THE FOURTH ROUND OF THE GREAT FIGHT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3038, 27 March 1917, Page 6

THE FOURTH ROUND OF THE GREAT FIGHT

' : " " ■■■ • : i "FREEDOM'.' IN THE PINK OF CONDITION. A New 'Zealand officer, writing from "somewhere in France," refers to his experience in th'e'Somme "push" as being magnificent,! "and: as it is. with' all magnificence in war the importance of detail and the wealth of it made the grand whole possible. "After, sitting in trenches for months;, where .we have' to take our nasty knocks and, smile at difficulties without a-.sorting chance of getting a fair lead..with, the left or. a. counter with the right, our. chaps relished the opportunity of driving the enemy,all round the ring. So closed the third autumn round. The first two rounds were in favour of the Boches, the third jolted him sevSroly, but ho had enough staying power to keep' defending till the gong of wet and cold weather gave him a respite in; his corner. His seconds are now endeavouring to revive him for, the fourth round, and are also oasting anxious glances around for means'of escape.. Some of them (Austria) would fain throw, in the towel, and there seems little, stomach for the coming bout. ' "And what of the man in the opposite corner? He bears the scars of the first two rounds. He was nearly beaten —how close a call history will alone bear witness. But he never ceased to smile and stake hard punches, in a. sportman's way—never complaining, never losing confidence. Now his face is wreathed in smiles of victory. He lias got the' upper hand. Ho has had better training to resist and 'carry on,' and his condition will tell. See, he is breathing through his nose, and his eyes gleam with the keenness fir his job. His opponent is well 'puffed.' and his furtive glances here and there betray his fear for the coming fray. And when the gong for the .fifth round sounds, the world spectators will stand on tiptoe in breathless silence as the heavy blows fall. - t

, "It is 'in-fighting,' and the spectators do not ' and cannot see all tlie hard knocks that. ,are being given and received. .They'see only that there is still the, smile of victory over the countenance of the cleaner fighter. And the stake —why the world's championship belt is on tho fight to be won and lost. Whoever heard of cutting a silver cup in tnvo for a drawn fight? There will be no draw in this fight. It is a fight to a'finish, and the knockout'blow will come, if not this round, then' in a later one. ' But it's coming, and ive out here know who is going to give and who is to receive that knockout blow. We know who has the upper hand, and we'ftro confident." '