BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1037, 28 January 1911, Page 12

BOXING.

(By "Mercury.-'li

UNLUCKY LANG IN LONDON. Did Lang Forget Himself? Bill Lang, of Australia, has made an inglorious entry into the ring in England. His battle with, Petty-Officer Curran, which (as reported in the cable during the week) he lost in tho first round on a foul, was one of the series that Mr. H. D. M'lntosh is. promoting' to find a

"champion of the British Empire." The Australian manager has his own arena in London—"Olympia"—and expects, by this method, to unearth a white gladiator worthy to meet Jack Johnson—or, at least, that is his advertised intention. Incidentally he is, by virtue of big purses and plentiful "booming," cornering the cream of the English boxing talent, and making the National Sporting Club, so long the big panjandrum of the sport in the Old Country sit up, and think very hard. Howevor, to return to tho contest under notce: The cable referred to ran:— London, Wednesday Night.—To-day "Sailor" Curran and Bill Lang, of Australia, met' in a 20 rounds boxing contest. The fight only lasted 30 seconds. In the hrst round Curran fell, and Lang struck him when lie was down. The referee at onco awarded the fight to Curran. . This bout was confidently expected to' prove but an exercise, gallop for the Victorian, as Curran was looked upon as "easy" for him. He, was beaten in one of the earlier battles of the series by Bombardier Wells, who has. subsequently, been beaten decisively in three rounds by Gunner Moir, What London Thought of It. Tho following comments from London newspapers show exactly how Lang made his bad "break":— ( ; , The "Sportsman," in the course of its report of the contest, remarks:—" How an old general like Lang could commit such an error seems beyond understanding. It was an inglorous ending to what promised to be a hard fight." The "Sporting Life" states;—" The Australian quite forgot Mro.selr\iu the heat of tho moment, and deliberately fouled his opponent. The referee had. no other alternative"

Tho "Daily Telegraph," in its comments, states:—"Lang is admittedly a worthy bidder for the championship of the Empire. His record during the last twelve months is highly creditable. In tho first minute Cnrran lightly touched' Lang, who swiftly hustled him to the ropes, and then hit at him three times in succession. The first blow missed, the second caused Curran to slip to his knees, and ho was leaning on tho ropes when ho received the-foul blow." The managers of tho men announced that they were both willing to fight again. / Coming Lang-Langford Disturbance. Lang's next opponent is Sain Langford, the coloured "light heavy," whom he meets on .February 16. Langford's latest exploit was the beating (for tho third time, by the way) of Joe Jcariiiettc, the big negro who has been fighting lor a long while in Paris. The cabled account of this coufiict, which took place in Now York a fortnight or so ago, says that Langford maintained a ■ decisivo lead throughout. Ho dropped Jeonnette for eight seconds in the first round, and did as he liked with him thereafter. This bout with Langford will bo a real "tryout" for Lang, and, if lie can get away with the negro, his position will bo assured; if not —.

In. any case Mr.. M'lutosh,, who is engineering tho'disturbance, will comeouton (op. To' quote a cablegram recently received, by the Sydney "Sun":—"Not sinco Peter Jackson and Paddy Slaviii fought in the National Sporting Club, 18 years, ago, has : such interest been ■ taken in • a boxing fiituro as is being evinced in the coining'contest. It.is anticipated that the match will attract tho largest, crowd ever seen at an English ringside." The Person Who Pines for Papke. On Monday week New Zealander "Dave" Smith (now pining to meet Papke) wrote "paid" to the account of the secpnd of the American boxers he lias met. This time it was expected that he would do so, seeing that his opponent was the welterweight "Jimmy" Claliby, and that .the New Zealander had all of a stonothe better of the weights. The 'contest was postponed from its original date on account of rain, and, as it was,-the climatic conditions wore'"all to tho-bad." In good English, ■ it "rained cats and dogs" throughout, so. much .so that "Snowy" Baker, the referee, officiated in an oilskin. Tho "Referee's" account of the last half of the contest, which, by tho way, was witnessed by a crowd that ranks with the largest crammed into the Stadium to date, runs thus:—.

