AMATEUR BOXING

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1057, 22 August 1930, Page 6

AMATEUR BOXING

N.Z. CHAMPIONSHIPS AT PALMERSTON RESULTS OF INITIAL BOUTS Special to THE SUN PALMERSTON N., Today. A strong contingent of Auckland and Hamilton boxers is taking in the New* Zealand Amateur Boxing Championships at Palmerston North this week and. with the exception of Martin and W. Purdy, all were successful in their initial bouts. E. Adams, of Hamilton, flv-weight, was very popular with the fans for hi* bright display of scientific boxing and though he encountered a wort*\y opponent in Cullinane, he won out. B. Mutton, of Hamilton, had the advantage of reach over F. Keith, of Wellington, and made good use of both hands to the face and body. Keith was fast on his feet, and took some of Mutton’s blows when moving back. Keith opened well in the final rounds, a weighty left and right getting through Mutton’s defence to his face. Mutton, however, set the pace, and despite a lack of weight in his punches, he made up this deficiency by getting home freely on to Keith’s face and won the bout with a few points' margin. Cl. Thomas, of Marlborough, opened convincingly against R. B. Martin, of Auckland, and in the first round he connected with two good heavy left* to the heart. Martin retaliated with some pretty work with his straight left. In the second round Martin warmed up to his work, and brought his right into use with good effect Some willing exchanges marked the final round. Martin’s left troubled Thomas, but the latter stood up to his man, and cornering Martin connected with his left, rights left and right again. The judges gave the verdict to Thomas, though there were many who were of the opinion that Martin deserved the decision. A. Craig, of Hamilton, had his own way* in the first round of the second light-weight bout and piled up points with his left at long range. In the second round C. McMahon, of Taihape, came into close quarters more, but Craig preferred to exchange at long range, and he was successful in making McMahon keep out of the clinches. Both boxers punched holes in the air in the third and final round, but they they set to in real earnest and when the final gong sounded with Craig the winner they were having a hard tussle in mid-ring. PRETTY FOOTWORK E. Adams, of Hamilton, took some weighty punches from H. Cullinane, of Timaru, in the second fly-weight bout. Both boys treated the fans to some pretty footwork. Cullinane was more aggressive and scored with clean punches, though in the second round Adams made Cullinane miss more and his cleverness of foot gave him opportunities of connecting with Cullinane’s body. After he had failed to get home with a punch in round three, Adams stopped two good right hooks to the face and then went ahead to win the bout by more scientific boxing. The second bantam-weight contest was decided between J. Richmond, of Otago, the 1928 fly-weight champion, and W. Purdy, of Auckland. The major portion of the first round was fought in clinches, the honours being easy. Late in the round Richmond took the lead with some telling body punches. After an uninteresting second round. Purdy went down for a count of eight from a right to the jaw and rising, he fought back gamely, but Richmond was the better boxer deserved the decision. UNINTERESTING BOUT H. Neal, of Auckland, and H. Lister, of Grevmouth, quickly settled down to business, though there was little of interest in the first round. Neither gave the other any rest, but banged away with dull persistency. The fight was singularly lacking, in punches in the second round for such big boxers. They went harder in the final round, in which Neal scared in in-fighting and with straight lefts, which he followed with right hooks. Lister forced the fight in the last few seconds, but Neal ran out the winner. R. Purdy, of Auckland, the bantamweight champion of last year, took the place of V. J. Wilson, of Te Aroha, against P. Hawes, of Christchurch, in the feather-weight division. The first round was very even, but Purdy got home to Hawes’s face with heavypunches, but he did not press home his advantage sufficiently. Hawes quietly awaited his chance and pierced Purdy’s defence with straight rights to the jaw. Purdy gathered points by blocking with his left and then ramming home his right early in the final round. Hawes, however, was undeterred and took his punishment with stoic resignation. Purdy continued to draw ahead on points with straight lefts to the jaw and won easily*.