BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 336, 24 October 1908, Page 9

BOXING.

ißr Mer'ccey.) COMING EVENTS. November 24.—Tourney, Opera House (Gos- . ling-Elliott' match). . December 20.—World's Championship (Burns v.- Johnson, Sydney). , Tho biggest shock Anierican "pugdom" jhas' sustained for a.long 'while was tne defeat' of their, on'o and' only Stanley Kctchel by his whilom victim, Bill Papke. At tho first time of meeting, Ketchel got all over his- man,- and finally outed'him .in the tenth round. So confident were the knowing ones that he'would repeat tlie performance that odds of three and four. to,one w'c?'o forthcoming,^still as the outcomo. of the affair settled." the location of- tho _ middleweight title) it' was considered important enough to draw a good gate. '.The contest lasted; until the twelfth round, but was practically won in tho first 'few. exchanges. How, is well told'in the ."Referee's" American letter,' from . which the following extracts are culled''Speaking of' the previous meeting, Papke 1 had said, that Ketchel let go at him before they ■ had completed the ceremony of shaking. liah'ds." : Ho evidently, believed w'hat lie said, too, for in this most repent fight lie refused Ketchel's proforred hand after the starting-boll sounded. He was ■ watching Ketchel's two hands now, was the Thunderbolt, - and looking for an opening at- the same time.- It came speedily. Ketchel, who' probably thought he had nothing to. fear, pawed awaj; with the left as though studying the way his man guarded himself. -Then Papke hit. short with tho left, and, with flash-like speed, brought his right across. The effects of . that blow were with Ketchel all ,through_ the fight. It sent him staggering, and it , jarred him so that he could not infuse .the usual force into his punches.- ' ... ... ~ He is a game fellow, and he rolled in and mixed it. He was as badly rattled as Bill Squires was when Burns clouted him on the temple in their first fight..-He slugged and slugged, but with uncertain ideas of distance and direction. Papke floored him with a left on the.chin. Ketchel rolled over on his hands and knees and gazed vacantly into the faces of .the newspaper men" at the side of the platform. His wits were hot working, and oven when he aroso there seemed to be little left in him but tho fighting instinct. "Five times in all Ketchel was sent to; tho floor in the first round, and.it was simply tho minute's rest following the bell that saved him from defeat. ■ He was being counted over when the round ended. One correspondent said that Ketchel was as a baby in Papke's hands after that, and that about all . lie . could do, was to establish a reputation'for bull-dog tenacity. The details furnished by blow-for-blow accounts would not be relished by any but dead gamo so I" omit them. Such a beating was never administered to a stout-hearted, helpless fighter. : They : say Ketchel wobbled to the centre like one in a 'dream when-the starting gong sorit them together : for the twelfth round. There Was'no fight left in him—that is, so far as' the strength to lead or the. power to defend was concernedI—and1 —and even Papko saw it would be safe enough now to put in tlie finishing licks. • The Illinois man used his right, and Ketchcl measured his length on the; floor; twice. - Ho aroso the second .time just as Referee, Jim Jeffries had counted liiin out,'hut'.ho was so far gone that; he'.could not stand; erect. ' He tottored, and would have/fallen -had-not one'of his seconds thrown his arms about him. That was the end of •Ketchel "the-phenomenon. ' ." ' At the .conclusion' of the fight tho referee paid/.the.,defeated champion's high compliment; "I kept thinking every minute I followed tho lad about the ring that Ketchel was about' the gamest youngster I ever laid eyes on," said Jeffries. .■ ' f -'Eapke.'Siid: "I want, it to go on. record to ,tjie:jfffget,<;that I honour, the man for his gameness.a'rrFew men would have'taken such (i v :beating without quitting; 'At the samfe time, I,think I'.have proved conclusively that, the-punch lie landed me ilj Milwaukee was', a* fluke. -T'whipp'ed'him at''his ; own game:" •' .; ! He"re is, what ; :tho loser, liW tb say: "I was too careless, and that's all' there is to. it. [, walked out in the opening round and laid myself open to one punch, and that did all the. business. I think I ani entitled to another match with Papke on the strength, of my showing tenday. This defeat will-set me back'a bit, but I will soon.be-in tho running again.- You haven't heard-the last of Stanley Ketchel." • 'r Private advices received in Sydney report that., Maorilander Charlie Griffin is "doing despite the fact thai he has-not" yet s.tru'pk,a winning vein.. His latest achievement has been to got outed"".in,Jiis third battle on, T Araorican soil. With tho growth of the sport in tho Do-minion-is ::arising a question of utmost importance to its welfare. I refer, to the, capabilities ''of' the referees. •.••..Owing, no doubt to ■ the "slump" of r«:ent years from which the sport is slowly' recovering the average enthusiast who acts in "this'most important office at most of the tourneys throughout Now, Zealand' is sadly. lacking in the experience necessary and'requisite for. the competent handling of boxers in the ring, When the combatants are as- new to their duties, as the referee is to his the difficulty is -not so apparent, but now that old and tricky ring experts are ? finding their way into-the game hore it is assuming big proportions. Tho , "Heathen' Chinee", of old. is a - suckling babo in guile and. pointing proclivities when compared ; to the professional "ring pciintorj" aiid when the enthusiastic but inexperienced referee finds' himself up against a boxer of this kidney something usually happeus.' It has been happening too frequently lately in New Zealand. Three instances'. at.. once suggest themselves—tho Gault : Miirphy ' contest at Hawke's Bay, the recent extraordinary affair in Auckland in the Kane-Smith match, and, nearer home, the Tracy-Rollo fiasco in Palmerston North. I know that the charge of inexperience cannot ,bo so readily' laid against Mr. Fake, but at the same time there were unsatisfactory features in his control of the.bout. ,On hearing of the alleged "foul," I wrote to an ex-member of the Wellington Association now resident in Palmerston, and asked for his opinion, and I also saw Tracy. Tim, of course, was feeling very aggrieved, and was very positive that the blow that earned his disqualification was a legitimate one. In proof or this he says (and this is borne out by my Palmerston correspondent) that _ there was no appeal either from Rollo or his corner. But Tim's biggest grievance is over an occurrence in the second round, when he avers that he either won or lost the contest. What occurred is this—towards the end of the round Tracy landed a stomach punch, and Rollo dropped, writhing, and claimed a foul. The refereo sent him to his chair, and he was examined by Dr. O'Brien, president of the Manawatu Association. The doctor refused to be bluffed, and reported that Rollo was all right and had not been fouled, whereupon, in proof of this, the would-be invalid sprang .from his corner at Tracy "like a tiger" Tim says. By the time the round was resumed, about a minute had elapsed, and Tracy claims, and with justice, that he should either have been disqualified there and then on the foul,, or,- as Rollo did not come up to timo, that ho should have seoured tho verdict.

