THE RING

Grey River Argus, 18 December 1920, Page 4

THE RING

WYNS v. SYMONDS.

WINS ON FOUL,

(By W. F. Corbett.)

When Joe Symonds, of England, fouled Arthur Wyns, of Belgium, in the seventh round of theiv contest at the Stadium on Saturday night last, he released his grip of a chance of achieving greatness beyond anything previously accomplished by him. The, oppor : tunity was apparently much in Ms own ■keeping. If the force in opposition had not been actually broken it looked a good deal steadied, and Syjnonds must have, by thut time, learned how to cope with it as effectively as possible. The contest nad mostly been one of thrills. It was pregnant Avith incident. The Englishman had survived the worst of the ordeal. His colours were still flying and, :is far as appearances went, to some purpose. He seemed to have the measure of his man, and needd only to keep on boxing as coolly and cleverly «* he had been shaping to succeed. The ending was the more inglorious because inexcusable. It occurred, not (luring a white-heat moment — the -while a fierce rally was raging — or during a time when the bodies of the combatants were changing position quickly. The men were merely boxing each other in the hope of forcing or teinpti ing. an opening. j It was a great night for the game. (The new Governor-General, attended by Lord Digby, Captain Pitt-Rivers, and [Captain Norman, was there. The crowd. .which numbered several thousands, showed its appreciation of the presence of the Vice-Regal party by standing up and singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." Governors-General or Governors of any kind, excepting bank governors and governing directors, are much given to attending boxing contests in Australia. Government House parties were regular ringsiders at the old Sydney Amateur Gymnastic Club of 30---years since. A special position was always reserved for them. Lord Forster'.s immediate predecessor, Sir Ronaid Munro Ferguson, watched the iiuals of the naval championships decided at flu» Stadium a few months bark. The Governor of West Australia was a ringsidcr at three or four of- Harry Stone's battles in Perth, which- was, perhaps ,the reason why Harry felt justified in having a neat card printed and circulated show the Royal Coat-of-Arms and supplying the information that he (Stone) was "under ViceRegal patronage." Our new Governor-General must be congratulated. His initiation is now thorough. Boxing is the sport ■'Of the people generally of this country, no matter what other pastime they may be directly associated with. The uniform of the French sailor was conspicuous. He rolled up to the extent of a few hundreds!, The South Australian cricketers were also among tho spectators.

THE DIFFERENCE

.Toe Symonds was iirst into the Ting; his crimson trunks and socks flashed before the eye at once. Thousands applauded his appearance. ' In the opposite angle, that nearest the entrance, bdtbed up, a. few minutes later, "Wyns, a dapper little fellow almost doll-like in the preposterously big grey dressing»o\vn which he affected. He crept to his corner very quietly. Few people beyond those in the immediate neighbourhood notied his arrival. It looked an apologetic appearance. Betting finished at « to 1 on Wyns. The Belgian weighed 9.0 exactly; the Englishman was 1-Hb lighter. \ They stripped an attractive looking pair. Symonds supple and strongly set, [also quick of movement, his weight 'much more evenly distributed than "was 'the case with Wyns, who bulked as big as a lightweight above the waist. His legs were light. He therefore has the power where it is required for boxing. Bob Fitzsimmons was structured in a similar mould. Though a middleweight in avoirdupois, Bob had the body and shoulders of a heavyweight. Contrary to expectations, Symonds was the ii is t to attack. He made light contact with a left to the nose. They scuffled a while, then Wyns hooked his sinister weapon, good and hard, to the ear. All through, this opening stiyjc was a fight. ' Symonds showed superiority, and he continued to do so for the most part of the second, though always Wyns fought m a way which stirred spectators as men at the ringside are not often stirred. Vigorously us Wyns attacked, just so vigorously did Symonds respond. A palpably low right nearly broke Wyns up. He writhed. His face was contorted with pain. Symonds stood off while the referee spoke to the injured contestant. Wullis did not see t\}v blow make impact. He was hardly in a position to observe it. The Belgian resumed fighting, handicapped though he appeared to b, and weathered the round gamely.

