BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1097, 8 April 1911, Page 12

BOXING.

(By "Mercury. - ')

GRAPHIC LETTER FROM. LONDON. LANG FIGHTS A STEAM HAMMER. Paeans for Lang's Grit. The English mail to hand during tho week brought full details of "Bill" Lang's defeat by "Sam" Langford, both through the medium of the press and a descriptive letter from Mr. H. D. M'lntosli. The accounts thoroughly bear out tho cablegrams received at tho time, inasmuch as they show that tho Victorian was never in the hunt with tho black right from tho start. But they all <igreo that his showing was not an inglorious one, and Australia can still find some balm in Gilead from the universal chorus of praise that is accorded to Lang for his wonderful gainencss.» Hopelessly beateii as he was from the gong, sent down in every round, battered, and so shattered and absolutely nonpiussed by tho speed and force of tho fighting machine that, try as ho could, ha could get neither at, nor away from, the ebony person,, the white man i)evor faltered for a moment. He took what was coming to him, and went in for more, and got it—and went in again. Certainly the end was inglorious, but hero again accounts speak with no uncertain voice. Judging from the. short cabled accounts it appeared at the time that Lang had fouled his man purposely to escape the ignbminy of a "knock-out." This theory is disposed, of right away by the press reports. In fact, Lang was never doing so well—or perhaps it would be more correct to say he was never faring less badly—during the whole contest, as when his disqualification camc.

Mr. M'lntosh's Story of the Battle. As to details of tho combat which by the way, was witnessed by a crowd of 5000 at prices ranging from 10s. • 6d. to ten guineas per head (some slight comfort for Mr. M'lntosh in his hour of failure to find the saviour of the white race) the promoter says,in his letter:— "Lan" was in excellent condition, and weighed about Ust. 41b. He was very confident right up to the moment of entering the ring. He received a tremendous ovation on entering the arena, and this was renewed' when lie entered the ropes. The great publicity that the newspapers had given to the contest, coupled with Lang s own remarkable personal popularity, secured for him one of the greatest receptions ever accorded to a fighter. This apyoared to liavo unnerved him, for ho seemed nervous in the-jing, and this influenced his movements during the early Eart of the contest. On the other hand, arigford, cool, smiling, and confident, came at him right away under 'the instructions of his experienced advisers; Lang, also acting under orders, kept away. Langford speedily demonstrated that these were the tactics that best suited him. He chipped and punched Lang as he pleased. F9r this reason Lang was unable to get properly sot, and his opponent was not slow to take advantage of it, and kept on top of him all tho time.

.-"In tho third round, it became apparent to all that Lang had no chance of boxing his opponent, so ho was sent right in, and, in 'mixing' it with Langford, ho had tho better of the exchange. This was a wonderful round, and 'corners' closed one of tho most exciting incidents of the whole contest, as the pictures clearly show. Langford is undoubtedly one of the best six-round fighters living and, when weighing the decision against Lang, it should be borne in mind that, when he lost, he was on his feet and' Langford was on tho floor. Most of the papers attribute Langford's fall to a slip; but the kinematograph films, as well as the photographs," vividly demonstrate that it was tho result of a clean knock-out blow. • ■ , "During ] the, last round, Langford was bonitanHv appealing jfor fouls.and, at. the time of the' 1 dfsq\iSlsfidntion,Lang, though weak, .was certainly in better condition than he had been in the earlier periods. It is the Opinion to-day of some of the best judges that Lang had a really good winning chance if ho had not impulsively fouled his opponent.

What Langford Aimed to Do. "Langford tried from the outset to put Lang out; his blows were as powerful as he was able to administer, and, in the first few rounds, he certainly had the opportunity of-hitting Lang as often as he pleased; but, although knocked down, Lang always got up, and fought with courage. . Anyone. ,whb, Ims studied Langford's fighting.-knows. this: That' if ho fights 'all out','for six' rounds'.-ie rapidly gets tired, and his blows lose their sting. Lang was just about realising that Langford had done his best, and—as he said afterwards—his blows were getting lighter, and he felt that Langford was tiring, whilst Lang was settling down to fight in his old style.'

