An Affair of Honour

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 857, 28 December 1929, Page 18

An Affair of Honour

Shaking Hands Under Shower!

H BOXING duel to settle an affair of honour between the head of a wellknown London hotel and a racing motorist was fought in secret in the West End recently. It was first suggested that the affair, which is said to have involved the name of a woman, should be decided by a duel with weapons, but a distinguished member of the National Sporting Club persuaded them to wipe out the score with the gloves. Accompanied by their seconds, doctors, and a party of city and West End sportsmen, including • several titled people, they met shortly before six o’clock at a gymnasium at Charing Cross. The fight was staged under Queensberry rules in a 12ft ring. Captain Jackson refereed, and the editor of a

sporting paper acted as timekeeper. Both men wore boxing shorts and vests, and before entering the ring were examined by two doctors. It was to be a fight of six two-minute rounds. One man was aged about 40, the other about 30. The younger man knew a little about boxing, but his opponent apparently nothing. In the first round they went at each other hammer-and-tongs, and within the first few seconds both drew blood. They fought themselves to a standstill. In the second round the elderly man was still battling gamely, but toward the end the younger man put him down for a count of nine. He made a plucky effort to carry on, but was knocked into the ropes, and the referee called the fight off. The young racing motorist had won.

Amid the laughter of their friends the duellists shook hands under the gymnasium shower-bath.