,"In the eleventh round Clabby's right eye was cut, no doubt through a bump from Smith's head, and before tho.battle ended there were signs that the American had run into at least a few hard punches, 'though he treated Smith's hitting power somewhat contemptuously, and could bo heard every now and again making remarks which suggested the existence within him of such a feeling. During tho latter rounds Clabby went down a few. times, hut not through the agency of anything his opponent did. The pondliko condition of the ring was tho cause. 'Jimmy's' grip of the slippery boards was not as secure as 'Dave's.' Tho referee's verdict for Smith met with general approval. It could not have been othcrwiso and bo correct."

On February 4 (next Saturday) Smith again clashes with the American Eagle, this timo personified by "Cyclone" Johnny Thompson—that is if enough of Thompson is left after to-night's battle between this gladiator and "Tim" Land. It will bo remembered that tho latter is the boxer who sprang from comparative obscurity right into the limelight on his showing in his first bout with tho much-vaunted "Cyclone" a month ago. On that occasion ho was knocked out in tho 20th round, aftor leading all tho way on points, and after giving Thompson the "go" of his bright young life. Will Papko Face It? "Dave" Smith's challenge to "Billy" Pnpko to contest tho middleweight championship of tho world had evoked no reply from the American, and the Now Zealauder's deposit of dfilOO in earnest thereof was still uncovered when the last mail left Sydney. Ray Bronson and "Jimmy" Clabby, tho American boxers, left Sydney last Saturday en route for London, where they are to appear under Mr. 11. D. Jl'lntosh's banner, Nov/ Star in American Firmament, An American paper—the Seattlo "Daily Times," is enthusiastic about Tommy Burns's new discovery, "Jack Lester," tho young heavy-weight whom tho ex-cham-pion has taken in hand in tho confident expectation of turning him into a worldbeater. Lester's real name, by tho way is John Juheck, and, like tho late.Stanley Ketchcll (Stanulaus Kiecal), he is of Polish parentage. Says tho "Doily Times": "Tommy never had tho natural strength that this young Jubeck, or Lester, has. In the. first place, Lester is threo inches taller than Tommy, and he is built from tho ground up. Lester is sft. lOin. tall, and weighs about 1901b. As ho is only 19 years old, he has not yet acquired his full growth. Ho promises to bo quite a broth of a boy by tho time he fills out. Lester can take a horseshoe, and, with his

bare hands, twist' it to pieces. He can put a spike nail in his teeth and bend it double," Would Even Face Johnson. Tho. ability to perform this last font should stand Lester in good stead. Strength of jaw goes a long way with an American fighting man. Tho Seattle paper goes on;—" Tommy thinks that in Lester be has picked .up a rough and ready fellow who fights for tho sheer love of it, and that if ho can only get him to cover up a bit so that ho will not have to stop all of an opponent's blows with his face, and teach him how to shoot his punches in straight instead of swinging, ho is ready right now to mingle with most of them aside from Jack Johnson. Lester himself would just as soon tackle Johnson as anyone. The namo or tho reputation of an opponent cuts no figure with him, and if he did get into a ring with Johnson ho would look more like a boxer than Jeffries did on July i last, for he would at any rato try to hit Johnson. Of course it would bo suicidal to send Lester against Johnson now, and it would bo impossible to get such a match, but if anyone thinks that Lester would not jump at a chance to get into a ring with Johnson, ho would guess again," The Petono Tourney, The local association is pushing forward arrangements in connection with the tournament at Petone on February 23. Burns and Leckie have agreed to meet in the big event of the evening, and both havo now settled down to bard work in their preparation. When they met last—over a six-round journey on tho night of the' Wolls-Sullivan bout at the Opera House—Leckie scored a win. On that occasion Burns was admittedly short of work,. having taken on the engagement at a fortnight's notice. This time ho will lack nothing on 'the scoro of condition. Being in the Petone Club's junior regatta four, he has his rowing condition thick upon him already, on top of which is to come tho boxing preparation. Leckie is equally keen; so this should be a smart lively contest all through its fifteen rounds.

So far the following nreliminaries havo been arranged:—Adamson (Petone) v. J. Murphy; Langridgo (Petone) v. Kutner; Lepper (Petone) v. Wilson. It was intended to have matched Ellis against Stewart, of Petone,- but Ellis, unfortunately, was not'available, so the association are looking out for a suitable opponent for tho Petone "feather." Even without this bout the programme, as nowarranged: is a long and varied one, and the local hall will bo stretched to its utmost holding capacity, on the settlinnight, a