RINGSIDE TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 20321, 1 November 1929, Page 12

RINGSIDE TOPICS

[By Hooker.]

LATEST FISTIC FLASHES TO-MORROW’S WRESTLING CONTEST

FIXTURES. November I.—Tommy Donovan v. Tommy Doble (Australia), at Wellington. November 2 (Wrestling).—Clarence Ekiund v. Maracci Gardini, at Dunedin. November 28.—Ted Morgan v. Artie Hay (welter weight title), at Gisborne. November 30.—Tommy Donovan v. Pete Sarron, at New Plymouth. December 7.—Johnny Leckie v. Billy Grime, at Napier, PROSPECTIVE CONTESTS. Although there has not been much stir in Otago boxing circles during the past mi nth or so, there are signs that in the course ol a few weeks something will be doing. ' It was at Dunedin that Ted Morgan made his professional debut, and his hard punching and aggressive milling quickly earned popularity for him. Since his defeat of Hughes he has knocked out P. J. Stone, and last week fought a draw with Reg. Trowern, who gave Artie Hay a very close contest recently. Morgan nearly finished Trowern at one stage of their contest at Greymouth, but the latter recovered well, and managed to share the decision at the finish. • Morgan is booked to meet Hay for his title this month, and a clinking bout should result. _ Morgan has the good old “ sock ” which appeals to the public, and, win. or lose, should be a draw card whenever he appears. The Otago Boxing Association has been in touch with Morgan regarding another contest here, and it is on the cards that he may meet Norman Gillespie, the Australian light-weight champion. Gillespie promised his services to , the Otago Boxing Association some time ago, and the local association has also been advised that Morgan is willing to meet Gillespie. If this match can be clinched it should be a real “winner,” for Gillespie was popular here before, and his stirring fight with Johnny Leckie will not readily be forgotten by those who saw it. the Australian will not be troubled by having to make weight on this occasion, and this should ensure a great sot-to if these two aggressive fighters can be brought together.

LOCAL WRESTLING MATCHES. To-morrow night, Clarence Eklund, light heavy-weight wrestling champion of the world, will meet Maracci Gardim at the Drill Hall, and Dunedin will have its first glimpse of the modern form of the oldest sport in the world. Both men have first-class credentials in the grappling game, and their training work-outs have given the large crowds attending some inkling of_ the treat in store to-morrow night. Working out with the professionals has been Tommy Walker, better known as_ the Otago representative amateur lightweight boxer, who is also a promising wrestler, and the son of an old-time champion. Eklund has expressed himself as bein" most agreeably surprised with the form shown by the local amateurs, considering their lack of experience, and some good preliminaries to the professional match should be witnessed. An additional attraction will be the special exhibition to be given by Farmer Vance, who will demonstrate the various holds with Tommy Walker. It is probable that Vance will be seen in action on November 9, his opponent being the winner of the Eklnnd-Gardim contest. Should these matches receive the. support that seems warranted, a further contest may be staged between Wal Johansson and Tom Alley, who engaged in such a sensational contest with George Walker at Auckland earlier in the week, . * . , The professional contest is scheduled for eight ten-minute rounds, and the amateur matches will be of four rounds of three minutes each. SLAVING DEATH. A Vancouver cable message reports the death in a military hospital of Frank Slavin the one-time famous Australian fighter Slavin was born at Maitland, New South Wales, on January 5, 1862, stood bft Ijin, and in his best day weighed 14st (says an exchange). Ho first followed the occupation of a blacksmith, but later became a miner. Ho started his ring career in 1885, and in 1888 visited New Zealand At th? time Harry Laing was the recognised champion, and the pair met on the Wanganui racecourse on April 25, 1888, Slavin winning in the sixth round. After the fight rumours were circulated that Laing had been “.doped.’’ Certainly something was wrong, -as the following extract from a Wanganui paper will show:—“As to rumours of Laing having been ‘ got at ’ in some way, we can only say that there are some suspicious circumstances connected with Laing’s illness, but sc far as we have heard there is no direct evidence that can lead one to come to any conclusion on the point.’ After making a clean-up of those who met him in Australia, Slavin left for England in 1889, and on December 23 fought his bare knuckles fight with Jem Smith, the English champion. The battle took place in France, and when it became evident that Smith was hopelessly outclassed a gang of roughs rushed the ring and ,in the melee that followed Slavin was considerably knocked about. The fight was foi £sofl a-side, and Slavin was awarded the money and declared champion of England, 'in 1891 Slavin went to America in the hope of getting a match with John L. Sullivan, hut that famous fighter side-stepped the Australian as lie had done Peter Jackson He, however, met and defeated Jake Kilrain, who, in 1889, had fought Sullivan for seventy-five rounds with bare fists at Richburg, Missouri Returning to, England in 1892, Slavin was matched against Peter Jackson fo’€2,000, and thev ipet at the Nationa 1 Sporting Club op M'rcb 30; Jackson winning in ten rounds. The batt'e is referred to to this dav as one of pm "reat classics of th” ring under o”°en c herrv rules After a few more fight« in Fun-land. Slavin went to A«v.p r i/, n and in took un bis residence i” Canada His final figbt_ took pDce on December 7, 1907, at Victoria, British Columbia, when he was knocked out in the second round Slavin took up mining in Canada, and served overseas with the Canadian forces during the war. As a boxer, he was not a scien-

