BILL SMITH v. MIKE WILLIAMS

NZ Truth, Issue 67, 29 September 1906, Page 3

BILL SMITH v. MIKE WILLIAMS

Latter Loses on a Foul— But is Al- ! ways m Trouble— Smith Surprises His Most Sanguine ; Supporters—Will Now | Fight Squires or i O'Brien. .'(From Melbourne ''Truth.") Never since the Cycldrama reared 'its head on the top of Eastern Hill has it sheltered such a seething mass of "fistic" humanity as on Monday night last, when Bill Smith, the Cornstalk, and Mike Williams, champion of England. Ireland and South Africa, were scheduled to box the best of 20 rounds for a purse of £400. Long before the doors were thrown open the crowd stretched away from the ticket boxes into the darkness of Victoria-parade, and when, *at last, the barriers were thrown open, and CLOSE ON 5,000 PEOPLE had taken their seats m the building, there remained outside a crowd twice as big, waitnng ,to hear the result, and listening for every cheer that might go up on the other side of the walls to tell of how. the battle progressed. ■ So that patrons of the sport might have their moneys worth, and enable the big guns to don their warpaint at their leisure, a 20-rouhd go between the light-weights Hughie Meaghan and "Bull" Williams had ; been arranged as a curtain-raiser. I And never before has a better ciiri tain-raiser been seen anywhere. As a I boxing contest, pure and simple, with , PLENTY OF VARIATION m the way of hard punches and rare pluck on both sides, it was worth the big event ten times over, and every round of the 12 that elapsed before the verdict went to Meaghan was as bright and breezy as the best .Corinthian could desire. '■:'■. In appearance "Bull" Williams is a smaller edition of Bill Srurires, and he took his gruel without a whimper but lacked the height and reach of Meaghan, who also used his right to more advantage, and perhaps showed himself the better ring tactician of the two. It was not till the ilth round that Meaghan found a really vulnerable spot on his doughty little opponent, but having located the said spot in 'the region of '-'BULL'S" DINNER-BOX, Meaghan never left it till the verdict was his. Then came a shower of coins into the ring, followed by the managerial announcement that as it had been such a sterling go, the loser's end of the purse would be as bhc as the winner's. Then' came an interval, during which Purves, K.C., stepped into the ring and talked of boxing as it once was and as it now is ; of boxing m some. parts of the, world and boxing m Australia, where it is surrounded by every safeguard to prevent anything ' m the way of brutality. Purves has often been heard to more advantage than on this occasion, but,, at all events, he struck' the right nail on the head when he retired to his corner with the remark, that if Australians of the future had to be A NAMBY-PAMBY SET, as some of the weary wowsers desired, then he, and a good many more persons m the building, didn't wish to be Australians any, longer. All this, of course, brought the garrulous "J. L." a big round of applause ; but it was fight rather than rhetoric the audience wanted just then ; and the approach of Mike Williams from the dressing rooms a few minutes later brought the crowd to tJheir feet with a shout of welcome. Placing his hand on the top rope of the ring, Mike vaulted inside with the air of a man FULL OF CONFIDENCE and nothing much to beat. The Cornstalk put m an appearance a couple of mmuies later, and he, too, was loudly, cheered as he walked to the ringside. But Bill didn't vault inside. Not he ! ,He just clambered through the ropes like the big, easygoing fellow he is, and. shaking hands with Williams, sat down. That was good enough Jor Bill, ami maybe the. crowd liked him all the 'better for it. Behind Williams were Mick and Tom Mclnernev and Tim Murphy, while m Smith's corner were Sam Grey, Fred Preston, Tom Dunn and another. Paddy Basto', as . usual, stood referee. The weights were announced—Williams, I2st 81b. ; Smith, 13st. 4lb. ; but scarcely a man m the building would have it that Smith was any heavier than the South African, whose slight . DISADVANTAGE IN HEIGHT and reach seemed to be more than counter-balanced by his fine muscular development, his massive chest and shoulders, and his stronger appearance generally. The difference m weight, if any, must have been very little indeed, and both men were as fit as hands could make 'em. You could have heard a pin- drop as the first boom of the gong called the two big fellows into the centre of the ring to "shake." The next moment they were hard at it, Williams with a peculiar crouching gait leading with the right, which Smith avoided, and drove back HIS LONG LEFT . m return, straight and hard to the face. The blow must have rattled the visitor right down to the toenails, yet m less time than it' takes to write, Smith landed again on the cheek with all the weight of his body, and Williams reeled back on to the ropes, with some of the starch missing already. But Smith gave him no rest. The long left which drove him .on to the ropes drove him out again, and then a hard, stinging right to the jaw sent him to the boards.' ,When Williams picked himself up again THE DOSE WAS REPEATED, and then a clean straight left sent him down a third time. The spectators were beside them-' selves with excitement, and backers who had laid 2 to 1 and 5 to 2 on Williams would have sold out at "glut" prices, and been glad of a

customer. Smith was as yet untouched, except by his own flail-like exertions, and the other man .was standing only because of the giant strength which enabled him to survive even such a round as this. Lois of men would have been sleeping peacefully under the wing of the 10 sec check, but the big Irishman kept his feet, though he was dazed and helpless. The only blows he got m were short, harmless body punches at close quarters, and once he was cautioned for what looked like a deliberate

HIT IN THE CLINCHES. At the gong he staggered to his chair like a drunken man, wanting only another hard punch to end the battle. But Smith's blows at the latter part of the round < lacked their early force. The Cornstalk was evidently carried away by his success, and m his excitement the long, straight lefts that had played such havoc at the outset were forgotten. For the time being, at all events, 'success blinded him, and a good solid punch at that stage would have done Smith more good t-han^ anything. It would have brought him back to his former self, and set him fighting again. As it was, he walked to his corner like a man m a dream, but with SCARCELY A HAIR TURNED. Williams came up fresher for . the minute,'s breathing time, but Smith still led, and took liothing, m return, bar a few short snaps m the ribs, one of which, delivered while Williams, held his .arm, again brought a caution to the Irishman. Stepping back into the centre of the ring, Smith again led for the face, and then, just when the supporters of Williams, were m hopes that he might pull himself together eventually, there came a short, sharp scrimmage, m which Williams caught Smith round the neck, and throwing him to the boards, fell with him. The FOUL WAS TOO PALPABLE to overlook, , and Basto, stopping the contest there arid then, amid a deafening uproar, awarded the contest to the Australian. Nobody questioned the decision, not even the backers of Williams ; and so the big Mike fizzled out at a ( discount of 99 per cent., below his foreign valuation. It was very disappointing so far as the visitor was concerned, yet Smith's cyclone opening would have worried better men than Williams— on this showing— ever knew how to be.