THE RING.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 8991, 2 January 1895, Page 3

THE RING.

Weekly Press and Referee. A cable from England, dated December 11th says:—The de»lh of "Jem" Smith, for many yeare the pugilistic champion o£ England, was announced this morning. The cause was pneumonia. After the fl«ht between Tom Williams and the Scotchman, Boyle, Sir George Chetwynd is said to have offered to back the Australian against; any 10i£ 2lb man iv England. Williams had three matches in haud and on the verge of being clinched when the mall left. The rnosC probable appeared to be one with Robin," whom Tom fought a twenty-round draw with twelve months ago. Bolingbroke Club had offered a purse of £200 for a match between the Melbourneite and Harry Nickless, and the latter accepted, offering to put up a bis Hide wager, in connection with which he deposited JJIO. The " Coffee Cooler's" trainer was also to the front with an acceptance at lOst, give or take 21b, on behalf of "an American boxer" if the National Sporting Club would put up a suitable puree.' George Dawaon's conqueror has evidently got bin hands full and cannot complain , about lack of business. John Is. Sullivan* latest idea is quite in the "Cineinnatus" vein—the noble Roman who at the call of his country left the ploughshare for the battle field, and having achieved a g'orious victory returned iv peace to his agricultural pursuits. To be concise, the "Boston Bay" is going iv for farming.. He says that he is "weary of acting"—to poor houses, possibly, although, ii strict truth, he docs not add that much. From what I have seen of actor-pagilists* generally" (**▼'* ah English writer) I am quite prepared to hear that the "weary'•' feeling was not all on one side. The following challenge wt»s issued by F. P. Slavin on the arrival of Jackson In England:—"Seeing that Peter Jackson has arrived in thin country, I wish to make him a fair and reasonable offer. I will box him ten or twenty rounds, for £500 or £1003 aside, in four week*' time, at the Central Hull, Holborn. I am unable to box him later, as I depart in six week* for South Africa. I intended to leave England earlier, but seeing Jackson is on the spot, and here with my reputation, I want to try and get it from him. . If the stake I have mentioned is too small, Jackson can name the amount of money he wlehet to box for, and he can be accommodated. Our condition is, I presume, about the same, and if Jackson wants to box as much as I do. be has only to meet mc at the earliest possible time, put up some money, and f icn articles—the.ROoner the better. My £1000 was down a few weeks back, and I only picked it ap when a match seemed impossible. All the same, ie will be deposited when/.-Jackson signifies hit acceptance of niy offer." A good fight was witnessed at the National Sporting Club, London, on November sth, between Walter Butler, of London, and Jack Farley, of Birmingham. After fighting sixteen rounds the referee stopped the contest and returned Butler the winner. Butler had the best of the match, throusJjput£ ; but Farley fought most; gamely and took.; bis punishment most pluekily. ;.*-■',. John Walker, of Stony Stratford,,who met Mike Madden and JEL Luck, fighting a draw; after forty-five rountt*, latteti died somewhat suddenly on JfoVember sth at the Neptune Inn, Newport Pagneli, which he had kept for many years. He will be remembered by the sporting fraternity for the part he took in the training of Joe Go?s and other pugilists. Since his retirement from the dug. Walker led a quiet life as a licenced victualler. Hβ was born in .1828, and when fit scaled lOst 41b. A cable from London, dated December 18th, says:—Dummy Winter, who killed George Smith in a prize fight, and five members of the Press who were present, have been committed for trial for manslaughter. In a few weeks, («ays Sporting Life of October 25th) Jack Burke, who has only just returned from South Africa, will leave England for India* He has been offered aud accepted lucrative engagements. When these * are fulfilled tbe Iri*h lad will" proceed, tc—South Africa. Jack Barke has put on over a stone since he left Bugland, and never was better Iα his life, ffie fighUnj: career has jioti as some may suppose, run the length of its tether. Aβ a matter of fact, there is many a good fight still left in him, and time will abundantly prove it. ■V^... Prior to a Journey to South Africa, for professional purposes;' Frank Slavin i« taking a short tour through the principal cities of England, Ireland, Scotland, And Wales, which commenced on October 19th at Manchester. - '* ; "Dummy" Winters, of Australia, who Iβ now considered to be quite a likely candidate for toe middleweight honours of that- country *inc*Dan Creedon'e downfell (says a New York writer), is at present in England winning new laurels* Since

be left thi<* country Winters has engaged Iα several rattling fistic tft«*nd has won nearlr every oae of thamj Hi«la»tesHay took place at London o§ October 18th. Winters' opponent was pack Stone, of Soho. who has a good lfc*l reputation. Winters and Stone were to nave fought six rounds, but in thef third Winters knocked bis man out with'a hard right on the jaw. "Dummy." wife is totally deaf, came near losing the b&fete through this unfortunate affliction. In tee second round, after tine was called, Jytuter* kept on fighting and would hat*, continued all night had not hit secondstjunaped into the ring and pulled him] jtwny. Stone's handlers claimed a foul.fbut the referee would not allow it. Winters, be said, was innocent of any wrong dobs. '* Dummy " declared stoutly that he'did not hear the call of time. 1

Though the fight batmen Billy Smith and Dick O'Brien at Boston was called a draw at the end of ten round* (says an American paper), it hasiproved to Smith that O'Brien is no easy game. Smith went into the ring feeling confident that he would be the winner before the limit set for their contest. O' Brieawas accompanied l>y Jack Williams, Jack Arrington and J. Stock. Smith followed five minutes latter and his seconds were Jack Majfee, Charley Farrell, George Smith aua Jim Kelly. Both men were in fine condition. The first round opened with a clinch, in which Smith landed his right on the fib*. Just before the end of the round Smith's right landed on the wind hard. The pace was terrific, and it seemed as if it would end in a few rounds. O'Brien surprised everyone by his good boxing. For the first five rounds O'Brien gave the Smith admirers the biggest scare they ever received, for it looked as if the maa from Lewiston would do the finishing instead of Smith. The j&tter has either lost his old form or else he is a much overrated fighter. At times he fought as badly as a novice, while O'Brien showed considerable improvement since his fight with Walcott. The blows that ench man gave and received were about the hardest that have been seen delivered in a fight in this city. After the sixth round Smith began to even up matters, nnd in the remainiug four rounds he had by far the best of the righting. It would be hard to predict who would have won had the fight lasted longer as both men were tired when the ten rounds ended. O'Brien showed worse marks of punishment.