TORRID. •f The resumption of histilities was torrid indeed. Wyns pitted his determination, power, and fighting instinct, which are unusual, against the "boxer, and broke through that individual's defences. Left, right, left hammered through the opening. Synionds reeled to the ropes on the northern side of the enclosure. Unrelentingly, Wyns followed on to get all- "he could out of the situation. His antagonist was against the hemp, sorely shaken. Heavily the Belgian drove a right over a small measure of space and to the jaw. Down went Synionds to the bottom strand, across which bis body rested, balanced at the waist. The upper part was veil outsidj.' the fighting space. He appeared like toppling over among the newspaper men at the ring's edge. A deefening din of excited yells prevailed. The fallen boxer vainly attempted to rise as the count progressed, but ho had become hopelessly entangled. The referee was compelled "to assist him to his feet. The contest went on despite that the ten seconds', respite allowed had been exceeded. There" was no other way of dealing with the position. No man could, alone, have extricated himself placed as Symonds was. '.. ; '" As soon as the Englishman reached his feet the *■ pair got together, battling desperately, they fought away and to the western side of the square. Symonds was forced to the ropes once more, and again did Wyns compel an opening. His right crossed half a foot of space with weight that drove the Englishman down to the lower rope a second, time — out 1 to a,ll intents and

purposes, but for the dang of the gong providing sanctuary at the call of f six. " !• A BOTTLE HURLED. | Tho. resumption of hostilities was torter Symomls'had been assisted to and placed upon his chair, somebody near the Belgian angle hurled a bottle across the ring. The missile went skidding over the boards into the English territory. We/ in the immediate neighbourhood of the corner, were seared at the probable prospect of more following. Only twice before hi my many years of ringside expedience have I known a similar . -thing to occur. Pplicc-Inspector Strachan said afterwards that the bottle was thrown by a* individual from whose grasp it had slipped while he, in a high state of excitement, swung his stock of light refreshment round his head, to the imminent danger of those close to where he sat, in face of the fact that they had given him a wide berth. His troubles of the previous round notwithstanding, Symonds challenged Wyns to fight directly the fourth opened, by jabbing his sinister member to the face. The Belgians response was instantcr. He waded in fiercely, and got something for the heat _of his attack, as evidenced by a bleeding nose and a badly-smeared face. Returning, flat-footed, to the attack, WynshuTled his loft to the ear and swung his right to the opposite aural organ. Symonds stood a severe racket manfully, and. full of g">ge* ? he fired away at the .enemy in such a style that the crowd stood up and roared applause. Hard knocks Avcre exchanged, and the Englishman added to his lead. The next session was fought on similar lines, with the exception that a powerful right to the mouth brought further blood from Wyns. The vim of the encounter was not so great during the sixth. The Belgian had done his Best, and found himself up against a snag; He "would hold off a while from his plan of demolition and recuperate. Frequently each battered the other's covering arms or gloves, and occasionally crashed a blow through them.

'STRONGLY CHARGED ATMOSPHERE. Soon after the seventh round had commenced, Symonds charged hotly, and at close quarters swung- his left heavily^. against the Belgian's groin. Wyns staggered away yielding to the pain lie undoubtedly experienced, and holding a hand over the part affected. Excitement v.as extreme. As Referee Wallis declared the Belgian the winner, lie was on the verge offall,ing. Only the remarkable grit of the \ man enabled him to remain on- his feet. He ivas almost collapsing when V his seconds went -to his assistance. Here Symonds lent a helping hand, but Wyn.s would have none of it. With a desperate effort he forced his nd- it versa ry of a moment or two before ■ from him. ; A great proportion of the spectators ' hooted Wyns- lustily, and the same sec- t tion applauded Symonds vigorously. This was unlike Australians. Those people could not. have seen the foul blow delivered. They clearly suspected the Belgian of feigning. The beaten boxer never before showed to such advantage in Sydney as a fighter. Few of those who follow the game closely thought him capable of facing such a severe ordeal so bravely. The pity of it is that he offended flagrantly at a moment when the lead on points was strongly with him.