THE CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING MATCH.

NZ Truth, Issue 169, 12 September 1908, Page 5

THE CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING MATCH.

I BILL LANG v. TOMMY BURNS.

Burns Still Holds the Belt. j ' ' . '". ■ A SIX-ROUND SCRAP. / ■ ■. ■ ______ ■ ' Lang Outed.

The Burns-Lang- fight once more demonstrates, if demonstration was needed, that the world's, human fighting machine, Tommy Burns, possesses the powers which give him by right of strong arm and active brain, the title of Champion Boxer of the World. The present light was, so far as the local boxing world is concerned, unique, for it is the first World's Heavy-weight . Championship ever v decided on Victorian soil, and the second (that had taken place m Australia. In fuhe lighter classes we have had world's championships m Australia before, feath-er-weights Griffo and Bill Murphy, for instance, but never a heavy-weight bat-, tie, until Squires met Burns m Sydney. 'All of which aroused keen interest m Ithe Lang mill, and DREW SUCH A CROWD . ' ito the newly-erectefl Stadium as no fight In Melbourne had- ever drawn before. The performances of "both men are so weH knowi thit it Is unnecessary to ;go into their iraj^record. It' may be stated, however, that Burns had gone unchecked ever since Philadelphia Jack O'Brien put up a 20-Tbund draw with him at Los Angeles, in -November last He has met Grim, O'Brien, Squires ,\( three times), Gunner Moir, Jack Palmer, Roche, and "Jewey" Smith since .then, and beaten them ill. Except that 'he was not meeting i MEN OP THIS CLASS K which makes all the difference), Lang's winning record was quite as: good, ' and tven- more lengthy,.' for having lest to Jack Johnson, he put up a sequence of eleven consecutive victories, polishing off rim McLean, Lling, Mike Williams, Rueaajf, Felix (twice) Cripps, Ed. Williamg, Bill -Smith, and Jim Griffin, and treating each and all to the knock-out. As already remarked, his only weak display among .this display was against Griffin, end Lang himself •ATTACHED NO GREAT IMPORTANCE, to his failure to please on that occasion. .With his Joe Stokesbury,, he had ".gone". all the way to Sydney to study Tommy's methods m the Squires .fight, and he entered the ring as he left it, . "satisned." ; . * Owing to the preliminary being put on ha'lf-an-bour late, it was impossible to stick to the advertised time of eleven o'clock for the big event. The slunshine .gave place, to clouds while the . crowd l.were waiting, and some of the NUMBER BEGAN TO SING OUT,, iboqt getting a wetting even before the »ig guns arrived. Another long wait fallowed, and then at 10\ minutes to 12 a tig shout m the vicinity Vof the dressingroom heralded the' approach of the Lang party, y The cheer grew as JBfllJ stepped into the bpen, followed by bis henchman, Joe Stokesbury; ' Boyd, Dowlmg, and Lacey. -Bill's face wore a rather' pale lcok, the- result' •of the great tension, perhaps, rather than nervousness. ''Three cheers for Bill,'.' . somebody started, as the Lang party, entered the arena, and ithe shout that rescunded was a caution. Then Walter Carle V.. iHELD • HIS HAND UP ito command silence, and when the roar had subsided he announced that through an oversight Burns had come away from hia training . quarters withe ut his armbands, but a messenger was already on the way , for them, and only a few minutes woujd be lost. ■ Carle , had barely 'made this announcement when a quiet-looking josser who .had been sitting at the ring-side, dressed m a trim-built suit 6t brown, with a dinky little boxer hat of the same color, and a cigar, left his seat and mounted, the platform. "Our .Bill" roared .two or three thousand/and ' IT WAS SQUIRES sure enough. A shcut like that" could have been meant for no one else. The same out of the ring as m the ring, Squires knows not ■ the meaning' cf the. word ■ defeat, and , here he was -on deck again?' with a 'challenge to the winner. But what a shadow of his former s/eif he looks- ! ; , Not half so big and lusty, and older looking by years! ■'- '- On the stroke of twelve another ; big hoy, signalled a, forward move m th^e Burns camp. The arm-bands 'had arrived, and now filing ■ down one of the gangways came a CUtErLOOKING IRISH-YANK, known tc the boxing world, as Manager Kelly, followed by Pat O'JKeefe, Pat ■Bourke,' Harry ' Clayton, and ■ a wiicJE-set man. Thil man was Tommy Burns ; and what .he wasn't wearing the ctgiers •of the party were carrying s in. dressingbags and portmanteaux. It looked like the prog for a Sunday school picnic at first, but a wag m the crowd asked 'what they were all staring at, when Burns himself had given .out that he meant td "settle' in Australia." The weights were announced— Burns, 12,6; Latig,; 13.4; but Tommy still had his Esquimau rig on, and it was hardl to Say how the men would compare IN THEIR FIGHTING GEARj Right dpwn tc his tan walking gloves and gaiters, Tomriiy was just the; thing. Then they pujled his big- fawn overcoat off, bringing into view the long-tailed coat of a ljowliiig swell. At fsve minutes past twelve the parties gathered together for the usual "confab" m the. centre, of the ring, and .five minutes later, now Stripped and ready for action,, they, "shook." The disparity m- their confirmation was. now most, marked, for Ing and all as Lang is, he seemed - TALL ANP I'ANKY. V by coinparisoh,, with not' half the symmetry of the worjd's champjen— a veritable tower ''of strength,' and lacking none of the attributes of a .world-beater, except m .height. He "js 'the frame of a Paddy Slavin, or a 1 John L. Sullivan, only, set ,on shorter legs. FIRST ROUND. With the first stroke of the gong a big tiiish fell over the\vast assemblage, and Tommy's shifty grey eyes were already all over Lang as he sprang -to the centre of the ring. The tension was greater perhaps, at this moment than at any 'time- People v remembered Squires's mistake at Colma, and wondered if Lang wculd fall m the same way. It was not to be, however. Bill was very careful. Already on the back-step, he was content for Burns to come right on and dp his own , pace-making. Bill was on the i e treat fcr a full minute before Burns hustled him ink) bis own corner, and ! scored a body Mow with the right. They clinched, .and clinched again, and at these moments Burns tried fcr his famous upper-cut half-a-dozen times without success/ Some of the spectator^ were already "squeaking" about Bums taking' advantage of these opportunities, but maybe it is only because they understood the customs of the Australian ring better than tine American. , After seeing Burps m action, one can realise the difcrence between the so-called in-fighting o*. the two countries. The American systexii, as practised by Burns, is to hit at eveirv opportunity, fighting cneself out of -'• 'olts," instead of waiting for the referee, and barring no blow at all ex[•cpt the blow which is delivered with one, hand while, an opponent is held by the other. Already it-was seen that Lang was getting all the worst of these, bustling rough-iips. More than once it seemed that he could have "brought one up" ■■'on Barns •ha 4. be "chosen 'to do so, but he k Dis*' w*o he was flghtJng too well, aud ws« ov«r cautious, perhaps i*J

