THEATRE ROYAL.

NZ Truth, Issue 169, 12 September 1908, Page 6

THEATRE ROYAL.

The Burns-Squires Fight

The Theatre Royal was packed to the doors on Thursday night and again last night, when Messrs MacMahon and Carroll's Kinematograph Company exhibited a series of animated pictures, the principal item being the Burns-Squires light, which recently took place m Sydney. . . Prior to the "gem of the evening" be- v ing displayed, a series of pictures depicting the various events contested. 1 ati t'he Stadium sports at the Franco-British Exhibition were' shown, and. the clearness. o£ the films was remarkable. When, the "World's Championship. Boxing Contest Between Tpmmy Burns and Bill Squires" was thrown on the sheet the aiudience cheered vociferously, and for some time N those, m the rear of the dress circle could not. get a glimpse of. the stage owing to the -frontrankers' excitedly standing • up. When, the opening /round' was thrown on the sheet, however, the frontrankers ■" resumed their seats, and the whole, of the audience were enabled to witness famous 1 .struggle for supremacy. After- -the preliminaries had been settled the " two athletes stepped into the ring, hands were shaken, .and the pair faced. each other for business. The opening stages were followed with keen relish, and the audience were raised to a high pitch of enthusiasm as the two central figures got to work. Squires at the outset appeared to lead, the fighting, and got' m some . punishing Wows, but Burns appeared cool and determined. Squires continued to be the aggressor well on into the middle of the fight, and his tactics were applauded- ■qy the audience who were carried away by the realistic nature of the picture. The fight progressed and Squires seemed to be the popular contestant with the audir ence until the tenth round, when he showed signs of wear. In the eleventh and twelfth rounds Squires rallied gamely, hut Burns still appeared cool and collected and able to keep his end up for a long time. The final roftmd saw Squires m difficulty, and he received a knock-down blow from the American, who was now rising to the occasion. Sqjuires rose and. faced his 'opponent, only to be felled with a ringing stroke, which proved to be the knock-out, as Squires was counted out. The. enthusiasm of the audience, was realistic and the excitement intense as the fight closed and the championship fell to Burns. The picture will be sho%yn again this evening and late comers wiliv be disappointed if they wish to obtain sitting accommodation.