Another and More Graphic Story. Thus' Mr. M'lntosh, but it must be said that,' cither he is far more discerning, and a much better judge of condi : tion that the critics, or that his kindly feeling, for his fellow Australian has fettered his judgment, for he appears to staud aboslutely alone in his opinion that Lang had any chance when the finish came. The press opinion is all the other way—that he was well aii.'l soundly beaten at the time, and that the end was only a niatter of time. The "Daily Mifror has a graphic account, extracts from which are appended:— "Sam Langford is a sculptor's model as a man. The lights for the kinematograph pictures danced.on his bronze skin. His muscles rippled firm and supple to every emotion of the mind. A perfect man cast in a bronze mould, but, with a cunning, cruel face and smile which savoured of something uncanny. And Lang realised that there was something uncanny in the mass of bone and muscle in front of him: To protect his body from the shorter man lie adopted a crouching gait. But in his guard and posture there was something of nervousness. And it was not the type Of nervousness which steels men to great deeds. Langford nearly always held the centre of tho ring. Lang was. scurrying round it, trying to keej) out of the way of tliose terrible battering-ram blows left and right, Tight then left, with the precision of a Nasmyth hammer. Thud, sjnasli, swing loft, right upper-cut. Lang was down again and again, and still came up for more. Still came up, but ever weaker after each crashing, pulverising smash. Why did he not stay down after his last knock-down for ten instead of nine seconds? Oh, the pity of it! "The first round saw some very fast work, heavy lefts and rights being exchanged. But Lang winced and Langford smiled under the rain of blows. Smiled as if ho already'had taken the measure of his man and knew that, there was not power enough in Iris onslaughts to damage his shaven head. "There was only just one time "when Lang's friends bad any hopeful feeling in the match. That came in the fourth round. Thch Lang, with both his eyes cut came for a forlorn hope. Lang slammed his man, but was weak from previous punishment, and the force of his blows did not suffice, to stop tho grin of confidence which-was always 011 the face of tho negfo. Lang had just one great chance, and he failed by.tho fraction of an inch to land it, It came toVnrds tho close of the first round, when Langford missed him with a vicious left swing and spun himself found with the force of the blow. Lang tried a terrific downward nunch, but the momentum of Longford's onslaught was such that it carried him out of range, and Lang's chance of putting his opponent out enmo and weut, fruitlessly.

"Langford, Fierce Eyed and Smiling Cruelly." Lang had realised that he must fight desperately, and the second round gave us some, of the heaviest work I have ever seen in a ring. Which would crack first, I.ang or Lang'ford? Tho rally ended with Langford getting right and left on to Lang's face, and Lang heard nine counted before he rose. Then it was seen that he had an ugly one over tho left eye. Stilt Lang was not beaten, and, although forced into his coriier, the last blow struck was a heavy rib-bender on Langford'S body which the black man did not relish, or at least he did not grin as ho walked Across ths ring. Langford, still serious, sailed in to beat his man in the third round. A smashing right upper-cut in the other eye dazed 'alia he was helpless for the straight

left which floored him for another count of nine seconds. Lang was now cut. over both eyes, and Langl'ord, fierce-eyed and still smiling cruelly, was following him round tho ring wailing for the opportunity to plant tho blow which would end the combat. We had some of the lighter side of boxing in the fourth round. There was now a touch of-pity in Langford's smile, nnrl he seemed to open himself up lo Lang's attacks. It may have been ringcrnft of infinite guile, but all tho same it was Lang's round, and he punched the negro left and right time and again, without much response. Was it for the pictures that Langford eased up in the fourth round? What was working in the inscrutable mind of the bronze man? There was no trace of pity or kindness in his smile when the fifth started. Lang was punched olf his feet with a tremendous right, with all the shoulder and body behind it, right at the start of the round, and once more the timekeeper counted the seconds up to tho fateful nine, and Lang staggered to his feet.

