BOXING AND BOXERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 30 March 1938, Page 10

BOXING AND BOXERS

PROMISING NATIVE HEAVIES NOTES FROM LONDON (By Air Mail-—From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON. 10th March*. I have been invited to name two of I the most promising native heavies (writes B. Bennison). In my opinion they are George James, who to his enormous credit beat Jim Wilde for the championship of Wales, and Tom Smith, of Worcester, winner of a £2OOO open competition last year. I inquired of the manager of James when we are to see his young man again in action. | “Maybe,” he replied. “sometime in April, against whom it is not yet decided. There is no hurry.” I can assure James. Ebbw Vale bred, that there is a generous market for him in London, where he has sometimes had his home, and has wisely applied j himself to work calculated to help in his physical development. Smith I saw last Monday against i ( Tommy Brown, a well-set-up youth of I 1 Hackney, whose folk, unmindful of his 1 ‘ defeat in the semi-final of the tourna- j ment won by Smith, believed that for , fighting purposes he had the more in ! him. | ‘ Smith, however, was the master of , 1 Brown from the opening round, and 1 those who saw him, in what was his ; 1 first appearance at the National Sport- ‘ ing Club, were warm in their praises, j 1 I made a careful study of Smith, who j 1 physically has everything to commend ' him. He stands an inch or more higher J than Gft, is near to stone, and, dif- j! ferent from most young giants, he can 1 box. There were those who faulted him j ‘ because of his flat-footedness, but it ! 1 must be admitted that he carried him- J self in a manner that left him freer I ( to punch with something like his weight ' f- than some of the probationer outsizes tjwho go tip-toeing into action. I am 1 i- decided that Smith will do, and if in his 1 ‘.V apprenticeship he pays every import- * ,s ance to dietary, he will shed much of ( > the unwanted weight he \vas obliged to f carry against Brown. c L i K . ON THE PLUMP SIDE \[ , v He is of the kind apt to run to seed, j • t There was not a little flabbiness in his ! { ie make-up. I understand that, if so dis- • A posed, he may light at regular inter- ■ , g vals during the direction of the Na- ( tional Sporting Club. May I suggest i 1 v to Lou Walsh, his manager, that he * J ,t would help the lad tremendously if he 1 v put him in a contest once a month. f ig Further, when out on the roads, it ! J ;s would quicken him appreciably if. j £ -- instead of trudging long distances, he ! c engaged in short sprints. ' It is vital that he should learn to j [ P S e t off the mark with the crack of the J £ .V Pistol, so to say. And he must be ' ‘ " ke Pt to a strict dietary table. lam not I j a suggesting that Smith is not fed with • f every regard for what best suits him. t 0 but obviously he requires careful and j r expert attention if he is to steer clear j C

■ of beefiness. Mr Charles Rose, who has undertaken j the pugilistic upbringing of James, was ; one of those who took stock of Smith. ! and like the rest of us was favourably [ impressed. So much so, I suspect, that there is small prospect of a match between his protege and the Midlander. It is a fight which I should like to see, nevertheless. If it were inquired of Fred Lowbridge, the much-practised Wolverhampton lightweight, what he thought of Arthur Danaher, last year’s amateur champion, whom he fought on Monday at Earls Court, I am sure he would say with me that he is a truly remarkable boy. Danaher beat him well, and in the process encouraged the belief of his sponsors, who are the National ! Sporting Club, that within a twelve ! months ne will win a title. As a boxer he has almost everything : at his command—style, exceptional : speed, rare mental balance, and when i put to it he can fight. That is the ex- ! planation why he defeated Lowbridge by a handsome margin of points over six rounds. Next Monday he will be seen against Boyo Rees, who like the Wolverhampton man has a wealth of experience. Much as I have been carried away by Danaher, however, I

hope those behind him will have a closer regard for the soft pedal. It will not help the lad to din in his ear that he has the beating of Jimmy Walsh, Dave Crowley, Harry Mizler and all the rest of the light-weights. DANGER OF HUSTLING I admit that he is of excellent material, but the danger of destroying it would be very real, if an attempt were made to rush him to the top. Do you I remember Jim Higgins, the Scot, who years ago became champion bantam ' overnight, and how disaster quickly overtook him by matching him against : Charles Ledoux? 1 shall ever maintain that Higgins was sacrificed on the a.'tar of the hustler. I am all for the , careful nursing of Danahar, extraordinary boy though lie undoubtedly is. ! I have suggested that logic demands ; a return match between Barlund and ; Strickland, who made him look like I a second-rater at Earls Court. Stricki land, realising the fatuity of waiting ! lor Farr, offers no objection to another 1 ! fi Sht with Barlund; who I should say ! j lfl more definitely in the running for a | j title match. By all the gods does ; Damski swear that Barlund, in his j ' present shape, would, if given the op- i ; portunity, win the championship. i TOO GENTLF ' I was not surprised to have news of I the defeat of the younger Baer. I saw | j him in one of the curtain raisers to the I ' Louis-Farr fight, and. although he ; stopped Abe Simon, a Brooklyn husky. I he was more remarkable for hugeness 1 ! than skill. How it hurt me to tell Max. 1 who sought my opinion of his "kid i brother," that he was as far from beI ing a world-beater as when he was in i London. Buddy is. a most engaging, youngster, quiet, modest, and intelligent. But. oh, what a deal he has to learn! j He is too big. too gentle, too conscious ol' his immense height and bulk to | make good the prophecy of Max that j he will lick creation. COMING CHANGE | The British attitude towards games and sports is not always appreciated. ! It is in fact a grievance long suffered, often in silence, that we are pleased to | say: “This is how we play, and it must j be right.” If there were a correct in- j j terpretation of our point of view, it j 1 could not be defended. But it ought I to be realised that nearly every game

that is played throughout the world to- i day had its origin in this country, and it is onJy natural that we should put our trust in its traditions, and believe that we understand it best. As a matter of fact there has always been an attempt to understand the other fellow’s point of view, and even if it were not possible to go all the way with him. he has at once been conceded the right to take his own course. There are many examples of this in cricket, both codes of football, golf, and boxing. There has been no dictation either to Australia or South Africa in cricket, the Dominions have been responsible for their own changes in Rugby, and the countries of Europe have made departures from the British Soccer rules. As for boxing. America has gone entirely its own way. It is significant, too, that we have accepted changes when they have been proved worth while. Now a proposal has been made, and is likely to be approved, that we should borrow from other countries their system of judging boxing contests. It is ; our practice to have one referee who ( acts inside the ring. In America and other countries there are three officials, and their decision is taken on a majority vote. One important advantage of this is that the system produces a definite verdict, since it is most unlikely that two out-of three will vote for a draw. Again, when the referee is concerned with breaking the fighters in clinches, and in knocking down an offending arm he cannot give himself up entirely to counting the points won. He has only the interval between the rounds in which to do this, and it is easy to understand that he may make a miscalculation. In carrying out his inside-the-ring duties. the referee must, I fear, prejudice his own position, and sitting quietly by the ringside he would be able to give a much more dependable verdict. Significantly enough, all the leading promoters, who are not free from the responsibility for a bad decision and share in the criticism when one is given, are all in favour of three officials being put in control. The question has not been formally considered by the Board of Control, but I understand that it is to be. and the private views of members p.int to the change shortly being introduced.