BOXING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2570, 3 August 1909, Page 6

BOXING.

THE NEW ZEALAND TOURNAMENT AND CONFERENCE. The members of the Auckland and Wellington teams, who took part in the New Zealand boxing championship tournament in Dunedin have arrived back from the south. Mr W. Coffey, who represented the Wellington Centre, stated to a “Dominion” reporter that the competitions did not compare favorably with the last two or three championship tourneys, the bouts generally being characterised by a maximum, of force and a minimum of science. There were, however, three or four contestants who distinguished themselves in the ring, notably Wilson _ (lightweight), of Canterbury; Watchorn (welter), of Wellington; Porter (feather), of Wellington; and Leckic (feather), of Otago. Neill end Ross, of Auckland, were fairly good performers, but Manly, of Auckland, _ who went down with a big reputation, was a groat disappointment, . falling a, lotshort of expectations. bout be-tween-Heggarty, winner of the featherweight contest, and Porter, of Wellington, was a very fair exposition of the art, and the duel between Watchorn and Pembarthy, of Lyttelton, was well worth seeing. With regard t-o Wennand, of Wellington, there was no qiysstion that he was the best bantam at the meeting, and but for the unfortunate accident he sustained in the semi-final with Campbell, in which ho broke a small blood-vessel in his lorehead in. a collision, would have come out on top. The selectors wero evidently of that opinion, as they Had appointed him to represent his division at the Australasian championships at Sydney in September. Fimierty (who won the heavy-weight championship) was a hard-hitting, forceful boxer, who would give his opponents a lo> of trouble. Ryan, last year’s heavy-weight champion, and. Rushton both gave disappointing exhibitions, but it was , sftid that the latter was below form. The selectors evidently made allowances for that, as they had picked liirn for the New Zealand team. He was a man of heavy calibre, of the type likely to do well in Australia, where the amateur “heavies” of past years had been lacking in stamina. * There was no question that the methods of Heggarty, who won the’ feather contest, would not be tolerated by several referees in the North Island. He was a “rusher” and a “butter,” and used his shoulders too much. In Mr Coffey’s opinion, a man with a good straight “left” and quick at footwork, would soon find his weak points. He is pretty sure that his methods wpiild not have been stood in Wellington. The bout, between Smith, of Wellington, and Newall created roars of laughter, tand. the decision in favor of Smith gave rise to a demonstration. On the .second night, however, Smith- put tip a sterling performance against Finnorty that even surprised his team-mates. Cairns did not box up to his Wellington form. The tournament attracted big audiences, and a net profit of £2lO resulted. Half of that amount would go to the New Zealand .Council. The arrangements generally were good. There were instances where improvements could have been made. Twenty-three bouts were set down for the first night, and it was 1 a.m. before the show ended. If it had not been for the number of early “kuocks-out,” its would have been 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. before the last bout was concluded. This was caused chiefly by the.tedious waits in between the bout’s. The Wellington team was treated with the greatest hospitality, and the officials did all 'they could for visitors.