"Don't Lean on him, Lang!" Ho tried to keep close to his opponent, and Jlr. Corri had to say, "Don't lean on your man, Lang!" But he could not keep the negro off, and in one clinch Langford got in the blow known as "looping the loop" and grinned over his shoulder at his corner as he did it. Just before the end Lang sank under another fierce nail of blows, but still came up. Langford was laughing outright when the gong went for tho sixth round. Lang went in to a clinch to avoid punishment, and in the wrestle Langford slipped on to one knee. Lang stood over him, and, despite Jlr. Corri's warning, "Stand back, Lang," flicked his opponent with his glove. It was the end. , The timekeeper stopped counting, and Lang, knowing the enormity he had committed, hung his head and walked to his corner. And Langford's cruel, mocking smile i,n my very eyes is the last'thing I remember of the boxing match, in which the white man took his gruelling with rare pluck, and could not lose like a man. In its description of the final scene, tho "Jlorning Leader" says:—"Then in making a wild right Langford slipped to his knees. Lang, throwing away all restraint as when he met Curran, dashed in and hit the fallen black on the shoulder. It seemed incredible, and the only explanation is that some primeval instinct to destroy came to tho surface, and caused him to so offend. Mr. Corri could not do otherwise than disqualify him, but it w-as already a beaten man that fell under tho ban of his office."

The Poor Battered "White Man's Hope." Tho "Daily Graphic" strikes a note of encouragement for the poor,' battered, discredited "white man's hope," as under: ~" A J ct , llas been said and written about the foul which terminated Tuesday's match in so unpleasant a fashion; but we must not bo too hard on Lang in this matter. He was hopelessly over-matched, but had fought with splendid courage and determination. He had been leathered at the negro's will, and he had had the exasperating experience of seeing his own blows dodged or blocked with quito ridiculous case. „ "Th° punishment he received in the fifth round was alone enough to put threo ordinary 'champions' out. Then something that must have looked liko a chance to his bleared vision came in the sixth round, when Langford went down. Some primitive but very human impulse got hold of him, and he aimed a blow at his opponent before ho had risen to his feet. It was a sorry ending to a desperately plucky encounter; but to suggest tha't Lang deliberately fouled his man in order to save himself from a 'knockout,' as has been done in certain ouarters, is as contemptible a suggestion" as it is mean. . "Lang's display in the fourth and fifth rounds tells a vastly different story. No man battles as ho did and then, 'in the face of a succcssion of disasters, wishes to skulk out of a fight. There is no need for Lang to be disheartened. There should be plenty of work for him to do :f Mr. Jl'lntosh can find an opponent who is not as shy of him as of tho negroes. What about Hague, Jloir, and Wells, for instance!- , All these 'champions' appear to own supporters who profess to fancy the chances of their particular .favourites against tho tall Australian.''*

If Langford Fought Johnson . As for the lesson taught by this encounter iu relation to tho anxiously-looked-for Johnson-Langford meeting— well, it is hard to iiiiti llie moral. Collateral iorm is a very unsatisfactory medium to deal With, but basing the argument 011 tnis admittedly unstable basis, tho result of tho Langford-Lang. contest favours tho lesser (in point of size) of the two evils—Langtoru. Thus, to quote "Boxing," "lie made Langford look lil.o an absolute novice,". Yet .Lang iWcnt the whole 20 rounds against Burns in their second meeting, and Burns went 14 rounds against Johnson without getting a semblance of tho battering that Langford meted out to Lang. Again, when just a beginner Lang lasted 9 rounds with Johnson. Which all looks as though Langford must have a big chance against tho champion. Now, however, comes a furthet complication—the LangfordJPVea draw over 20 rounds in Paris last Sunday. If this puts Langford in tho M'Vea class, it also puts him out of Johnson's. Jl'Vea has already been beaten by tho champion twice. He recently went 49, rounds with '"Joe" Jeannette, to whom Johnson gave the father of a beating a few months since. Moreover, the Jeannette-M'Vea combination in Paris found the Australian "Sid" liussell an' extremely hard nut to crack, and tho late "Sid," who died in Paris, was never anywhere near championship form. It is a pretty tanglo all round, and its 6nly straightening lies in a meeting between the two negroes, and present signs go to show that this is not to be yet. It has come. A recent cablegram, received in Sydney reads as. follows:—"At Mr. H'. D. M'lntosh's Olymnia Annexe, 'Syd.' Burns beat Ray Broiison in 19 rounds, tho latter being disqualified." Now, Bronson was considered to" be easily the cleanest of the American contingent, whose ring tactics were so unnormlar in Sydney, and if his methods cnniiot pass nluster in England, what clianco can those of "Cyclone" Thompson and Papke have?