BOXING KING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19807, 30 November 1927, Page 16

BOXING KING.

! THE TUNNEY-DEMPSEY FIGHT, VIEWS OF JAMES J. JEFFRIES. INTEREST.NG COMPARISONS. With the advent of summer bringing its ! hotter weather many a young boxer is apt to slow up in his training, consoling j himself with the thought, that he is getting in a deal of swimming, besides cricket or perhaps tennis. A boxer, howI ever, must train his eve and his muscles j for speed. The (much ball and skipping j rope should not lie altogether discarded. | Skipping, especially, is most valuable in ! keeping the various joints supple and free moving, and in addition it trains hand and eye to co-ordinate and works the lungs and heart systematically. Regular training sltould always he the aim of all young boxers. The old ring-master, James J. Jeffries, was attracted from his California!! home at Burbank to witness the heavy-weight title contest between Tunnev and Dempsey, in Chicago. He made some interesting comment in comparing the old giants of the ring. He says he enjoyed the tight, but admitted the count was a loti£ one, and that Tunney did look glassyeyed while waiting to get up. Ho considers Detnpsey was not in such good condition either. " It was his own fault that he lost. The'rules were there, and should have been obeyed," said Jeffries. While he considers Dempsey and Tunney good fighters, ho does not believe they compare with the giants of his own day.

Fitzsimmons and Corbett. Ho said Bob Fitzsimmons could have beaten Dempsey in two rounds and Tunney in five. Fitzsimmons was the most scientific and accurate hard-hitter he ever knew, and James J. Corbett was the greatest boxer he ever saw. People talked about Tunney being such a clever boxer, whereas lie reckoned Jim Corbett would have hit him so often he wouldn't have known where ho was. Then Tom Sharkey would have punched either so badly that in four rounds they would have been willing to sit down. Jeffries smiled when asked what Jim Jeffries would have clone to them. " I'm jc.t going to say about that," he answered. " But I certainly would have liked to fight them both when I was good. Dempsey can hit hard. He hits them, and they go down three or four times. But they would get up three or four times, too. When I hit them I usually crippled them."

Echo of Big Fight, In the course of an interview in London, Mr. George F. Getz, legal promoter of the recent Tunney-Dernpsev fight in America, referred to the controversy about the seventh round as " stupid." " Tunney," be declared, " went down and rose on one knee at the count of four. Then Gibbons, his manager, beckoned him to keep down. Tunney carried out instructions, but I am convinced he could have risen immediately.' Mr. Ge'z added that it was Dempfoy's fault, anyhow. His manager stipulated beforehand that if a man »vere knocked down his opponent should stand away in a corner. This Dempsey did not do. Tunney told him afterwards that when he rose and retreated round the ring it was not to regain strength, but to got Dempsey oft his guard. Prospects o! Fight in England. Tex Rickard, the promoter, is reported to have said that in the event of either Scott or Heenev surviving the elimination bouts and winning the right to challenge Tunney for the title, he has every intention of staging the next heavy-weight championship either in London or Manchester. Torn Heeney may have to fight the Belgian heavy-weight champion, "Cyclone" J. Hurnbeck, who is being trained by Tommy Burns. Burns, who is managing Humbeek, will seek a match with Paulino first, and expects to gradually build Humbeek up for a bout with Gene Tunney. Hurnbeck fought a draw with the Basque two years ago in Madrid. He will fight several bouts in South America before going to New York. Ho recently fought a draw with Pierre Charles. Burns says the latter wa-s lucky to stay the full fifteen rounds, but that the Belgian Boxing Federation decided the bout was a draw, and on the strength of this decision Charles disputes the Belgian heavy-weight title claims of Humbeck.

Duke Maddox, who has twice hold the feather-weight championship of New Zealand, has announced his retirement from the ring. Maddox has been very popular in the Hawke's Bay district, where he has always been a great draw card. Ho was recently defeated in two rounds by Johnny Leckie. The Dunedin boxer, Jack Paul, added another win to his list when he recently defeated Dick French at Newcastle. He is reported to be returning to New Zealand within the next week fir so. Paul was looked upon in the Southern centre as an amateur of considerable ability, but not as a champion in the professional ranks. Since living in Australia he has been doing well, and now has scored his second knock out in two weeks.

Clever English Fly-weight. Queen's Hall, in London, is now being used for boxing bouts. In the middle ot October the British fly-weight champion, Johnny Hill, who is considered by many authorities to be the best British fly-weight seen for years, beat Francois Moracchini, a boy from the South of France Jack Bloomfield, an ex-champion heavy-weight, was referee. Hill boxed in the old style, bold upright, left held out loosely, right ever ready. His balance and footwork are said to be perfection. Many in England would like to see him contesiv the world title. Jack Johnson is not the only champion who has made considerable sums and then been unable to meet calls on his exchequer. Kid Williams, former ban-tam-weight champion of the world, was last month at Baltimore, unable to pay a fine of £5, after his conviction on charges of violating the gambling laws. He was released when friends raised the money. In the United States a Federal Judge, Judge Runyon, refused the application of Jack Pempsey for dismissal of a suit brought bv his former manager, Jack Kearns, lov recovery of C 66.666. Mickey Walker will defend his middleweight title in Chicago on January 11 against Joe Simonich, of Butte, Montana. At 35 years of age the majority of people are more inclined to sit round the ringside and comment on the bouts of "our day." Not so with Jimmy Wilde, who was probably the greatest fly-weight the world has ever seen. Uc has definitely declared his intention to come back He will experience a little difficulty to come down to the Bst. limit, as he has put on flesh considerably during his retirement. He has even gono so far as to back himself for any amount against any boxer in the world. Eugene Corri laughs at tho idea, staling that Wilde was certainly ready to retire when he did.