BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1168, 1 July 1911, Page 18

BOXING.

(By "Me?.ote.t."l ROAD MET At.TOE OUR AMATEXJBS. Some Lumps Thrown at Them. ■J\ow that the local "Provincial Cham- ] nionshin's aro over, one must confess to a decided teelins oi disappointment over the form. Ellis, Tauered, Clifford, and perhaps Wilson arc' honourable -exceptions, but, otherwise, the standard was /on-—far too low: The impiorement that one reasonably looks for year by year is remarkable only for its absence, and, although (lie steady drain upon the amateur ranks, cauwd by the annual defections to the "cash" brigade, is to somo extent responsible for this regrettable feature, it in no way explains matters. What is the reason f Further Stoning With Intent. Tl\c writer must confess that he does not know, unless it is that the boxers do not take the necessary trouble to fit themselves for the encounters. Tho fact that so many of the. contestants so palpably lack tho necessary condition seems to indicate that this is one, at loast, of the causes. Some want of knowledge, a lack of ring experience, failure to do himself justice owing lo "stage fright"—all these are. lo a certain extent excusable, but that an aspirant for championship honours should go into the ring short of the condition to box. three rounds is a slate of affairs that is simply inexcusable. The competitors know that th.e tourney in to be held .weeks before-

perhaps not the exact date, lint thcy know f{iiitc well just abjiit when from previous experience and it is I heir duty, not only to themselves, hut to the public unci tlic a.-sociatiou, to set into proper "fix,!' or else not enter. Hunter, in tho

"heavy" competition, was a glaring case in point. In (lie third round he could hardly hold his hands up, and it is a sal's thing to say that lack of condition alone was responsible for liis defeat, (.'lifford, too, might, and probably would, have won had his condition stood to him. Ho looked all over a winner before he faded away, and so on through the chapter. The Association' does its be.-t to foster amateurism by nutting on this annual tournament, but it will have to consider the question as to whether it is worth while to continue iioinji so unless the contestants in whoso interests the tourney is' held do their part towards making the affair, a success. Arthur' Douglas, the South African light-weight, who has been for some time in Sydney, and. who recently defeated "Sid" Sullivan, is dangerously ill with appendicitis. Can France Deal With us Now? Speaking of the rapid strides (hat French boxers have been making of Into in the "noble art," 'Boxing" strikes a note of warning to their English confreres thus:— "The Trench advance, you know, is getting a bit serious. In bout after bout they keep beating their English rivals and tho men tlicy beat are no "duds' either. It is true that no French champion has yel succeeded in defeating .an English champion, but. ttie day locks iiko coming pretty soon. The best lads in France can already manage to account for many of our •'second-best crs,' and that's a little ■ matter which ought to make us think seriously, when we remember the poor opinion we all used to entertain about French boxing ability. Vpropds of this, late English files have it that two of the' most prominent of th'cso pugilistic Frenchmen, viz., Paul Tie, a "feather," and.Marcel Moreau, a middle-weight, have signed on under the M'lntosh Umicr to box in Australia next <ea'son. Mo;viwhib, Moreau was down to meet "Billy" Papko at a date to have been fixed after the leaving of the English mail. So the Parisian is evidently right up in the front rank of "middles." Graphic Story—Wolgast and a Lamb, The biggest thing in pugilistic battles of late months has been tho contest between Ad Wolgast, the holder, and Frank Burns, the challenger, for the lightweight championship of the world. This bout is considered, in America to have been the .most important since the late Johnson-Jeffries affair, and, strangely enough, it was brought off in San Francisco, despite the embargo that was placed Upon ring contests at the time of the big championship battle. The American mail just to hand has: plenty to say of , the meeting between .the light-weights, the result of which was to cement still faster Wolgast's hold upon tho title. In ji,s introductory matter to the "Fight, bv Rounds" report, the San Francisco "Call 1 ' says :—

Ad 'U'olgast, the world's light-weight .champion, successfully and unmercifully upheld his hard-earned title at the Eighth Street arena by hammering the helpless challenger, Frank Burns, all over the ring for 1G rounds. Burns, beaten into insensiltility, , helpless and defenceless, was unable to respond to tho call of the gong in round 17. Ono of his seconds tlirew the towel into the ring, and Referee Jack Welsh declared the champion the winner after two seconds had already been.ticked off by Timekeeper George Harting's watch.

