BOXING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9222, 26 May 1910, Page 6

BOXING.

' Mr I J. Fake, referee to the Mana--1 watu Boxing Association, has just I ' designed a covering for a boxing ring. Y A sample of the material 20 inches v square, was shown to us to-day, and it is probable that it will bo generally ■ used as soon as its advantages become known. It is constructed of heesian and filled with a New Zealand material and finished similar to an eiderdown quilt. After being used the material will settle to. its propel thickness, one inch. intended to cover the local ring with three strips of equal width, the whole to be covered with the strong canvas usually used, and tied down every two feet, ' the whok- making a splenduLy constructed floor which should be tar superior to the usual paper packing V and cork linoleum at present in use. The new covering will cost iA or less, as against £12 for cork linoleum Ihe i ' sample has been examined by Dr \\ • J O'Brien. President oi the iSew Zealand Boxing Council, and many box- j in<* enthusiasts. It ifi intended to send a sample to the leading associations in the Dominion, also to byuney ■'-'■■ and Melbourne. Mr Fake does not ■■■ intend to patent the idea but vriA ■'■: willingly give it for the benefit, oi ■; those who take part in the noble a.t of self-defence. Gus Devitt left Sydney for fcew Zealand last Saturday. In response to an offer from Ted John's t«endb to back him (Johns) against Devitt in a return match for £25 aside, Devitt says he will return and compete ■with Johns in eight weeks time it the money is put up. The Svdney Stadium is now closed until the spring. .Mr Hugh Mclntosh the principal shareholder is about to leave for America to see the JohnsonJeffries contest, Bill Lang is also going Tinder engagement to Mr McVnholz, the South African, and Dick Cullen, an American, made a draw, after both putting up a fast and clever go at the Sydney Stadium on Mav 11. The referee Mr "Snowy Baker,' came in for a lot of adverse criticism, the majority of the audience considering Unholz won easily. rt Amateur," of the Sydney Referee, opens his remarks on the match as follows:—"I am not one who rails at a boxing referee unnecessarily, because none 'knows better what a difficult position that official is placed in. My many vears of watching boxing contests', matching men and noting ..he effect upon the crowd of the decisions of the third man in the ring, have convinced me that were a supernaturallv gifted referee—an absolutely perfectly balanced individual, whom ISa- —* ture' had so constituted that he could not possibly lean one way or the other—to come amongst us—his ver-, diets would be questioned by a cer-, tain class of fight followers-large or email in numbers according to the closeness of the contest—and that class often influences many others by continuallv bowling applause, m season and oilt of season, for one particular combatant, even though the other chap might be notching most of the points. Frequently nowadays hundreds of persons yell 'Good boy, Jones! J. when they should cry. 'Good, boy, Smith!' and the uninitiated m the % - science of the game, as well as those not over-confident in their knowledge, are dragged along by the screeching ones, or barrackers, and actually find, themselves believing against, what they see Such a happening occurred on "May the' 18th at the Stadium, when Rudie Unholz and Dick Cullen were fighting. From first to last a solid bunch of the very small attendance saw only Cullen in the battlf. Everything Dick did was applauded, and there was applause for him when he did nothing at all, and the shout should have been for Unholz. Thus was the strong partiality of the bulk of the spectators painfully evidenced. By latest files a tremendous amount of interest is being taken in America in the approaching world's championship ; both men are now training m real earnest. Paragraphs, complimentary and otherwise, are appearing, m almost every daily paper regarding the two men. Johnson seems -co be continually getting into trouble witu •Ihe authorities for furious motor driving etc. He also offended \.he « promoters of the match because he 1 would not start training before May 1 st, which he had said was ample time for him to get fit. He said he did not intend to start earlier and get ; stale. Jeffries has developed a peculiar sensation in the head which affects him if he receives a blow there ••> during boxing practice. This, of course, may finally disappear before ,-—* j u ly 4, otherwise it will be a serious JtiaiicUcap for .him.