DULL AND DREARY

NZ Truth, Issue 579, 22 July 1916, Page 11

DULL AND DREARY

The Kay-Stone Sydney Stadium Scrap

A great display o£ science and evasion was expected from loner Fred Kay, native of Collingwood, Vie, raised and taught boxing by Bill Doherty m Western Australia, and Harry Stone, the New York Jew, when they were brought together at the Rushcutter Bay Stadium, on Saturday night, July 15, but expectations were not realised. A dull and uneventful fight went the full twenty tiresome rounds. In view of the almost miraculous skill m blocking, ducking, and evasion that Kay had shown m his earlier fights m. Sydney, his display may be stigmatised as clumsy. He only very occasionally did that beautiful duck and side-glide that used to be so much admired; while he allowed Stone to corner him with the crudest of rushing attacks, and instead of ducking and slipping the rush he would go into a smother that made it appear to the non-conversant that he was getting a deal" of punishment, and was m a bad way; when, as a fact, neither was the case. If -he had side-stepped ' and turned with the viperish speed and sting of Jimmy Hill, on these occasions, he would have at least won by a much wider margin, even if he had not succeeded m stopping his man. As it was, however, his enormous reach — of which he did not make nearly enough use — his unorthodox shape-up, and his wicked left wallop, greatly puzzled Stone, and left him very little time to indulge m clowning or sun-dancing. He was- anxious and worried all through'; and though he carried out his promise and did a lot of rushing, it was about as futile as a mud-turtle's attempt to fly. In these attacks his use of the right was most peculiar. He would jump m, with the right elbow bent and the arm rigid, and, with weapon thus crippled, would swing it stiffly, often with the palm facing the objective, at the side of the head. A sillier, more oldwomanish motion was never evolved; and it came the worse from Henry Q. Stone, on account of his wide experience and great natural cunning. It was as futile as it was awkward-look-ing. All Stone's best scoring was done m the paddock, with the orthodox straight right to the head and face. It was amazing how Kay let so many of these get onto him, too. No novice could have been more open to the right at the short ribs than Kay was to Stone's right leads for those parts; but the weight of the punches could be guaged from the fact that at the end of twenty rounds Fred's ribs showed only one very small patch of palest pink. Both men sustained burst lips, Kay's originating m a plain bump from Stone's dome of thought; and Stone's right eye was a good deal swollen; that, and the damage being due to nose and mouth and lumpy cheek, being the result of Kay's left up-sweeps. Stone nearly dropped Kay with a right to the point, m tho eleventh round. Fred staggered back onto the west ropes, but instead of trying to time him and land other clean hits, Stone went off pop, like the veriest beginner, and wasted a lot of energy m whanging away at Fred's arms and elbows, and the Westralian soon recovered. Stone was allowed a lot of license m the way of holding round neck or waist, and hitting, throughout. Kay piled up points In the earlier rounds, bar the fifth and nineth, which were equal, and the tenth and eleventh, which were won by Stone. The twelfth and thirteenth were equal and then Kay ran clean away with a break of fivo rounds that he put well to his credit, while Stone appeared to bcpretty well baked m the last two or three of these. The Yankee Yld made a lot of "sound and fury" m the nineteenth, evidently intended to impress tho referee, and Kay foolishly took a couple m the belly, as if to show how little he estimated them as damaging factors; but there was nothing m the round. Kay's attitude of passive resistence In the twentieth enabled Stone to win the round on points; but the verdict for Kay was absolutely correct.