Kelvin Hamilton shows in class in Southland boxing in 1983.....

The annual Southland boxing championships saw Raymond Smith and Johnny Wallace win the two major trophies in 1983.
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Smith from Rowe's Gym in Dunedin won the trophy for the most scientific boxer in his bout against Mark Ferguson from Peterson's Gym and it was an impressive performance from this young boxer.
Wallace won his bout for the best boxer-fighter against Monty Sewpersad from Nightcaps.  He won in two rounds and had to dig deep to beat his opposite.  
Mr Tom O'Connor, president of the association presented Dr Des Prendergast with a trophy in recognition of his services to the sport.
In the 36-39 kg class, Kelvin Hamilton (Waikiwi) showed his superiority by beating Chris Russell (Petersons).  Hamilton went on an attacking fight and used his left hand well to confuse his opponent.
Russell to his credit survived the first round but he was already well behind on points.
The referee stopped the fight in the second round when he was getting a pounding from Hamilton.
In the second semi-final of the junior class, Cory Hansen (Manapouri) was dominating Michael Dixon
but Dixon came back and got through some weak defence from Hansen and won that semi final.
Hamilton and Dixon met in the final with both boxers receiving blows but Hamilton scoring well with some great left hooks.
In the second round both boxers were showing the effects of the fast pace of the first round and their standard of punching dropped.
The hard hitting took toll on both boxers and the third round was more of just hanging in their.
Hamilton came out the victor and they received a appreciative applause from the crowd. 

Peter Crawford from Waikiwi uses his height advantage to beat Adrian Mellon of Green Island in the Southland Boxing Championships in 1976......

Adrian Mellon (Green Island) gave away height to Peter Crawford (Waikiwi) in the semi-final of the 41-43kg class but impressed with some snappy lefts.
The Waikiwi boxer's height advantage was apparent in the second round as he forced Mellon on to the ropes with his longer reach.
Mellon countered this by staying in the middle of the ring in the third round but it was too late and Crawford took out the bout with a unanimous decision.
Kevin Lake (Nightcaps) and Aaron Haselwood (Tapanui) started off their bout with a flood of blows until they decided to settle down and produce more calculated punches.
Lake won a unanimous points decision.
In the final Crawford used his height again to disadvantage Lake, and straight lefts and right took its tool on Lake from Nightcaps, but to his credit he fought back with much better footwork, but Crawford took control again and with his stright left hand punches he hurt Lake to the point where the referee stopped the game.  It was a brave display from Lake against a better boxer on the day.
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Douglas Fryor of Green Island wins 32-34 kg class in Southland boxing 1983...

In the 32-34 kg class, Derek Hinch (Manapouri) was shorter than his opponent, Douglas Fryor (Green Island) but had him on the back foot in the first round.  Fryor stayed out of trouble in the second round and gained points by using his long reach.  The speed picked up in the final round but Hinch was unable to get through Fryor's defence.

Donovan Clarke (Colvins) wins Southland boxing 45-48kg class in 1983.....

One of the attractions was a non-championship bout between Donovan Clarke (Colvins) and Barry Howie (Tapanui) and in this 45-48kg their was action all the way.
It was a great exhibition match with both boxers showing off their skills but it was Clarke winning the fight with Howie using his feet better when the temp slowed.
Howie was warned for slapping and he fought back strongly in the final round.
Clark won the bout with a unanimous decision.

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Jason Eade of Bluff too good for Lindsay Reid in Southland boxing 1983...

Jason Eade, (Bluff) beat Lindsay Reid (Colvins) on points in a non-championships bout in the 52-54kg class.  
Eades smart footwork allowed him to pentrate with some solid body punching and left hooks to the head. Reid fought back but his southpaw leads could not hold out Eade.
Both boxers tired considerably in the final round, with Eade being the better boxer. 
Both were unopposed in their 48-50kg (Eade) and 52-54 kg (Reid) divisions and both automatically won these two titles.

Kevin Curran (Colvins) secured a unanimous decision over Blair Broad (Tapanui) in the final of the 54-57kg class.
Both boxers scored with snappy punches to gather points.  Broad concentrated on the head but the odd body punch was effective.   Curran throw some fast combinations as he tried to nail the fast moving Broad, he scored points in the second round when he took the fight to Curran in the corner, but Curran weathered the storm.
It was all go in the final round, but the previous rounds started to take their toll with both boxers throwing wild punches and trying to secure a knock-out.

Leslie Bower beats Ronald Richmond in Southland boxing 1983....

Leslie Bower (Colvins) matched Ronald Richmond (Nightcaps) who looked off balance as he took the bout to Bower but recovered and won the first round.  Bower used quick footwork to keep out of trouble in the second round but this did not deter Richmond as he kept up the attack.  
This forced Bower on to the ropes and both boxers slugged it out in the final round.
Bower hung on well in the closing stages of the final round as Richmond started punching low to score points.  
Bower won unanimously.

Johnny Wallce (Colvin) beat Monty Sewpersad (Nightcaps) in less than two rounds to take out the intermedate 52-54kg title.  This bout produced some expert punching in line with the experience of these two boxers.
Wallace put Sewpersad down in the first round but Sewpersad fought bag bravely to earn valuable points. Wallace agressively attacked him which forced the Nightcaps boxer on to the ropes.  The referee was worried about Sewpersad so stopped the fight in the second round.

Mark Ferguson (Petersons) and Raymond Smith (Dunedin) fought out a senior lightweight non-championship bout with the referee stopping the fight in the second round in favour of Smith.

Some more boxers competing were:
Zelman Moore (Waikiwi), Brent Polashek (Waikiwi), Simon Webber (Bluff), Brett Johnathon (Colvins), Alex Dickson (Tapanui), David  Warren (Petersons), Chris Scoles (Gore), Ben Ah Chong (Petersons), Russell Newton (Mataura), Marcus Morris (Petersons).

Reference:  Wallace Best Boxer-fighter.  The Southland Times August 1 1983

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