KEYS v. THORN.

NZ Truth, Issue 151, 9 May 1908, Page 4

KEYS v. THORN.

A Rattling JVMI.

The open-air fight experiment between Keys and Thorn, m Melbourne, panned out a tremendous Eight-Hour Day success. Between five and six thousand spectators streamed into the enclosure. Jack Mcr Gowen officiated as referee, and announced the weights, Thorn 9st 21b, Keys 9st 41b. Both men were ir splendid condi tion, as was easily seen when they em. tered the ring stripped for the fray. Thf articles stipulated that the fight was Urnited to 25 rounds, and one to win. Ij. has been rumored that (the smaller syndicate which promoted the fight gave £125 purse, and if this be correct, that syndicate must reap a handsome profit. Key! opened m lively fashion, and never m his life flowed to greater advantage. His attacking ard defence were superb. Thorn was mst as deadly as ever, but met Hock on his day out, and; the fight was just a case of hard-hitting against science, right from outset. Thorn forced, putting m great vim into his assaults, but Keys beautifully fended the hot stuff, and did some dazzling and deadly work with his left, jabbing and landing with his left to Thorn's face m beautiful style. Repeatedly, Keys' big advantage m height and reach caused Thorn to centre the full blast of the attack to the body. H»ck still peppered away at- the face m heartbreaking fashion, and surprised everyone by the way he held his own m rallies, for he dodged, ducked, and fepded heavy punches, and kept banging back . and connecting with both hands. In the fifth he raised a dark, heavy-looking mouse over Thorn's left eye, and, keeping on to the injured optic, it was a case of "growing larger" every round, till it completely filled, hampering Thorn greatly. As m the earlier round, Thorn kept banging away at the body of the elusive Hock. At the clo^e of the seventeenth Thorn was still but he skied the towel, owing to' being so handicapped by bis glimmer' being put out of action. The mighty crowd that turned up to witness the contest left well satisfied, and the gensral opinion was that the clash was a splendid one. There was also a slashing fifteen round prelim, between John Let, oE South Africa, and Bill Walsh, of Melbourne, which was finally declared a drawi