AT THE SIDNEY STADIUM.

NZ Truth, Issue 444, 20 December 1913, Page 6

AT THE SIDNEY STADIUM.

, Matt Vtfplis v. Harry Stone.

New Yorker Qreatly Outpoints

' (By* )< i l ßoxei--Major.")

Keen interest centred m the /meeting at the Stadium between the two brilliant Jewish light-weight boxers, Matt Wells,' of London, Eng., and Harry Stone, of New Itork- City, U.S.A.Welle waajimported by the Stadium management*«nserf a heavy guarantee and *'a i rigid contract, for three fights m Australiai^J^fuyJlled that engagement .!by 'Jig&tingjrjHughie Mehegan, and getting I . the decision on the most technical "points"'; Owen Mpran, a distinctly lucky award ' for Wells; and Mehegan : again { In Melbourne) t when the Australian L.champion fairly earned the victory. 1 ?- vK • Then* a» Harry- Stone had twice licke^Uho^ErfgUskio welter champion, Johnny Summers; and was aching to liek v fi f Yjery^ngJijShJi}an m sight, with a speteiaT: Jbnj?li?g'. for a bit o' Matt' 1 Wells, Snowy" Baker, offered the Ix>ndoner three ( more^ fights, on advantageous terras, the flrst to bo with his Israelitish ' cousin, Harry aforesaid. Wells was ..yeryjj much ' over-weight when, that Jmjajt^h^as mooted, and it took ; a.^n'g^ifinei^t^induce Stone to allow IpA" J to x g6" outside the lightweigftt^4iniat^!)is<j '»» (1351b5). Harry ' held out. obdura'tely'jnst as long as the papers alternately f "whooped and wept over the * horrible fear that the flght •would? not eventuate and that llatt Wells would be torn from us by his grim and grizzly manager, deaf to the chink of gold, 'and caring only for the high horiOr'-te'J'DS attained by a very rißky""tMp tt rJ AMerica, where the

champions run away or boo down whenever areal fighter proposes a real fight for real money — and waats some of it for himself. They need not have been so agitated, . tho'sv newspaper men. There was .never any likelihood that Stone wouldn't" fight Wells if he could get him. There was money m it. ' GOOD MONISH, MA TEAR ! And whomever knew a Jew to run away- fr*om money? They finally agreed to allow Wells to come m at 9st 101 b and 1 had a forfeit of £100 on the weight question. Wells's people put it about as late as. last Wednesday that he (Matt) couldn't possifcly. make the weight and would forfeit, and Stone was righteously indignant and vowed that it took two to make such a bargain as that. Kid stakes! He'd have fought .Wells if he'd scaled twelve stone. It was only another, advertising dodge, and. when I called the bluff on Thursday Stone laughed and admitted that he didn't care a damn what Wells *. weighed.! An American Jew could always beat an English Jew either m business or bruising, and lie was as sure of beating Wells as he was that the sun • would rise next morning. That's hew Harry Stone,; the New York newsboy, felt about fighting Wells; and m view of Wells's marked incapacity as .a punishing fighter, so plainly indicated m his contests with Mahegan and Moran — whom he got points decisions over and yet NEVER LEI<T A MARK ON, it was a reasonable attitude and one m which I thoroughly concurred. The betting" was 6 to 4 on Wells and there were hosts ; who would not believe it possible that the little-known Stone could beat or outpoint the brilliant Wells. If ever a visiting, boxer got sticky slobber about his skill that was to a great extent undeserved, that man is Wells. _He showed on Saturday night that he can defend his head remarkably w;eH — from everything but a straight left— -and ' that he is as open to as any mug in- a £7 tournament Stone rarely , missed Wells's face with his lightning. jab and. very early it was red and swollen and- he ; showed blood at the lips even m the first round. The popularity of Stone was remarkable, iand was accounted for on two heads. ! First, he had beaten Johnny Summers, unpopular because of, his highly improper praying m the ring, and his | hard treatment of his sparring partners. Second: He was fighting a man who' had "been given two verdicts m Sydney that nineteen out of every twenty — ay, 99 out of every 100 — considered were undeserved. Sydney fans are pretty shrewd and not easily led away by false and biassed reports. It is only a few front-sea ters, who don't know and don't mix with the : PIiAIN-SPEAKING CROWD, . that are so led by the nose* and personal acquaintances. Wells's reputation for extreme cleverness went glimmering on Saturday- night when the futility of his attack was generally as laughable as that of any rough un trying to hit a, Hock Keys. Stone's skill m evasion was to be credited with Wclls's comparative clumsiness, but not entirely. The fact is Wells tried to fight on the attack against a man he knew was clever and not to be outboxed; and he Is about the poorest sample of an aggressive fighter high up m the gamo. Scores of times he backed the smiling, gum -chewing Stone to the ropes and corners, and cut loose terrific left and right swings,

beautiful right smashes at the point and hooks that would have looked— and proved— glorious : and effective against most less clever men. But Stone ducked, back-moved and blocked them with the ease of a clever tutor facing a novice. He was marvellous m evasion arid a snappy devil m attack. His right guard for the left swing and hook ' failed only twice throughout the whole twenty rounds; while his left elbow dropped into place for the right at the body or shot swiftly and easily up to intercept it when hurled at the jaw, like a piece of perfectly controlled machinery. The greatest slogger m the game could not have been more perfectly I foiled by a clever ' antagonist; and. when Wells and his backer-manager, Dave Levy, who was alleged to have I put up a side- wager of £200 on the result, saw this, as they couldn't fail to do, and as Wells couldn't fail to feel, their faces indicated the state of their mind. Twice Wells was warned by referee Scott for flagrant "palming off/ and always his left sneaked up and pressed against' Stone's jaw m tho clinches, if Scott was on that side it dropped ■ innocuous. If he wasn't it went hard under the chin or over the mouth. Did Stone kick? ' NARY A. KICK! ! He simply grinned and rammed his rigid^right up into Wells's bleeding mouth or under his chin. It was amazing how absolutely^ this lighter and slenderer man got his jerky right uppercuts to their: objective. The verdict at the close, for Stone, was Immensely popular and never ono was better earned. Harry went absolutely mad when it was delivered. His troubles about toilet ! He hadn't . a mark, and he broke from nia seconds again and again and jumped and danced deliriously. And the huge, crowd cheered his every spasm of joyful exuberi ance. When Arthur Scott unhesitatingly placed his hand on Stone's head, the instant the bell rang, the crowd went crazy. The air was full of all kinds of head gear, and some of the straw | boaters and hard-bitters that sailed skyward were probably not recovered j by their madly excited owners.