tist of the Peter Jackson or Jim Corbett order. He favoured the fierce battering style of John L. Sullivan, depending on speed, a smashing attack, and a killing punch to cany him through During his long career he suffered defeat on only six or seven occasions. Patrick Francis Slavin will live in ring history ns one of Australia’s greatest fighters as a period when sucli brilliant performers as Jackson. Corbett. Sullivan, Kilrain, Mitchell, and others wore contemporaries. POTENTIAL CHAMPION. An Australian potentiality for world’s championship honours loomed across the fistic horizon at Sydney Stadium on Saturday night (says the Sydney Referee ’) A man who, when he has the necessary experience tucked under his belt, looks able to revive the past glories of Slavin, Jackson, and Darcy. Jack Haines is the man. Following an absence of several months from the ring, ' owing to damaged hands, he came out and, after ho had got ovc his “ ring shyness,’’ boxed and punched like a champion. His opponent, Ren Marshall, welter champion of Wales, had no chance. He was ontweighted and outclassed. Haines’s terrific punching was a revelation. The left hook to the jaw that finished the contest early in the . second round was a classic. Haines should go on from victory to victory He .will improyo in each contest. Tlie most surprising thing is that, although his victory was expected. we had no ida that he would produce the punching powers he did. Evidently he now has confidence in his hands. He had control from the opening of hostilities. The ovation the crowd gave Haines when he left the ring was sincere and tremendous, and he bids fair to bring public interest back to boxing. Matching him with Ted Monson for the middle-weight championship should be only a matter of davs.

HEAVY-WEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION. As a result of his win over Jim Londos, the Greek' from St. Louis, Mo., Dick Schikat, the Philadelphia German, so far, at least, as the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission is concerned, is the heavy-weight wrestling champion of the world (the New York 1 Police Gazette * says). On August 23. at the Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia, Schikat gave a superlative performance against the Greek, and no doubt he will prove a popular and colourful champion. It was a rough go, with both men slapping and cuffing each other frequntly. After fifteen minutes of mauling, Londos was tumbled for the first trip to the canvas by a headlock. The bout continued for over an hour, the Greek getting the worst of it all the way._ Londos turned on some fireworks with his fists that were not altogether ethical, and Schikat went on the canvas twice. Seeing victory ahead, Londos leaped in for a headlock, but the German clipped him on the chin and the Greek went sailing into the ropes with Schikat on top of him. Londos got to his feet, but Schikat rushed furiously at him and applied the pressure, and the bout was liis. EKLUND RETAINS TITLE. Clarence Ekiund retained the light-heavy-weight championship of the world by defeating “Farmer” Vance by two falls to one. at the Auckland Town Hall last Monday. A combination of holds scored the first fall for Ekiund in the third round. Vance evening the score two sessions later with a succession of head-locks. The final fall, giving the decision to Ekiund, was scored in the sixth round with a toehold and armbar, says the * Sun.’ The impetuosity which has marked Vance’s displays in New Zealand, and which cost him the title with Ekiund recently, was missing. An army of seconds worked hard between (ounds keeping the fiery Farmer cool, and in this they were successful. The contest was one of the best wrestling displays of tho season, and although it could ,not be called thrilling or spectacular, it kept the

