The Wilmington morning star., 1946-12-18
ENTRANTS
REPORT TO BEARD
Southeastern North Caro-
lima Bouts To Be Staged
Next Month
EX-GI's ENTER
James Manley Post, Vet
Grams OF Foreign Wars
To Sponsor Bouts

Seven young Wilmington
amateur ring hopefuls-first
New Hanover entrants in the
1947 Southeastern N t /
Carolina Golden Gloves box.
ing championships here next
month-reported for training
instructions last night in the
recreation rooms of James A
Manley o t, Veterans oil
Foreign Wars.
Led by Neil (Red) Beard, man.
ager of the forthcoming Gloves
event and himself a former Golden
Gloves champion, the training SEES
sion consisted of blackboard
talks on physical conditioning and
general aspects Of ring prepare
ton.
session vas an assortment of young
session was an assortmet Of young
fellows, some who have had some
previous amateur ring experience.
and others who have never been
inside the ropes. They were the
first of an expected Is or 80 local
boys and men who have indicated
an intent to participate in the
championships next month.
No stranger to Wilmington fight
fans among last nights training
session a~spirants was Buddy
O'Sullivan, husky 23-year-old At.
lantic Coast Line company EN-.
ploye, a resident of 800 North
Carolina avenue. A lightweight,
O'Sullivan fought several times at
the shipyard during the war.
A World War II veteran and a
veteran of some service boxing
cards during the war, R. T. Sykes,
% West drive Lake Forest, was
present at the WV workout last
night. Twenty-Five years of age
and scaling 1877 pounds, Sykes
fought in the Wilmington Golden
Gloves in 1888 and 1889, before
entering the armed forces.
Carolina Beach was represented
by husky, J68-pound, 15-year-old
Jack Batson. Batson explained to
Beard that he would be 16 before
his first appearance in the Gloves
next month, hence qualifying on
the minimum age requirement.
Another likely-looking youngster
reporting last night was Donald
Arthur. Is, son of Mr.. and Mrs.
R. E. Arthur 1908 Wrightsville
avenue. Well built for his years,
Don weighs 140 pounds, stands 5
feet 8 inches, and admitted to no
previous ring experience except
in the recent Silver Gloves
staged at St. Mary's school.
New Hanover High school, from
whence several rugged entrants
are expected in the next few days
was represented last night by Jim
Thorpe, a 17-year-old who stands
6 feet two inches tall and weighs
1852. He'll fight in the Novice class,
as will most of the boys who re-
ported last night. Thorpe, a MINIS
senior, is the o of Mr.. ana Mrs.
M. D. Thorpe, 419 Campbell street.
Another exNavy fighter, Leavy
Bennett, %, of 202 N. Third street,
went into training session last night
with an impressive service ring
record behind him. While in the
Navy Bennett fought several anna
teur cards in Honolulu while over
seas in the Navy during the war.
He weighs $50 pounds and will
probably compete in the Open
middliweight championships.
Seventh of the entrants reporting
last night was Bob Roper, a 143.
pound 17-year-old who lives at AIS
Red Cross street. Like most of the
other boys, Roper claims no ring
experience other than gym work.
outs.
Beard told the boxers that he
was attempting to secure use Of
the YMCA gym for training and
that if successful, a regular train
ing sche1 ule would be worked out,
beginning later this week.
The Southeastern North Caro-
lima Golden Gloves, sanctioned by
the Amateur Athletic Union, will
attract some top-flight scrappers
from several military camps in
the region. Interested and likely
to send one or more teams are
the 82nd Airborne division, Fort
Bragg; Post Headquarters, Fort
Bragg; Camp Lejuene and the Sec
ond Marine division, and the Ma
rine Air Corps team from Cherry
Point.