BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 413, 23 January 1909, Page 12

BOXING.

(By Mercury.) COMING EVENTS. ~ January 28.—Tracy v. Murphy (Hastings). February 3.—Squires v. Lang (the. Stadium, Sydney). The interest in the recent great championship battle, which was just cooling off, has been revived by the presence in town of the pioturesof the disturbance. The general opinion appears to be they are very good pictures of a very poor fight. .' That is from the boxing standpoint—as a "scrap" the combat might bo considered satisfactory. Nevertheless the whole pomp and circumstance, as pictured makes an excellent record of. the :grip the affair had taken of the Sydney public,,. The crowds watching the training operations, attending Mrs. Burns at her afternoon reception, and blocking the street traffic to got -a glimpse of "Tommy" in town in his car, : are all faithfully depicted, whilo the boxers' ball-punching and training exercises are • full of meaning for anyone at all interested in physical culture. The ring scenes bear out all iv,e have read regarding the black's vast superiority physically, but leave room for plenty of speculation and argument as, to the disparity between the men as boxers. My own impression is that it is impossible to judge-their boxing capabilities, as there was. practically no boxing done. For this reason the fight is no criterion of Johnston's quality 'at all—ho simply never was asked to extend himself Bums walked into the spider's parlour every time,-and was.received witln open arms, ! and the great strength and weight combined with the black man's cleverness in frustrating the ex-cham-pion's much-vaunted ,in-fighting tactics did the rest. One characteristic.-. of Johnson's methods stands out, however, and that is the use which, he makes, of,.his loft. His ! 'stauce," to use'a golf term, looks rather, old-fashioned in,view of the "shape" adopted by,so many of the latter day pugs. He stands fairly upright,,with his feet at right angles, in direct opposition to Burns's "toeing .-in" position,, looks firm on his feet, with his body turned nearly full on, with the right .low down- and right across the stomach, and the left bent at right angles from the elbow. The left is not shot out, with the piston-like action that one .would look for, but is pushed out ..in an amateurish-looking poke, and is apparently used more to' push off his man and measure, the distance for the right than with intent to do bodily harm. His punch is kept in-his rightfhand, and .what; a punch: it is is; shown by the jolting upper-cut that knocks Burns-over in the first round. ' \'

:.The-cabled news that the Wade Government intend legislating with a view to preventing "in-fighting" in'. boxing contests makes;; very .curious reading.... It is rather hard.to:understand how:it is to be done, unless it is proposed.to make boxers fight their battles across a fence. If the idea is to prohibit _ clinching, the proposal is absurd, as its direct effect; -would bo to encourage the, clinch. .Nothing is ; so : prohibitive of. holding than good in-fighting, provided the rules governing hitting in clinches are enforced. To say that as soon as two men; get together they must break away, and. commence again,, at' .arms' 'length is simply -giving a bonus to the man with the long- reach. The crowning absurdity" of ; suoh a proposition :is",supplied by the-report that .it is, approved ..by Burns. Burns lias'been the great preacher of the in-fighting doctrine and, both in his methods and in his book, advocates-it as. the most effective of all attacking ; systems.. So now to'hearthat he is among the first to'advocate its.-abolitionis.absurd. ;.',

• The following from the "Referee" will be good, news to. the many New Zealand .'wellwishers, of .a. gamo' little fighter:—Charley Griffinj the Zealand boxer, handled Eddie Wallaco without any trouble at ;the Bedford A.C., in Brooklyn, N.Y., on October 19., Griffin did all the forcing, and. outfought .>his.f opponent ;at :l 'e.very stage of the ; mill. ,T%i. bell : saved "AYaJlhcejjn the fourth '.rssitnd;.'l)ut>tHougn. : he ! .Vas!forced to take a bad beating in the '.fifth; and -sixth, he managed to, stick, to, .the. Griffin showed aj good'right,' which'.he' used ; to advantage on'-thobody.andi&w. 'Twice, in the second "found he scored clean: knock-downs,' and 'in the fourth round' twice' put,' Wallace to'the floor for the: count.- Griffin also scored:a.knock-down in the sixth."

Mr. H'lntosh passed, through Adelaide en route..to the Old World with the films of the Johnson-Burns fight last week (says the correspondent/of the, "Sydney ;■ Daily,. Telegraph"). In a'short interview, ho* stated be had refused';£lo,ooo..:for his 'share in the business, which was made' on behalf of Mr. J/O; Williamson. Hovhad agreed to accept that sum, and 'everything was ready for . the; payment of- the money by one o'clock on Tuesday,' January 5. Then came the news!of! the death of Mr. George Lauri, and Mr.' 'Williamson was.so upset that' the stipulated hour passed without 'settlement. He nad felt a bit sorry after having, made the bargain, but the expiration of- time enabled him to cry off. .. It has transpired that Mr.; M'lntosh has a ten years'.-• agreement with Burns. 'When spoken to about it) the promoter of the big championship fight said the clause which prevented Burns from fighting without his (Mr. M'lntbsh's) permission'was inserted at the express wish;of Mrs..Burns.' He stated that so.faf' as he was concerned' he'would not allow Bums "to fight again, so that in i.ll probability 1 his career as a'boxer was at an end. He could, of course, continue to give :sparring exhibitions. '-■'' .''■ ;The'-'.two "Bills"—Lang"and Squires—are hard--at'training' for; their■ match at ./the Stadium on . February 3. Squires is ' re-, ■ported as having put on weight during his toiir with M'Manon's picture show .through New Zealand, and is now in the'neighbourhood of 14 stone.. As he asserts that ho.has got/back that punch that deserted him / in America, he should be a formidable proposition. Lang'has been assisting Johnson'';in' his-training operations, /and rumour has it that his association with the champion has improved him considerably. The . title .of heavy-weight champion of Australia is staked on: the. issue, and public interest in thejplash is'very keen already/ .'- . Last week, during 'some comment on "Showy',' Baker, I expressed my belief that the brilliant amateur middle-weight had forfeited his amateur status., In this week's "Referee" "Amateur" bears out this opinion as undor:—lt seems to me that it may be safely written "Snowy" Baker is- no: longer an amateur; ho. has crossed over, and rzill probably, bo heard of ore'long- figuring in opposition, to one or".- other,.' of our professionals. As a matter of fact, rumour already has it that "Snowy" wouldn't mind a'tiltat 'Arthur Cripps. Amateurism is right enough in its way, when it can be supported; that is, when the amateur is'well fixed and has j time, arid money to devote to his weakness, whatever department.it may v bo in;, but "Snowy" isn't that- fortunate;: and, in the circumstances, will' not be blamed by any right-thinking man should my suspicions provo well founded. Such a brilliant boxer .is justified in turning his'skill to profitable use and making hay while the sun-shines— Itha't :is, while he /is yet brilliant. .Baker,, well matched, will draw a.-big house when .he-"elects to fight his first battle as one.in quest of coin rather than pots. . _.' "."'■. 'Joe Summer, middleweight champion of Canada, who was-one of the boxers who crossed over to Australia to take advantage of the prevailing boom in fistic matters in Sydney, fought his first battle there on January o, and failed to make good. He was pitted against Jack. Blackmore, but made a very poor showing, and \vas so outclassed by the Australian that he skied the towel in the ninth round. Denny Sullivan, another of. the invaders, is /matched against Dfcve Smith, ex-amatour heavy, champion of Australasia, and meets him on" January 26.