BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 960, 29 October 1910, Page 12

BOXING.

(By "&ieroury.")

Wenand and Green,

Boxing matters are quiet in the Dominion just now, the only item of importance of late being tlio return match in Auckland oii last Thursday week between Wcnaud and "Ted" Ureen, of New South Wales. It will be remembered that, recently, the- two : mot in. JNapicr, when Wenand surprised the cognoscenti by boating the littlo Australian on points. The second meeting is thus described by the "New Zealand Herald":—

"Green's' weight was given as Bst. 2|lb. and: Wenand's Sst. 51b., Wenand bad.an advantage- iri./height,'..while Green looked liko'a ilorcules''in.'miniature.' Green was first tb;appear, :beirig'idilowed-immediate-ly :ai'ter,wards; by As'bbtn 1 men wbro over .the bantam limit (fist. '21b.) ;tho. championship, was; not involved. On coming together lor round 1, Wenand. was ; -first. to, land, with a straight" left, and then both scored' on the body.- - Green sent : a fight to the face, but it'was too high to' 1 "do" any damage, /Wenand responding with a.right, and'then a left to the'faco; and right to' the-body. . "lii the second round, Wehand.led with his left, and-then-a clever-right to the body, : Green countering,;.and''the pair mixed 1 it in good style.- -" ■■" "Wenand again forced the fighting in the third round, scoring rapidly, principally' with' a straight left. Green • scored with;a right and left, but Wenand had a lead at corners. ■■ . '.■■',-' "In the fourth round, Wenand was quickly, at work arid reached Green's face repeatedly with his left, .the Sydney boxer causing some.amusement by sticking out his jaw to be punched at. Green ripped in several -lefts,Vbut: was .palpably hitting with his open hand, when he used his-right,/and appeals were frequent from Wenaiid's corner. ~',■'.'■•' . ■ . "Iti. the fifth, Green again fouled; and.was'cautioned, but it had no effect, and. repeating the. dose, immediately afterwards the referee rightly disqualified him. the decision being, received with hooting, and •yelling"; ■:!; ;,■■..

What Green Admitted,

A later issuo of the "Herald" says that there has been a lot of discussion; regarding tho Green-Wenand contest since its'sudden : termination on Wednesday evening. Mr. Burke ; deserves credit .for '.his ; firm stand,- and GrecnV party now recognise ; that according.to Sir. liurkes views the decision was the only one he could give. Green has stated since the contestthat the local rules:are very strict, and on .'the-same lines, as. tho .National Club, Sydney, but that ho was'permitted to use'the blows complained of.in ■professional: matches' in Australia.- '.He admits that he: had plenty of warning to desist. ,VHe says he has never lost, a light before on a : foul or knock-out. . '.•■■Previous-'to this' engagement; Wenand had been matched to meet/ Eobson, ot Gisborne, on the latter's native heath,.on November '1, but unfortunately, for this 'arrangement he managed to damage an arm in tho Green contest and has had to'cancel tho. event. The Gisborne xeople have'engaged Green in his stead. On December :i, Wenand has further_ date booked against "Sailor'^Duff y, of H.M .b. Cambri'an/ ; at Napier. By the way Duffy also applied to the Wellington Association for a' match, but owing to the .lmpossibility of engaging a. hall ■the local. wmy was reluctantly obliged:; to. turn the request down, otherwise he would have been pitted, against "Tim"'Tracey.. ,; ~; ■;•..

Australian Light-Weight Honours,

An affair, of some pugilistic importance was the meeting on October 19 at. the Stadium, 'Sydney, Hugnie Alohegan, of Victoria, and Arthur. Douglas,'of South Africa, for the light-weight championship of Australia.;..._ Describing the coatest tho "Sydney.Morning Herald says that Mehegan, the holder, 01 the title, proved his superiority " over his opponent in no uncortain manner. He has never appeared to belter advantage. His: timing and .evasion . were, perfect. Douglas'was very tired when he came up .for the'fourth rouud, and could make no impression- on ' Mehegau, who, on two occasions, begged, the referee. to stop the contest as his opponent was-in such a bad-way: Half-way., through this round the ; bout- was stopped, and the referee, Mr 1 . "Snowy" Baker, awarded 'the palm to Mehejan, who thus: retains his title. In the matter of this .title, by the way, there' has been an/ impression abroad that Johnny Summers, who recently left for his home in England, was the holder, but this is not so, as the battles in which he ' was ' concerned. he fought at • catch weights. ,

A Clash that w;w Cancelled. ■ Last week, particulars of the return match between "Sid" Sullivan and Wells,' which .was down for discussion last, Saturday night, .were promised by "Mercury," but "owmg to circumstances over which he has no control", he is'compelled to break his word. 'In short, the match did not tako .place.' 'Wells sustained ;.an injury .to an eye during the winding-up stages of lus preparation, that has put him out of .action for' a few' weeks. There seems to be 'a fate'against these two meeting m Sydney. They were matched for the first time twelve, months.'aijo, when the affair was called off: owing to. the death . of Sullivan's father, and .on a second, occasion-when they were to meet, Sullivan had to retire through a training injury similar; to Wells's mishap in the present instance

