Good Bouts at Denaby – A Battle of Giants.

June 1930

Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 06 June 1930

Good Bouts at Denaby

A Battle of Giants.

Mr. W. Bridgewater, of Doncaster, was again responsible for another experimental open-air programme on the Denaby United football field on Saturday, which attracted 1000 spectators.

There were times during the contests when the spectators rose to a high pitch of excitement, and there was no wonder Gregory was disqualified for striking after time had been called. During each round the contestants require silence, and not “words of advice” such as those which were offered to them on Saturday.

When Mr. Joe Molloy, the timekeeper, appealed for silence some ridiculous spectator shouted at the top of his voice.

At the top of the bill was a heavyweight contest between Kelly Wilson (Bridlington) and Ted Brooks (Bradford), over ten rounds.

Wilson is styled as “Yorkshire’s Camera”, for he stands 6ft. 5ins and weighs stone, while Brooks is over 6ft and weighs 14 stone. Brooks is the Principal sparring partner to Harry Crossley, the British cruiserweight champion.

Wilson set the pace from the start, and it was some time before Brooks stopped defending his body. In the second round both Wilson and Brooks made some bad mistakes. Wilson failed to connect with powerful uppercuts and Brooks fell through the ropes. Wilson was more successful in the third round and dealt a series of body, blows with effect. Towards the end Brooks retaliated and more than held his own. Brooks went down for a count of five in the fourth, and Wilson made another bad mistake by not following up after he had landed a hard body punch. At the opening of the fifth Wilson sent straight right to face but Brooks was successful later in sending home two successive rights to jaw and two straight lefts to body. Brooks was on top in this round, though Wilson revealed some skill in defence, until the last few seconds when he went down for a count of four. The sixth was the best round. ‘Each fought with a determination for a knock-out, and had Brooks kept up the pace he would have been the lucky one. Wilson dashed in to the attack in the eighth, and Brooks took successive counts of eight and six, the clock saving him on another count after Wilson had landed two straight rights to jaw. Brooks was completely exhausted and took counts of eight, eight and six before the referee, Mr. Tom Gummer, stopped the fight. Brooks was a game fighter, and the crowd thoroughly appreciated his performance.

Another ten-rounds contest was between Ben Robinson (Mexboro’) and Joe Leighton (Doncaster) in which Robinson gained points verdict. Robinson was full of craft and cleverness and was far too good for Leighton. Leighton paused too long after sending home a good punch and allowed his man time to recover. Leighton opened out fast but finished badly.

In a six-round contest Young Elky (of Denby) deputised at the last minute for Ted Holland (Doncaster) against Jack Gregory (Denaby) and no one knew until the fight was over under what difficulties Elky fought. He had only been out of hospital a few days and lacked training. If he had been in training it would have been the best fight of the day, for Elky is one of the best six-rounders in the district. The first round was fought at an extremely fast pace and both stood some severe punishment. After the second round Elky wanted to retire but accepted the advice to carry on. Although well beaten, he went through a terrible ordeal. At the end of the third round Gregory failed to hear the voice of the timekeeper, and struck Elky as he was walking away. The blow sent Elky to the boards, the referee saw the blow and had no option than to disqualify Gregory. Gregory would have been a certain winner if the crowd had not been so excited.

Two weeks ago, Bernard Hogarth (Goldthorpe) and George Foster (Maltby) fought in the novices class. This time they met again over six rounds, in which Hogarth was returned the winner on points.

“Tush” Hill (Conisboro’) gained an easy victory by outpointing Frank Hutchinson (Mexboro’), the referee stopping the bout in the second round. Hutchinson was a game fighter, but lacked experience.

  1. Hardy (Kilnhurst) beat Joe Hilton (Maltby) on points over three rounds.

Brooke, one of the principal contestants, was a little late in arriving, and to fill the time a three rounds exhibition was put on between Jim Hague (Mexboro’) and Walter Dark (Mexboro’). The exhibition was a “scream” from start to finish.