was after he had wrestled himself out ol one of these wild scrimmages that Lang got m his first good blow of the fight — a snappy left cross, that called for a cheer from the onlookers, and then cries of "Another, Bill ! Give him another !" What Lang's thoughts were at this moment, it is hard to imagine. There he . was, . battling to get out of the way 'of his ever-relentless foe, and yet the crowd were shouting to "tfive him another." In Bill's cars it must I have sounded like sarcasm. Enough to say that. Bill faijed to give him, another, and When the gong spoke Burns had done- all the work, but neither was marked. It' had been three minutes: of hanging-on and trying to outrough one another, Vith ldts of short, jolty hits ■■at close • quarters, but those two * solitary puncjtes — Tommy's right swing and Bill's left cross— standing out as the only clean stand-off strokes of the term. A roar of encouragement went up -for .bang as corners were called; ROTJND TWO. provided one of toe biggest surprise packets that has, ever, been opened m a boxing ring, which; will be explained m a trice. Bill's opening round, hard and toilsome though it had been, had evidr ently given him more confidence m ■■.him-.' ■self. Still on : the retreat, with' Burns coming after him m the same old ,way,, as lithe and springy as a panther, they got wound up right m, the Lang corner. To get his man right up against the ropes, or fairly m ; the angle, appears to be a pet move of Tommy's, and he had: worked this dodge this time until Bill; was almost over tile spot where his chair stood a moment earlier. It may -have been m sheer . desperation to work himself out of that position,' or it may, not, but, m any case, cut shot Lang's long left, a clean, beautiful stroke, which pulled up with a snap, on the chin of Burns., Then Tommy did what we believe, he^ has. rarely done, and. what some people declare ne never did, before. That is to say, he went down. It was "tW nicep stroke of the whole fight on either side, 1 and as Tommy pulled himself ' slowly up on one knee, and "took eight seconds, I .' the crowd went dilerious. ■ The uproar |was so great that the count would never; have been understood only for Referee Nathan's very wise methpd cf checking every second by * wave of his hand.; For the moment Tommy was riled and f rattled both. • Tommy didn't wink this timer When he straightened, himselt up again he looked angry, and though: his wonderful recuperative powers pulled him out of trouble, hi* work from this stage to the breathing time was not quite so forceful' as it had peen. Bill was still content to play the waiting game, leaving Burns to do the leading, and, incidentally, to pull himself together, at his own sweet will. Towards the close of the, round Bill upper-cut Tommy m a clinch, which caused Che crowd to break. Icpw again. And Tommy disliked it all so much that he put m a couple of very doubtful-looking blows. Nor co(uld Ms •gander" have been improved , much by the referee walking straight up to him and warning him not to do that again. Lang, on the other hand, must ihave been flattered by the great ovation awaiting him as he returned,? to, his corner.

