BOXING

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12252, 6 April 1935, Page 11

BOXING

-Will' MANY BRITISH WOMEN WATCH CONTESTS.

V Whether it be for good or ill—and J a t the moment the balance is definitely on the side of the good—and whether the delicately-minded like it or not ,the fact remains that at every big boxing tournament promoted in the British Isles there is an increasing proportion of women among the j spectator (says a writer in a London j paper). j jh the big Weinbly Stadium, /when ; Jack Petersen was beaten by Walter . Neusel, one-tenth of the total attendance was women. That is to say J that at least a thousand women, were j present, many of them clothed as for the firwt night at a theatre or tlio opening ol the opera season. On the same night at Mountain , Ash, in South Wales, among the.' crowd of 8000 to see the -fight foi tii'o' British light-heavyweight championship, the percentage of women spectators was quite as high. • The same phenomenon has been | Keen when really important contests have been staged ,in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, or Birmingham. Boxing has definitely come back into public favour; the presence of so many women is evidence of its present appeal and a guarantee of the future—so long as promoters will go iJWr) .realising, increasingly, that firstclass contests must be held in the same atmosphere of personal comfort for the spectator as. are ice hockey, a Queen's Hall concert, and the films. Charles Cochran was the pioneer in 'staging a really national boxing contest outside the doors of tlie National Sporting Club, which were closed to women. When -Joe Beckett fought Georges Carpentier at tho Holborn Stadium in 1919 many poo- | plo were prepared to pay £5 for the j privilege of standing—and if is not fiction that some women were still I arranging coiffures and saw nothing of a contest that lasted only a few j seconds. There were,' of course, halls , up and down the country that could "'v claim their regular women patrons, but Cochran’s venture in the sport- ; ing world did stimulate in other prometers the idea that public boxing need not take place an dim-lit woad- . on shanties in any back street, :j j Many people will remember the out-, | cry against the first professional boxing tournament held at the Albert Hall, Kensington. The opposition died down when it .was realised that the comfort and the convenience of the place, coupled with the knowledge that the tournament would have been staged somewhere, far outweighed any sentimental opposition to the use of a famous hall for this purpose. ' So began a new era; and to-day women and men can go to watch boxers matched with more scrupulous care .than ever in surroundings that give them comfort and security at less than half the price that was possible 10 or 15 years ago.

BEATEN EARLY. ;[a commenting on the heavy weight j boxing contest in which Walter ; Neusel, of Germany, beat Jack Peter- | txjn, Bri.tiajh /cihampiojti, the towel being thrown in from Petersen’s cornor in the 11th round, an English j paper says: “Petersen was a beaten • man spine time beioro the lOtli round, when an old cut over his ( left eye was reopened. He seemed op- ; "pressed and uncertain ot himself, and dij not settle down to a consistent j plan of campaign. Sometimes he hex- i cd, but his leads and guards were , not strong enough to 'stop NcuseP'S j heavy two-handed hitting. Sometimes ho .fought, 'but his lately-acquired science seems to have overcast with , a shadow of doubt the .single-minded ferocity of his early days. He scored sometimes with his left, hut often. ( missed ludicrously with right hooks and that chopping-axe stroke of his with the right hand never landed heavily. Neusel, blonde and heavyshouldered, maintained from start to .finish a plodding, indomitable at- J tack, walking in like some great > hear and hitting with both hands, The removal of nearly two stone of , fa in five week's did not- seem to haye .weakened him in .the least ; he did pot leek fine-drawn and was .fighting as strongly at the end as at tlic beginning. lie won, because ho ,liit harder, straighten, and more of- ( ten than Petersen and because he no energy, on futile maneou- j I'Vrijig and never ceased to attack.” <) t 1 MELANCHOLY MUSIC. ■ A young negro heavyweight boxer, ‘ Joe Louis, has come into prominence iii the United States of America lately. A story that is told about him is thpt he star.ted put,, with live dollars in .his • pocket, to take violin lessons, j hilt' on'-the - way for his first music practice, he ,\v;as induced to' part .With Ips' money in exchange for instruction in boxing.. It is also related of Inin that'before every fight hq reads the Bible iii his dressing-room. These j stories may be only his manager’s *‘ballyhoo” to’ give him; publicity and iinpknt' the idea -that about him is the fan; melancholy of a negro spiritual. But his recent performances suggest that "We is worthy of publicity. I ; Air any,; rate' 1, his (opponents are the / people ywho .ihaye iieard t most of ,Mo , infelancliblyf music/ Already -Jie/is. rank-1 ...■m'Aiiiferica.as fiftli among the prospective) contenders ; v. for Max Ifcief’s f world’s championship. ).

BAER AND SCHMELING. The report that the. German Government will subsidise a scheme to arrange a fight between Max . Baer and Max Schmeling, for: the. world’s heavyweight boxing , championship, Baer to be offered £70,00, .and that the Government will secure a German venue for the fight, if necessary, is; Interesting. The New .York Boxing Commission and the Madison. Square Garden Corporation seem to consider that they enjoy the prerogative of Controlling fights for this championship, and one wonders what their, reactions to the German proposal will be. Baer is not very much in love with the ' two New York organise.tions named, and there, is little doubt that if a substantial-enough offer were made to him he would defend the championship elsewhere. However, lie has also said ho will not defend his title outside of the United' Stfates for any sum less than the equivalent of £IOO,OOO. Will Germany’’ raise the ante P It is also reported that the German Boxing Federation has been instructed to assist the promoters in arranging a fight between Baer and Schmeling. Since he beat Steve Hamas, who was one of the foremost American contenders for the championship, Schmeling has "become till© idol of Germany. But it is strange to hear of a Government’s taking a promoting interest in professional boxing. BERG WINS HIS FIERCEST FIGHT. - ■ Kid Berg, light-weight champion, of Britain, won one of the fiercest tights of his career. He was declared winner at the end of the eighth round when the .referee stopped the contest with Gustave Humery, f ‘The Tiger of France,” at the Albert Hall, Kensington. Humery’s left eye was badly. cut, and when the referee Mr Moss Dey-: ong made his decision it took Three men .to stop Humery from going for him. Everywhere in the hall there were howls of derision, and in Humery’s corner his 'Seconds were dancing with rage. It was an unhappy ending to an amazing fight. The damaged eye was only slightly bleeding, ..but- the lightest of taps would have opened it again. Berg was naturally elated at his success, for from the very first second his supporters kept on shouting ad-, vice. Immediately lie had dressed aftei the fight- Borge went to meet his Wife, Miss .Bunty Rayne, who was playing in “Streamline,” at the Palace Theatre. Miss Payne, who could hardly control her excitement, said earlier that she was confident her husband would win. y In" a. return Lout, on April 1, Humery was awarded the decision. The .Frenchman i'qreed the pace from the start and repeatedly forced the. Englishman to retreat, although be fouhgt pluckilv Berg’s left eyebrow was badly swollen. ,