My correspondent describes, this incident thus, and it will be, seen that it corroborates Tracy's statement in every detail:—"One regrettable incident occurred during the second round when Rollo received a supposed hit from Tracy too low. The reforeo stopped the fight, and Rollo's faco assumed an agonised expression, and ho crouched down as if in great pain. The doctor had a look at Jiim and said he had not' been hit, whereat Rollo sprang at Tracy and fought like a wild cat, clearly proving he had not been hit as suggested." , ... Regarding tho disqualification inutile fourth round he could givo no definite opinion as ho was unable to see tho, actual blow struck. However, lie makes out tho following caso for the reforeo:—

(1) Tracy was warned three times before being disqualified. ■ (2) Tracy's seconds during the bout kopt repeating) "Higher, Tim!" (3) Tracy delivered short, half-arm blows. Ho went mostly for the body, and the blows all appeared to liavo a downward tendency, although Tracy himself says the blows were upward.

(4) Tho referee was absolutely the best man in tho room to see .what was going on, as he was in the ring with tho men and jumping about with them the whole time. Per contra, wo have Tracy's statement, his previous clean record, and tho fact that there was no appeal made by the opposition. However, it is for tho referee to settle mattors of fact, but it will, I think, be generally admitted that Tra,oy has every reason to feel aggrieved after tho occurrence in the second round, when,' as ho says, tho fight was either lost or won.