BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 401, 9 January 1909, Page 12

BOXING.

(By Mr.nctm?.) And so wo know it all now I Every detail >f the great contest at Bushcuttor s Bay on 3oxing Day'cam© to hand by ■ the Sydney nail during tho week, and' lias been placed jeforetho public in. tho daily; columns. Jreafas'the'interest in the. affair was ex j jedttxl to have been, the realisation. su r " j&ssfci rift anticipation. , Visitors "wno nac travelled hundreds of miles on. purpose *c seo the fight were common, while ethers thero wore who could talk of the mileage oi their journey in thousands.' For weeks past Sydney had boon tho Mecca of every mar with thd time and the necessary, wherewithal to spare, and, so keen was the determinatioi not ro be crowded out, that many catnpfd ir the vicinity of the Stadium allnight .and,. !:j two o'clock in the morning, the ten shillme ticket bosee were besieged, by a surging crowd; Tlie s&lo of tickets was/commence at four a.m., and . from that tinie: on tlu public arrived in droves and battalions until« jrowd of 50.000 wore massed in the roads. sid< streets, and. paddocks, 111 the vicinity of tht arena. Of these only 20,000 Could find; admission—tho rest bad to wait outsidofor tlu result. Tho appearance .of the contestant;, on arrival at the ring. is. described bj "Amateur" of the "Referee.:— , ... "The black sported dark blue .trunks anc the Stars and Stripes ofAmerica. .Burn; wore 'maroon trunks, an old-gold belt, , anc the' Stars and Stripos . knotted'at hw hip. Johnson took tho.oyo Well. He was lndis putably in splendid condition, and the tact combined wiA subsequent occurrences, jave the lie 1 to reports that , . not trained thoroughly. I never saw • Bums look worse. He stood too light, and his faoo was and drawn.) Stale itself to me <i 1 6m,< and his' fighting • bore that. assumption out, for he completely lacked vim and speed, of'tho Lang battle, . wards that, though he weighed 12st. .Oilb^ in my prosonco last Wednesday,, and.expeytoti to put on 51b. or 61b. easing, a. good doal ■in between, he' actually, lost weight, and was under 12st. the .morning s jof- the fight Again, 'Burns had: twisted orelbows •' so badly'two weeks before that il was'.-'paMiil-for; him to button .a collar on but ho kept all' that to '.himself and bis trainer, '.Patsy; Burke.' ~ .. , _ . vr I do not■ suppose there is a-man in r».«ra Zealand: at;, the present time, vwtton of:newspaper; who : .tskes;the..-sligbtert.^in torost in tie ■ art, : who .has .ttot reac some account of tlttraftay » detail, so: I' will content myself .with rcmark. tog-off the .general aspect?. * First.and. for ofv ; the«eappear*-td. -inteoduceJ 'into. Johnson. 'I beat; him ..bit to •.--tab 6o' as to get 'Satisfaction,''^^Mtheblaeli in his dressing-room after the battle, and thi. Is a sample of his conduct* all though the business. Bums, of. course, has not, beet blameless , in tho matter. , Ho not onlj accused ■ Johnscn of.. being ;-nos but', ho also ' (and:. tins- is .tthat , havb - rankled in the black's mind) pubhclj branded blm as a coward; In face of the fact that,- sooner,' or later, he was bound t< meet Johnson, this- behaviour. ,wa.s ybadiinanners and poor sport, but.it m-npvWMj.MCOW? the black for . behaving '■as •.•■hA.v|id.' ! j real pity is .that the spflrt fft'Wv' from, his association: with it. ...Whether, he actually did/not try to beat Burns quickly i! hard-to- forta an opinion'. doubt that he was ■*after.,it",when ho son* Burns down with thafr -iarnfic . the first round—an'.eye-witness told mo thai the blow, would.have killed an ordinary man As it;was, it lifted.its Recipient ■ a foot in, the air, and hdrled. ring. oriward, when he found Burns easy _foi him, he may have, slackened tip and proceedec to' cut his mAn up piece by piece- ~ll' Burns's statement': that; ; ' he. can t. hit Wjrti a centl"; (made..after the fightY seem6;to beai this out, as; also doc's th<s fact that all Burns i injuries were superficial, arid, except 'for .a slight puffiriesS, were.unnoticeablo.next morning: -Mr,; Corbett, however, does .not : tnini so, as the following' remarks go to show s—.. ■.■ ' "Johnson says he did not try to beat Burns ntiickly.' I'hefßliMif. nmiiiflljtirae when the coloUr)ed:-man;i:w^Hl^e t y^ another monierft /flld'hd' liliW. tho power-te ptii ftti-- ettd -to .tho: contest there -and- then; Frtim' 'whait ,1; salt '.of.; Johns Mi's.; punching;-;] -feel satisfied' it had >'d extraordinary amounl of sting m it. Ho battered away at Bums s head with uppercuts, crosses, hopks, ,anc short-arm "jiilts,:': and .walloped that much; t-alkcd-flbout left.rip. to the stomach and ribs titaod' .out of .number, and ; when. they, were clinched Johnson On dozens of occasions litorally ' pounded away at . the ribs. and. kidneys as if He were endeavouring'to smash o rock, and still the sturdy .little,Canadian,, : hac .strength; aiid; fight in him, /despite the: greai -shaking . lio : ; got ..right; at thei outset,-of; the battle. Jolinson'is undoubtedly a good twohanded fighter'at'oloso qoßrterWin|-be<k have Soen for many a. day-rbut his left is noi the • terrible; thing wa had-Been led to, believd it—at out-fighting especially.,