Looking for a World's HeavyrWcight

Mr. Hugh D. 'M'lntosh, of Sydney, who is at present in London, looking for a boxer capable of holding his owii with the great heavy-weights of the day, madp a start with his quest on September 10, When Bombardier Wells and- Sergeant Sunshine were pitted, against each other. In the sixth round Sunshine was knocked out, but tho contest.is characterised as being an exceedingly disappointing one. Commenting upon it, the London "Sportsman" says:—"Mr: Hugh M'lntosh, hi his laudable search for. a.white champion to oppose' that ' famous' .'gladiator (Jack Johnson), has determined to.;givo tho Old Country a chance of showing its mettle in the way;of heavy-weights. So last.night the first of what it is hoped will bo a scries of eliminating, contests was inaugurated,-.with tho object of,discovering tho premier English heavyweight. XTwo soldiers ■were- put up— Bombardier Wells and Sergeant Sunshine. ■To the English' follower of the sport, Sunshine was much tho better-known man... Ten years his. opponent's., senior, he won the ■ championship of "India in 1900, and then, returning Home, became Army and Navy champion in 1906," as'well as in the two succeeding years. Quito recently, too, he outpointed lan Hague. His fighting weight is 13st. Clb. Wells was strongly' recommended by Jim Maloney, who was particularly impressed by the bombardier's Indian . championship success at Simla' last year. . Tho bombardier is 22 years of ago, "■ stands Cft. 2Jin., weighs Hist. 2lb.,'with a chest measurement of 42in. and a reach of 70Jin. It was 10.30 when tho chief actors appeared. During the wait Mr. M'lntosh and Mr. "Jimmy" liritt, tho manager of tho show, were both introduced, and made speeches testifying to their earnest desire to find an English "big 'uri' capablo of meeting men like Tommy Burns or Bill Lang, tho Australian. Wells did not impress one in the least as regards physique; ho is tall and lathy, but could not be'compared in point of build with many of. tho .heavy brigado of the last decade. Ho was fit, nevertheless, and soon showed himself quicker than Sunshine. For all that, however, it was a very poor display,' only redeemed by its fluctuating fortunes. Wells won in tho first minute of tho sixth round. Ho looked like miming in a couplo of rounds. Then Sunshine'camo on' a bit, and in tho last six seconds of tho third round put his man down. Wolls went through a gruelling fourth turn, which looked like being his last. Ho was on the floor thrice; only his youth and oxcellent condition saved him. Ho recuperated quickly, and Sunshine, becoming palpably slower as tho bout advanced, was suddenly knocked out.as stated. W.ells boxed very raw, like a novice, in fact; if ho is ever to become first-class he will need a

deal of polishing. We aro afraid that Wells is not tho man that Mr. M'lntosh is looking for."

A Book on Boxing,

From "Boxing," 12 Burleigh Street, London, W.C., comes the latest addition to tho already loii(j list of books on boxing. Tho now arrival is from tlio pen of Jim Driscoll, feather-weight champion of Great Britain. It is entitled "Kingcraft," and is published in England for tho sum of Is. net, and is very good value lor tho money both to boxers and to boxing enthusiasts. It treats with tho sport in its more advanced stages and deals, as tho titlo indicates, moro with tho tactics and tricks of tho gamo than with the teaching and acquirement thereof. Driscoll assumes that his reader.has mastered tho rudiments of the various blows, stops, foot-work, and other ground-work of tho boxing business and -proceeds to instruct him with great lucidity in tho finer points. His chapters in the clinch and tho break-away aro especially instructive and go far towards clearing up the mystery of tho art of in-fighting as brought to such a fine art by American boxers. In fact the booklet breaks much now ground throughout, is well illustrated and will.well repay study by those interested in the noble art. Much of it is worthy of quotation, but space forbids.

Reno Fight Films,

The National Sporting Club in London lias been favoured with a private view of •the moving pictures of the recent unpleasantness -at Iteno 'between Messrs. Johnson and Jeffries. As it is not unlikely that we shall have an opportunity of seeing the films shortly, the appended critique of the private view culled from an English file may bo of interest:— The contest itself is, splendidly shown, 'and certainly the pictures as pictures could not bo bettered. Tho, majority of the rounds show up wonderfully well—so excellently that, it is easy to see what a tame and uninteresting contest it was. In the first five bounds hardly a clean hit is scored. Thsre are the two men cuddling each other, and wrestling all round the ring,' with the coatless referee following them' about, and making no effort to part them. Jeffries is greatly at fault, but Johnson is not blameless. Nothing could-be more uninteresting, and we question whether any body of Englishmen, after- haviag. paid their money, would have tolerated such an exhibition. It is' not cuddling for a second or two, but genuino armwTestling,.sometimes for a minute at a stretch. Johnson has, in the-meantime, been: scoring most of the points, having at times been decidedly clever in'getting in a blow as the men break from the clinches; In the meanwhile one should also notice the black man's clever footwork. Gradually it is seen that Jeffries has taken on too much. After the eighth round he begins.to tiro, and to tho end Johnson is continually .scoring. The finish comes in tho fifteenth round, where with alright and left on the head Jeffries, who is very weak, is knocked under tho upper, but over the lower, rope on to the overhang of the platform. He is pushed up, but is quite helpless. The negro is soon at him, and "Jeff" is again sent down. Then, when put down a third time, his seconds are seen to'enter:the ring, and the'contest is over.' Jeffries is not completely exhausted." Fe walks to his corner, .and stands'whilst his face is bathed. ..'As: a contest it is a poor one, and we are afraid will not create much interest here. It is, however,' ; a very fine piece of work on the part.of'.Tno kinematograph operators.

Wenand Busy

"Billy" Wenand, ex-amateur champion bantam-weight, who won a meritorious victory over Ted Green, Australian professional champion at Napier the other day,.has a busy time ahead. Nest Friday'he meets' Robinson at Gisborne; on'the following Monday he leaves for Hoba'rt to meet Jack Beid,. and. on his return to New.Zealand will, engage with Dulfey. The clever ex-amateur can always.be relied on to put up a'willing fight, and should do very well in the professional ranks, if he takes care . of himself. ; /' , . '■ " , : ,