spectators interested all the time. Some brilliant scientific work was seen to the creel it of both men. It was noticeable that th' nsual capacity house was not there to witness the struggle, but those who did attend were amply repaid. The conditions, of the match were that Vance guaranteed Eklund £4OO to get into the ring to defend his title, and, in addition to losing the match, Vance must have lost in tno vicinity of £IOO, as the crowd, although good, was not up to expectations. At the conclusion of the bout Vance was very cool. “ They can’t say I lost my head this time. Ho know just a little too much for mo and out-wrestled me,” ho said. HERE AND THERE. The report of the referee of the Grif-fiths-Taylor fiasco at To Aroha_ makes interesting reading, but the writer for one will not agree with the view’ that there w r as any understanding between the boxers. Griffiths’s record will stand any such test, and the writer believes the same of Frank Taylor. The men had already met three times, neither packs a finishing punch, and it looks as if the To Aroha Association blundered badly in matching two boxers with such a similarity in their styles. Griffiths is showing nothing like his form of a year or two back, hut Dunedin boxing fans will take a lot of convincing that Griffiths was not a trier. When Jeff Dickson, the young American boxing promoter, who has been staging contests in Paris for the pastfour and a-half years with conspicuous success, staged a show without permission in London recently he defied the British Boxing Board of Control. Dickson had applied to the Board of Control five times for permission to run shows in London. He was refused each time, so he decided to storm London without the board’s consent. Only last month he announced in the Press that if any boxers fighting under his management found themselves hampered in securing other engagements, he would pay the expenses of a test case in the courts to prove that an Englishman in England had the right to earn his living as a professional boxer. The American’s premiere was a great success, and the hall was packed. He had altered the lighting effects, and made the stage look like a scene from an ultramodern play Frankie Geriaro, world’s fly-weight champion, defended his crown against the English fly-weight, Ernie Jarvis, in the main event. Genaro won with ease and received the decision on points. Billy Grime is to have two more fights in Australia before lie leaves for New Zealand to engage Johnny Leckie at Napier. Sammy Shack, who beat Bobby Delaney in Dunedin and lost to Johnny Lccltie, was to have fought at the Sydney Stadium last Saturday night. His opponent was to be Len White, an Australian light-weight, who recently beat Jimmy Kelson and is a contender for Gillespie’s light-weight title. Tom Harris travelled to Christchurch with Alan Campbell for his fight with the New Zealand amateur heavy-weight champion, Colin Gardiner, and if there were a more satisfied man in the hall than Harris when the decision was given ho would be hard to find. Campbell won, and won fairly comfortably. In the latter stages he had things all his own way, and next year he will probably make a bold bid to regain his vacant title.

The University boxing class has dosed down, but Harris’s gym. is still running, and the local mentor is still travelling to the Waitaki Boys’ High School, whose championships will bo held on November 22 and 23. The local High School championships will also be decided shoitly. Frank Yan, the young Sydney mid-dle-weight, came within a pound of winning the championship off Ted Monson last Saturday night at Woollongong (New South Wales). Yan, < who weighed a pound over the middleweight limit, was given the decision by a hairline verdict after fifteen twominute rounds (says an Australian writer). The contest had been advertised as for the championship; but the title could not have changed hands over two-minute iminds. Championship conditions call for three-mniute rounds. After a tame beginning, the affair developed into one of the most willing encounters witnessed _at the SontlfCoast town. Monson’s disinclination to show his real form during the early rounds brought him into bad favour with the fans. The referee talked to him, and after that the fight improved till it became exciting. Up to the twelfth Monson punished Van severely, but Van surprised by coming out and taking the fight to Monson. He opened several cuts on Monson’s face, and in the fourteenth dropped him to the canvas for eight. Van punished Monson in the final round, and his last rally influenced the referee in his favour. Van weighed 11.7 and Monson 11.6. Babe Herman, the American lighter, who fought so successfully in Australia, was defeated in his South African debut, being outpointed by Mickey Doyle, a veteran American sontpaw. It. was a gruelling fight, and one of the host seen in South Africa for some time^ If all professional boxers were like Ted Morgan promotion in New Zealand would bo very easy. Although he foimht for a £l5O purse in Wellington, and will fight for a £l5O purse in Greymouth in a few days, Morgan accepted without hesitation the proposal of the Christchurch Sports Club that he should box ten rounds this week for a £SO purse and £lO expenses (says the ‘Sun’). He could not have been criticised had he elected to rest between his two bigger bouts, but he stepped out to assist the club. Professionals of this type should receive every encouragement. Tommy Donovan is being kept as busy as a bee these days, and already this month has three engagements ahead. To-night he will be tip against one of his stiffest propositions to date when he meets Tommy Doble, the promising Australian feather-weight who recently scored an easy victory against Togo Robinson. It will be remembered that Doble came to the fore during Johnny Leckie’s visit to Australia, but an ill-advised match with Claude Wilson put him out of the running Tor a while. He should give Donovan a good testing, which may afford some line as to Donovan’s chances with Pete Sarron on November 30. In between these fights Donovan will engage in a return with Hector Leckie at Ashburton.