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Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 177, 14 April 1923, Page 19

The annual general meeting cf the Wellington Boxing Association will be held on Monday evening, when matters of importance concerning the government of the game will come up for consideration.

The death of Hiram B. Cook at San Francisco at the age of seventy-six recalls one of tlie greatest boxing contests ever held. Cook refereed tlhe famous J. J. Corbett-Peter Jackson fi'dit, held at the California Athletic Club on May 21, 1891, . which lasted six.ty-ono rounds. In striking contrast to the Domnsey-Carnentier contest, when Dempsely walked off with a quarter of a million dollars, is the fact that Jackson and Corbett accepted 2500 dollars each, and were quite content with that sum. When the aixtvfirst round in the Corbett-Jackson fight was called the men were staggering about the ring like drunken men, and Cook stepped’in and carried each man ;to his corner, declaring the fight a draw.

In Germany backers pay more attention to the results of French races than their own, and bet accordingly. A correspondent of the London ‘ sporting Life” says that one reason for this is that the totalisator deductions by the German Government are so abnormally largo that the prices about races m France are better. He adds that another reason why betting on French racing is preferred in Germany is to be found in the fact that the German turf is notoriously corrupt, and that it is long odds against a backer getting anything like a fair run for his moneyGerman meetings are loosely run; there is almost a total lack of supervision, and the form of a horse, however inconsistent, is rarely, if ever, questioned The admission of a steward at a Rhineland meeting last year will serve to show how liberal is their to.eratwn and stack their methods. We were discussing the pros and cons of a wrtain race when he staggered wq uv the remark, “ should win, but I don’t know what the jockeys have ..decided.” Tliis was not only an admission of the existence of corruption, but tantamount to a confession of incompetency and complicity on tho part of those whose efforts should be directed towards the cleansing of the turf.