vThis is 'iotihd ,testimony. from an experj), but maybo tho worthy "Arnntoiir.'s" views are : not : without prejudice.- Hardened, a^;l.io must be, by i ring side happenings;: Mb Corbett has been sadly disgruntled by the black s, conduct, as he'.plainly shows when he-writes:: "No man the, world over-, has .been.; a greater •supporter tlian ■ myself _ - coloured., boxor's claims for .consideration;.; but after, last Saturday's happenings,„ and the subsequent exultation and 'gloating of, tile winner over the fall of so brave '■ a foeman-, and . such a clean-living fellow as Tommy Burns, 1 am' satisfied .there is. a. great deal more,than .most of us suspected behind prejudice of. against ,the black. '.'He is as.flasVas chain-, lightning ' when ,he■.■ ; getS'.^the:.;pfonce ) marked a-prominent American visiter a':few', years ago while tho coloured porson was .be-; ing- discussed, but I' put . that down to the racial hatred existent throughout the United' States; . Johnson's actions- and;-.-bearing^on Saturday- have, however, had such an .effect. upon ma that I never , want to see a white and a black man face each other in the ring •^He; lets -ihis ":v'er y : - natural dislike of . the negro and his,ways run:counter to his liking. for : tho beaten man, however, when he Compares Johnson to old-timer l'oter. Jackson to the former's very great disadvantage;. If Jackson; Wh6 had men who were at least his peers, in-his.'v day; is as.much'ra' greater fighter, than Johnson, as- Mr. :Oorbett Says, then the question naturally rises': How would; Burns havo classed in those, days? . Obviously) if Jackson was So m9dh greater than Johnson, and Johnson can annihilate Burns,, BumS would have been a'second-rater. ; ■ None ; of us liko to boliove that the sport has- degenorated-to this'' extent. So let us leave'comparisons alone as being proverbially odious, and-stick to things, as they are now. One - satisfactory, feature is that the Australian publio is not stoning its idol for having been beaten. On tho contrary, tho idol appears to bo more firmly fixedonits pedes : . tar-than fiver, and, recognising ■ this,, Mr. Harry -Richards/.has signed: Burns on for a five weeks engagement at, £225 a week*-' £25 weekly more than Johnson is getting for tho samo kind of show. - At San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day, Stanley Ketchel -regained the middle-weight title lately takon from .him by Billy Papko— boating his-whilom conqueror in tho rot Urn battle, by a knock-out in the eleventh round.; Charley Stiffen has lieon beaten again, this time in.-Philadolphia, ]at the State Athletic Club on November 5, 'by ono Harry Baker, aftor a fast and vimful battle. Brother jfiin Griffin has also been in trouble in Sydney. On December 23 he was knocked: ont in the tenth round by Arthur Oripps, . after one of '■ the "best battles- seen in 'Sydney for a long while. ~; Tho gate totalled from eight to ton thousand, and the boxers shared about £500. •