A more uneven, one-sided ring battle never was witnessed, in San Francisco. From the moment the- "men squared off in the opening round till the ; tassing of the towel ended the conflict ■ in the. seventeenth, Burns did not have a semblance of a chance. The first round practically settled him; He was beaten, outclassed, and practically ruined, so far as his rins- mnire goes. $o one outside of "Bat" .Ne.scm would (have stood for tt,e beating.

Tis a pity, indeed, .that a game, coirageons, lion-hearted lad like the Oaklander should have been led to the slaughter as he was. His only chance to wrest the title from the great little champion was a lucky punch, and iw was not fortunate enough to brin" this over. As predicted time after time, Burns was sent on ioward the championship goal ton fast. He lacked the experience that a nossible chnropicm needs, and his crushing defeat of yesterday doubtless will spoil if broken 0 nng f ° r his h » rt N °Jw," ?i?J eVCr sle PF cd int ° ™y ring . than this same Burns. Battered -.info the land of dreams bv the fire- ' '-X-™ nT/ hi * oPPonent round - bnldog tenacity that is so often told about and so seldom witnessed. He ■ ° U t "P fi '»e after ■ : i-'. mo ' t -J' 1 Hie lighting spirit stuck to Tnm til the last. He forgot everything else All that remained with nun was his nerve.

The contest. should have been stopped, and that, by.the manager and seconds .of the Oakland boy, ar least four or five rounds previous to the . seventeenth. It could have been seen then that Burns did not have a chance and that each succeeding round only meant more unnecessary punishment ' more agony for him. He had the sympathy of his opponent, the crowd, and the referee. The humane spirit seemed to rise in the breasts of evcrv one save the men behind Burns anil . tney turned against him in his hour .of need. It looked as though thev .wero trying to save the inonev which they had wagered on IS rounds, and' here they failed again.: For Iho sake of humanity and the good of the boxing game alone—to say nothing of their regard for the boy who was being led to the slaughter—his manager, "Jack" Perkins, and his backer, "Dave" Cockrell, should hang their heads in shame for having allowed this youth to bo uselessly hammcrered and pummelled as he was. Wolgast's next championship engagement is called for next Tuesday—the "Glorious Fourth" in the United States. This time his challenger is Owen Moran, the Birmingham boy, who defeated "Battling" Nelson somo months back, and so made clear his road to championship honours. _ The English boxer was'present at the ringside on the occasion of the Burns aflair just described, but what he saw there has, in no wise, dismayed liim. Says a recent file on the subjectBubbling over with confidence, Owen states that he is glad Wolgast has been made favourite in the betting, and that the American is feeling no ill effects from his damaged arm, for "[ want to beat a sound man on July .4- when we meet." The fact that his rival's recent victories have installed him favourite does not worry Moran ill the least; in. fact, tho Brum states that this is all tho better for the' English speculators on tho event. Moran declares that lie, has studied Wolgast's . style to-a. nicety, and feels confident, Jie win bring' back (he title to Old England. Let us hope that he will, It is high time indeed that England possessed a world'* champion of her own, and, if Moran proves to be this champion, ho will be one to be .proud oE. "Our Mr. Talbot."

Local enthusiasts will bo glad to learn Hint Mr. W. G. Talbot, the secretary of the local, association, who was suddenly laid low a fortnight ago by an attack of appendicitis, has taken n decided turn for the better, and is now upon the high road to recovery without the necessity fo'.- an operation.

Hays the Sydney "Daily Telegraph":— "BUI" Lang is willing to give "Bill" Turner a match early in' September. Turner, it will bo remembered, acted as sparring partner lor Lang when the latter was traiuin? for Lester, and so well did lie shape that a number of Rood judges were of the opinion that Lang n'oiiJil need (o be at his best to defeat the lengthy Tasmaiiian, who has come on wonderfully during the last few months. After a few more weeks on the easy list, Lang intends to si art his preparation for his contest with "Mill" Srjiiii-os, which will take place in Brisbane early in August. Wlmt with this inntch, the return battle with Lester, and the match hu has promised Bill Turner, it looks as if the local champion will have his time fully occupied during the next few laoathi.