Need Basic Information about Using Reference to an Instance Method of a Particular Object

I'm a moderately experienced C++ guy learning Java. I'm struggling to understand references that "point" to a specific instance of an object. In C++, this would be easy. But the more I Google "java reference to an instance object," the more I read and the more confused I get about how this sort of thing works in Java.

Let me illustrate a specific example. Suppose I wanted to create a boxing simulation. Below is (abbreviated) code which sets up the boxers and lets them duke it out. At the end of the fight, I'd like a "WinnerReference" reference to "point" to the last boxer standing:

public class Boxer {

  String Name;

  public Boxer(String a) {
    Name = a;
  }

  String GetName()  { return Name; }
}

public class BoxingRing {

  public BoxingRing() {
    // Do nothing
  }
  void FightFightFight(Boxer a, Boxer b, >>WinnerReference<< )
    // Boxers fight here
    // WinnerReference is pointed to winning boxer here
  }
}

public class BoxingMatch {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

      Boxer Joe = new Boxer("Joe");
      Boxer Sam = new Boxer("Sam");
      BoxingRing TheRing = new BoxingRing();
      // Create reference called "WinnerReference" of type Boxer here

      TheRing.FightFightFight(Sam, Joe, WinnerReference);
      System.out.println("The winner of this boxing match was:  " + WinnerReference::GetName());
      }
}

I've been researching this all afternoon, but can't find a tutorial which directly leads me through what I'm trying to do. (You can probably see that I'm approaching this from a C++ perspective.)

What I'd like to ask the forum is this: Is this a feasible approach for for a Java program? Am I Googling for the correct terminology? Is there a good resource someone could recommend?

Many thanks! -P