THE BOXING RING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 645, 23 April 1929, Page 12

THE BOXING RING

Notes From Far and Near

my “LEFT COUNTER"

The annual report of the Northern Boxing Association, published on Friday, shows that the past year has been successful, and that the association had come out on the credit side of the ledger by £516. The annual meeting will be held next Monday in the Chamber of Commerce. According to the newly-formed British Board of Control, the champions of Great Britain are as follow: —Flyweight, Johnny Hill; bantam, Kid Pattenden; feather. Harry Corbett; light. Sam Steward; welter. Jack Hood; middle, Alex Ireland; light-heavy, Gipsy Daniels; heavy, Phil Scott. Jim Maloney is making good progress in hi* endeavour to win the 1 heavy-weight championship, even j though his victory over Con O’Kelly I does not make him a great fighter, j O'fcelly is the Irish boxer who recently left England to try his luck in the States. Two Wins for New Zealand

It is seldom indeed that New Zealanders fill the position of top-liners on two boxing programmes in different parts of Australia in the one evening, but on Saturday evening this came to

pass. Johnny Leckie making his first appearance in Melbourne in his second tight in Australia, and Charlie Purdy making a reappearance at the Sydney Stadium. Leckie had been matched to meet Smith, but the latter’s defeat by

Roberta ruled him out, and in his stead Claude Wilson, of America, met the New Zealander. Leckie romped home an easy winner. It is possible that the pair may meet again. In his next bout the American will probably put up a better performance, as on Saturday he had not had time to become sufficiently acclimatised. It is also likely that Leckie will be matched with Roberts, the new k.o. king. If he were in America, Roberts would be called a junior light-weight, and it is to be hoped that, should he be matched with the Australian, Leckie will make him take off some weight under penalty of forfeit. At his usual lighting weight Roberts would probably be too strong for the New Zealander, and Leckie would be foolish to fight him. But so far everything is surmise. If the cables are right, Charlie j Purdy has developed into a welterweight. He entered the ring on Saturday evening weighing lOst 31b. heavier than he has ever fought before, either in New Zealand or Australia. He has fought at lOst, although he could always make the light-weight limit of 9st 91b when he was here, but lOst 31b indicates that he has filled out considerably. It will be remembered that in a recent fight —ostensibly for the light-weight championship of Australia —both Purdy and his opponent entered the ring at well above the limit. But even at his weight Purdy was giving away a deal to Bobby La Salle, who is supposed to be a weltei', but who scaled lOst lOilb. However, the New Zealander scored a good win, although over the last stages of the ! journey it looked as if he would be j knocked out—something that has not ' yet happened^ to him. Australian Order of Merit An Australian publication has rated the leading boxers in Australia to-day iu the following order: —Heavyweights, I_>. McLeod. G. Thompson, J. Elliott. “Yank" Hannaberry, P. Redmond; middle-weights, J. Haines, Ted Monson. L. Macdonald, Billy Harms. T. Cribb; welter-weights, C. Purdy. J. Carrol!, J. Pearce. Billy Richards, W. Hancock; light-weights, J. Roberts, Billy Jones, N. Gillespie. Jimmy Kelso. Roy Storey: feather-weights. Johnny Leckie. W. Smith. Billy Grime, “Cocoa" Jackson. F. Welsh: bantam-weights, W. McAlister, A. Cowan, Ted Green, “Togo” Robinson. R. Bigby: flyweights, T. Morgan, V. White, R. Cameron. F. Jackson, R. Baker. The Job of the Second During the broadcast of the bout between Leckie and Wilson at Melbourne on Saturday evening, the announcer commented on the shrewdness of Wilson’s seconds. As the round neared its conclusion the seconds busied themselves in getting ready' for Wilson on his return to his corner, including placing the chair where it could be put in the ring in the minimum of time. Wilson, reading the signs, backed toward his corner. and as the gong clanged was ready to drop into the chair without having to walk across the ring. Little points like this mean a great deal to a man when he is tired. He does not have to walk to his corner, and the I time saved means so much more atj tention. There is more in the second’s position than flapping a towel, alI though some seconds do not know it.