillespie. “Lachie McDonald, who knocked ou» Gordon Kelly for the Australian title this year, was also an amateur. Then there are many others too numerous to mention, but last, but by no means least, is Tom Heeney, world’s greatest heavy-weight title contender, who figured in many amateur contests in Gisborne.