THE BOXING RING

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 964, 6 May 1930, Page 14

THE BOXING RING

NOTES FROM FAP AND NEAR BY 'LEFT COUNTER."

Fixtures: Donovan v. Grime, Hawera, May -16. Trowern v. Hancock, Wellington, May 19. Donovan v. Leckie, Napier, May 21. • a * And the much-boosted third contest la over. Donovan wins again. Ambitious Grime is still wanting a match with welter, middle and light-heavy-weight champion Artie Hay. * * * Two return bouts which have been arranged should be interesting. Grime is reported to have been holding close to Donovan when he accidentally iouled the Waitaran. and Trowern was ;i winner in the opinion of nearly all t-xcept the referee when Hancock took the decision. m * * Phin Stone, the Wellington welter, lias returned to New Zealand. He won three preliminary fights in Sydney, but was then unable to get a main event owing, it is stated, to his trainer having made the mistake of starting him in the preliminaries instead of in main events. Stone is ready to take on any of the welters at present in New Zealand.

If Leckie's technical knock-out defeat of Leslie can be taken as an indication of a return to old-time form the ex-champion will not star*-© for rights. His next battle will be with Donovan for the feather title and if he can defeat or hold Donovan to a ♦ ■lose decision Leckie will be in demand.

The report comes from the Dollar 1 ,and that Camera has a new man-

. i ger, Leon See having relinquished that position at a cost of £30,000 to Billy Duffy, a New York manager. As See has been getting 35 per cent, of the huge one’s earnings. Camera will have to win £IOO,OOO before Duffy’s optimism will begin to pay. George Cook is reported to have been signed to .meet the Italian on May 19.

“Human Gorilla” Wo have some fine specimens in the ring at the present time, but there will be something doing if the latest discovery is let loose. On a recent trip to Havana, Jess McMahon, an American match-maker, discovered a “human gorilla” weighing 3001 b. seven feet nigh, who thrives on blood and raw beef. “I’m afraid he’s too terrible to put in the ring,” McMahon told an American writer. “He might eat his opponent alive if he got mad and hungry.

. Boxing or Cigars? The broadcasting announcer of the Dunedin Sarron —Donovan fight was Mr. George Aldridge, secretary of the New Zealand Boxing Association. At times he stirred listeners to unbounded excitement by telling how various officials were celebrating their success by smoking Corona-Coronas and of their meanness in not presenting him with any. Then he joyfully exclaimed that this deficit had been remedied and That cigars were being handed to hirfi one after the other. Mr. Aldridge would have don© better to have filled the minute spells between rounds by giving a constructive criticism or summary of the previous round, instead of commenting on the devotion of his friends to the fragrant weed.

Lou Bloom, sparring -partner to Sarron, is anxious to take on Donovan, for whom he -will scale 9st 41b ringside. He is confident that he can defeat the New Zealander. * * * Tommy Mclnnes and Billy Thomas, who have both appeared in Auckland, were to have fought in Sydney on May 1, but no report of the bout has been received. * C Kt Shack and the “Tiger” Arrive Two American boxers, Sammy Shack and “Tiger” Anderson arrived yesterday from Australia. Shack, dressed in the height of fashion, with a well-modu-lated voice and the hands of a pianist, looks anything but the popular conception of a pugilist. In fact, he might be anything but a man who plies the padded fists for a livelihood. However, ho has the record and is well-

known in New Zealand as a first-rate fighter on account of his battles in Australia. In two contests in Dunedin last year he defeated Bobby Delaney and lost an extremely close decision to Johnnie Leckie, then in his prime and idol of New Zealand’s Edinburgh. Shack is keen to fight in Auckland and in particular wants Donovan or Sarron. Then again he would like to fight Leckie or anybody else who thinks that he can fight. As a proof of his keenness Shack will give 10 per cent, of his share of the purse to the hospital if he can get a shot at Donovan and he will give 5 per cent, against anyone else. “That’s just to get a start to show them that I can fight. Anyway I’ll do my best.” Shack is able to do nine stone and should not find difficulty in getting plenty of work in New Zealand. Tho “Tiger” is no talker. He wants to get a fight and although he did not intend staying unless guaranteed one, he may reconsider his decision and stay. He is a welter-weight who lias contested six good fights in Australia. He makes no bones about saying that he lost five of them, but produces cuttings to show that all were fights and not gentle tapping affairs. With Paul, Hancock, Trowern and Hay about he should not be long in climbing into the ring.

Heavy-weight Title Jim Broadfoot appears to have fourld weight a big handicap in his fight with Campbell for, from the reports of the match, he did not show his usual form. The Southerners consider that Campbell would have knocked out the Aucklander if he had not broken the bones in one of his hands, but it is very doubtful if Campbell could do that, for Broadfoot is a tough specimen if ever there was one, and the new heavy champion is not a remarkable puncher. Two professional fights and now the champion is a unique record.

Born 25 Years Too Soon On the night of the recent lamentable affair in Madison Square Gardens, New York City, between Tod Morgan and Benny Bass, junior light-weights, in which the latter took the crown,

there might have been observed after the performance a squat, dusky individual with shaven head and drooping moustache, leisurely making his way up and down the aisles, picking up stray papers and rubbish, says a New Y’ork writer. Just one of a small army of employees at the Garden, a little, old coloured man mopping up, earning a weekly stipend sufficient to buy lodgings and eats and see the old life through to the end. Mopping up, did I say. That’s a good term when used in connection with this particular individual, for the time was when this coloured man was among the truly great in the ring, and is down in the records as one of the best moppersup the sport of pugilism has ever produced. He must have got a long, silent laugh out of the Bass-Morgan “fight,” but w r hat his feelings were he kept to himself, for it’s not wise or diplomatic for an employee to knock or belittle a show put on by. the boss, especially when the boss happens to be a big-hearted, generous person, who likes occasionally to play Santa Claus in a quiet, modest way and make it possible for a veteran of the ring to eke out a living wage. Understanding the situation, I did not bother this coloured chap with unnecessary embarrassing questions. I knew well enough what his feelings were, and how he regarded the fight racket today. Too bad he was not born in a later day. Believe me, folks, he would not be picking up papers and rubbish, for a living, but would be riding pretty on top of the world, with plenty of wealth and fame. There never was any wealth in this boy’s life, but there was plenty of fame, and as long as boxing is kept alive, in all parts of the globe, the name and fame of Joe Walcott will never be forgotten. What soft pickings the modern crop of lighters would be to Joe Walcott, the former great welter-weight, who went after the best no matter the weight; the boy who knocked out Joe Choynski; the old “Barbadoes Demon,” who, back in 1901, on December 18, at Toronto, Canada, knocked out “Rube” Ferns in five rounds for the welter-weight title, and who thereafter made life miserable for fighters 30 and 401 b heavier. Well, here he was, picking up papers and rubbish from the floor, while two boys in a ring patted each other in a game of tag for two rounds and the loser getting something like 30,000 dollars for his efforts. Why, when Walcott fought, Joe did not believe there was so much money in the whole world, let alone in a single fight.

WRESTLING GOSSIP

The Wellington wrestling season is scheduled to open on May 13, when it is expected to stage the ’ George Walker—Ramzan Khan bout, which was’postponed owing to Walker suffering a poisoned leg. It is possible that Fred Ebert will be engaged to meet the- winner a fortnight later. “Scotty” McDougall dislocated a finger in the second round of his bout with Alex Lundyn last Monday and this, he says, hampered him throughout the contest. McDougall is anxious to secure another bout in Auckland to show that he can wrestle.