In the Ring

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7871, 5 August 1911, Page 16

In the Ring

(By "The Amateur.") Bob Fitzsimmons was seriously injured in a motor smash at Bavaria, Now York. Across the Tasman Robinson, of Waipawa, has been matched with Tommy O’Brien for .£2O a-sido. At Boulder (W.A.) on July 20th Billy Wenand, Maorilander and sometime Australasian amateur champion, wjis beaten in eleven rounds by Tommy Jones. Wenand was roughly handled and tho referee intervened. Charlie Griffen, back for a sojourn in Australia after ills American tour, has signed articles to box Ilughio Mcgohan for the light-weight championship of Australia at the Sydney Stadium on the 19th inst. Griffen is training at Sir Joseph Bank’s Hotel, Botany. At Auckland on July 11th, Alf. Gault beat one'.Murphy on points in a tenround bout. The Murphy in question was not Denny of that ilk, well known in Wellington. Arthur Kelly and Sid .Sullivan, matched to box fifteen rounds at tho Wellington Town Hall on August 22nd, are two of Australia’s leading lightweights. Both men have caoiiai. records and, as weights arc even, tho Wellington public should get a glimpse of the genuine article when they meet. "Dealer” Wells, who boxed a draw witli aid Sullivan in Wellington lust season, was up against it in his bout with Jack Bead, ex-Australasian amateur champion, tho week before last. Wells suffered a rupture of the sinews o: his left forearm in the second round and with that sinister weapon out of action Bead was returned a winner in five rounds. Lang and Jack Lester have signed articles to box their return match under Mr H. D. Mclntosh's. control. Thoi battle is set down for September 2nd, probably at the Stadium, ‘Bushcutters'' Bay, and promises to be one of tho hot-* test of hot things in the way of gloved' warfare. Lester has waited three months with tho object of again connecting with Big Bill, and when he does—well, ho has. promised Bill a warm welcome. The Olei Blum Boy had hard luck last time ho[ swapped things with Lang, but he certainly played the game. Better luck this time i New Zealander Gus Devitt had a return argument with Ted Whiting at Broken Hill on Cup night. Whiting scaled list 21b while Devitt stripped at tho welter limit. "Son" Reynolds officiated in the capacity of referee. Tho fight was a good one until, with Devitt ahead on points at the end of the fourth round, Whiting struck him below thobelt. The blow was accidental, largely owing to tho Maorilander’s habit of raising himself on his toes as ho attacks, but the referee had no recourse other than to declare Devitt tho winner! on a foul. Devitt, however, exaggerated his injury and the crowd rushed the ring. Here the referee weakened and altered his verdict to "No fight," which is an inexplicable action oh tho part of a referee or umpire. The correct pro j ceduro in a case where a foul is claimed is, if there is any doubt in tho referee's mind as to the validity of tho claim, to call in a doctor, reserving his decision until the doctor has expressed his opinion. "Ike" Kutner, Wellington's bantamweight representative at tho Now Zealand championships, again experienced hard luck in losing to Gunn in tho proi liminary heats of the tourney. Gunn* "palmed" and '‘held" repeatedly, but, Kutner was warned on his first offence.. Competent critics gave tho Wellington-, ian the verdict by a narrow majority of; points, but the officiating referee thought otherwise. The defeat of Ellis in his class came as a .surprise to followers of the game in Wellington. Our feather-weight} champion has shown such ability to mix! it with the best that wo were certainly justified in looking to him to bring back the honours. Goodman (Dunedin), who defeated BUis, had a small margin in hand at tho end of the first round, but Ellis got to work in the second and established such a lead that it looked as if nothing short of a knock-out could land Goodman a winner. Ellis made the mistake of easing up in the third round, probably considering himself well ahead on points, and with the idea of saving himself for the finals. However, the re* force • considered Goodman had a prior right to contest that event and Wellington’s hope was not given the opportunity. Now if Goodman can beat Ellis it is well worth tho while of the local association to bring him up hero ,to do it. Tho fight between Ellis and the man who can beat him should be worth seeing. But tho point is "Can Goodman* beat Ellis?" I scarcely think ho can.* 'and with all due respect to the refereei at Invercargill I don't think ho over did. Tancrsd, selected to represent Wellington in tho welter class was' regarded byj one of tho most competent fight fans in the Dominion as the best welter in action down south. However, Withey got tho verdict and duly won tho final,, which places Tancred somewhere neafi top welter. Now, taking a line through these ciaions, there are certain grounds for complaint against some of the rulings of tho officiating referee. In an important tournament like tho New Zealand championships, where associations and individuals go to heavy expense to compete for Dominion honours, it certainly ; behoves the association handling the, fixture to soe that they select -a really competent referee.. We have several first-class men in New Zealand, recognised masters of tho referee’s art, who have set a standard for competitors to box to, and in those men explicit confidence can bo placed. Tho rules they are to abide by aro fully explained to every entrant before the bout commences, and on these rules are tho verdicts given. Tho men I refer to are Dr Napier MacLcan, Colonel Chaffey, Mr Beubc Cooke, and "Tim" Tracey; and the sooner tho Boxing Council call a conference of qualified referees and draft a sot of guiding rules on the system used , by 'these men the' bettor for tho sport in New Zealand. % A. Finnic, who was defeated by L. Cade in tho final of the middle-weights at the New Zealand championships, has been transferred to Wellington and will probably be seen in action here shortly. Finnic is a very fast and clever amateur, and wo can look forward to a good "mix up" when ho dons the gloves with our leading amateurs.