BECKETT HYPNOTISED.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1708, 24 December 1919, Page 7

BECKETT HYPNOTISED.

GRAPHIC STORY OF MINUTE FIGHT. NO EXCISES FOR ENGLISHMAN, LONDON, Dec. 5. In his .story of the Beckott-Cnri>ontior fight the spixiul boxing expert of the Times stated _ ■ Beckett,: on entering the ring appeared more inassuve than his photographs suggested. It would be impossible to produce a mail harmonising nujrc closely to the (’ontinental conception ot a typical Englishman; • Me seemed devoid of anxiety, aloof, not 'caring to please anybody, slightly arrogant, and slow to take action,' yet determined to stop at nothing honest to attain his purpose, lie was a fine figure of, a man without imagination. Carpentier at first was rather a nervous fighter.:, His mentality could not allow him to be otherwise. A more beautiful man has seldom, if over, boon seen in tho prize ring. It seemed that his romantic figure had captured tho spectators’ imagination, and he" drew most attention. Ho had fought for Franco, where his one property had been devastated. He was how fighting away from homo and seeking to repairvlib- for tunes. CARPENTIER AGGRESSIVE. . The Frenchman started aggressively. His first blow was a lefthander, which reached Beckett’s face. Tho men then clenched, and broke. Carpentier leapt in, clinched, and rained blows rapidly to tho body. They again broke at Referee Angle’s bidding. ' Carpentier feinted, and Beckett rushed in with a right swing, which reached his retiring opponent’s mouth without doing much damage. Then came tho finish. Beckett resumed the attack, and Carpentier, half turning, brought a beautiful right hook across to tho jaw. Beckett fell forward on his face, and made a few semi-conscious, sidewise movements, and then lay a crumpled, inert mass without- giving any sign of being able'to struggle before he was counted out. .

The spectators rubbed their eyes in amazement. Carpentier was the first to raise his helpless opponent, who was carried to his corner and sat dazed for several minutes, Evidently lie could not believe the result until his manager confirmed the news. . The people outside the Stadium were also at first incredulous. Some”received tiie news with frank disbelief. It was unthinkable that Beckett’s 13st. of brawn and muscle could collapse like a suck of flour. > It is impossible to urge excuses in Beckett’s favour. The better boxer won. Carpenti(T proved as fast and as as ho was before tho war. Even the minute s fighting proved that much. The final blow was good enough to knock out tho best man that ever donned the gloves. Tho shortness of the fight, however, does not give any idea of Carpentier’s chances against Dempsey, It is only possible to say that if Dempsey meets a similar right kook he too will succumb to the most scientific boxer of Hs generation. THE GENTLEMEN OF THE RING, Tim Daily Mail states that Carpentier’;. lightning-like knock-out blow would have stopped an ox. the latest ringside betting was 6 to 4 against the Frenchman, ’j he Times in a leader describes Carpentier as a gentleman tighter par excelPerhaps no such dashing and debonair figure nas been seen in the ring since the Cambridge tutor reproved Lord Byron for associating with 'Gentleman Jackson, and the poet replied, “-Jackson’s manners are infinitely superior to the manners of the fellows at the college when assembled at night at the table.” Tho greatest boxing experts discuss Carpentier’s wonderful blow. Bo swift and pairth. Hike were Carpentier’s movements Unit they arc difficult to describe with dead accuracy. . Mr Angle, the referee, describes the hits as three straight lefts that shot out and were withdrawn as quickly as a snake’s fangs, and hit Beckett flush in the face. _ “In between .them,” Mr-Angle said, “The Englishman worked away/ at the Frenchman’s ribs, hut Georges did not take the slightest notice. lie could see that liis slow-moving opponent had received a series of puzzling shocks His-face showed his bewilderment and so, measuring it to a nicely, Carpentier brought Beckett forward with a left to ,fhe body, and then crash went his right on the jaw. It was a magnificent blow.” Experts agree that Beckett wm hypnotised by Carpcntior’s left. He dropped his guard, and even bent his body_ forward. and succumbed to the oldest feint in the ring The Sportsman says that tho blow was masterly. Having started the_ body to swing, Carpentier sent out a right with a velocity so entirely wonderful and with such precision that it went cracking against Beckett’s chin. PARIS WILD WITH JOY. LONDON, Dec. 5. Carpentier’s victory, signalled in Paris by red skyrockets, was received with intense delight, and 20,000 persons wailing in the boulvard doffed their hats, cheered, sang, and danced. Sergeant Charles Wilcocks, one of Beckett’s sparring partners, died in London as the result of a knockout blow in a heavyweight fight with Seaman Merrikcs at the National Sporting Club on December 3. Beckett was announced to appear at a benefit tournament for an injured boxer in Wales, but sent a message that lie 'Wis really ashamed to attend and forwarded a cheque for £25. [A cable published yesterday stated that Mr Cochrane had offered Dempsey 300,000 dollars to fight Carpentier in London.] HYPNOTIC? EYE. LONDON, Dec. 6, Amongst tho theories being discussed to explain Beckett’s defeat is the' hypnotic power of Carpentier’s remai gable eyes. Car-p-mtier before his departure this morning scoffed at tho idea. “L’hyonotisme, messieurs,” tho Frenchman told his farewell interviewers, “e’est hi blague.” (Hvpnotism ! Gentleman, that itr humbug!”) My only hypnotism lies in my knuckles!” Carpentier has contracted to appear in a Pan’s music hall at £IOOO a week