/ ROUND THREE found Burns as fresh as a giant again, still on the. hustling game, and driving the native son to all points of the cpmpass. In at close quarters again; Tommy upper-cut him more than once, and the old scar on Bill's left eyebrow, which' Jim' ; Griffin opened, v.-as opened again. Another good left by Lang made the welkin ring, but Tommy still bored m, paying no heed to the blow, and outroughing his man at every turn. Moio than once m this round Laug came back with the left again, but his blows lacked sting when they got there, ard olli--ers, again, wet© turned harmlessly anide, Tommy's pet hit seemed to be the very hit which beat Squires m Sydney— one of those short, upper jolts at close quarters, which carry the very devil m them, [Towards the' close of the term, .alter having all the .best of it, Burns got m one of those upper-cuts, and Lang's . head went back for inches. The blow must have stung him more than a bit, but he weathered the storm by evading some more of the same stuff, and, when he wasn't hanging on^ pushing m the kit to the face. As already stated, however, his wprk was not lashing, and the odds looked; to be. very long on Burnh, A slight color from Tommy's "mouth organ" told that one or more of Bill's lefts had visited that lpcality/ but otherwise he was unmarked. • , .} ROUND FOUR opened with another hurly-burly scrimmage, m which Tommy rocked m a volley to the midriff, shot up both arms \ like piston-rods, ,an<i concluded by swinging for the jaw. The latter miscarried, whereupon Bill stabbed htm once, twice with the left, and then swung the right, also, with no effect. Burns then came back on him wth a rush, and, m the thick of a melee, Bill . ..slipped* and fell to the boards, m his own corner. He sprang up immediately, without waiting 'ior the ccunt, and - - : another rough ana tumble followed. To accurately individ^ valise ;*he plows, at these moments; would be .impossible; Whenever tbe,y were at close quarters one round was much the came a s another, Burns dojng all the forcing, and shooting m those naif-arm jolts, while Lang did his best to save himself. It: was Avhilst coming out' ol one of thest -liiesjzy patches that Tommy, .swung, the right, with a big, overarm vehemence, and landed fair and square on the back of Bill Lang's, head.. Bill was I twirling round at the time, m the en--1 neavor to get out of harm's way, other- | wise it might hare^ caught him on a mores ■vital spot, teven ias it was there was sting enough m the blow to send Lang reeling tp the 'boards, where he tqpk njne sjeconds. He was looking none .too well when he straightened up, and, being practically forced into • another mix-up, was 'not the best thing m the world from hl« standpoint:. He was tiring perceptibly, yet Burns's dash and vigor anil his eagerness to connect were still there. Tommy walked to his corner with his old spring, but Bill sat down, bleeding, weary, and glad of .the respite.

ROUND Fl\/E I was the beginning of the end. It might actually have brought the end, had not the gong come to Bill rescue at a mo^ ment'when he was m an extremely bad way.i To begin with; Burns resumed his hustling tactics, got intp close quarters? and, with a volley of savage uppercuts, drove one home to roost. Bill went down for sure, this time, and there he stayed for "eight." He was no sooner up than he was hit down again with a similar punch, and once more he took eight seconds. Resuming the perpendicular a secpnd time, he did better, chopping Burns m the face three times m the face with the left, and then attempting a big swing hit, which miscarried. Tommy was apparently noft over-anxious now, having his man measured up right down to the toe-nails. Yet, as they came away from another scrimmage, Burns, m some manner, slipped to the hoards. It was- certainly not the result of a blow, out merely a "trip ever 'his' own, or somebody else's- big-feet. Bill tried to get him with a nasty punch, as he rose to his feet, but Tommy, still almost on ope knee, ducked it and laughed. Just as well, too, for it was a foul blow, v-n'A merely the act of a Iranian man and desy/«. Wnlc enough cf I.aDg's fair-

ness, general] y, to say that at no other;,. time would he nave tried it. When Tommy got up, he more than ay-< cnged himself for that braach of tho rules, and as the gong spoke, Lang- was on the boards again, looking, for ' all the world, as if he had had enough, and was only saved by the hrea thing time. ' ' i , THE FINISH came) wjthjn 15 or 2Q seconds of the gong m round six. Burns was fair hurling himself at La,ng by this time, doing as he pleased with x\\e very limp man ■m front of him,, and only waiting the chance to end it all. It was the "cat playing with the 'mouse." There. I was. not the- force left . m Lang's blows to damage Tommy had the latter stood with his ' hands at his' sides, and none knew it- better than the same Noah Brusso. He did actually poke his chin m front of Bill's gleved fists towards the end, and playfully held it there while Lang made a few weary passes, Tommy grinned as he "gave" Avith the few halfpunches which Bill treated him to. In a moment- he was hitting Bill "all over^ at once," so to speak, am}, finding 'an opening, he connected Avith' the jaw, and down went Lang to be counted out. In came the towel even before the count was. reached, land Burns, sb for as Lang 1 was concerned, was an easy champion" of the world .still. A great fighter, without doubt, is Burns, and if his nror pesed : .■fight with Jack .Johnson on Melbourne Cup morning takes place -it should eclipse anything that Australia lias ever seen m a fistic way. PRELIMINARY. The preliminary, furnislied by Arthur Cripps (11.2) and Ted Nelson (10.9), was all over m thirteen rounds, Oripps's visitations to the midriff: 'in this term Icing particularly severe. Nelson survived ihe first iof the bundle, but a couple more of the same sort later en curled -.him up like a cod m a pot, and lie was counted out. Up to this they had given a really clever and fairly even exposition el the art.