KAY v. UREN.

NZ Truth, Issue 602, 30 December 1916, Page 11

KAY v. UREN.

The Referee's Decision Questioned. Fred Kay, who (now that Les Darcy has departed, and. is unlikely to return for many a long day) is Australian . middle-weight champion, met Tommy Uren, welter-weight champion, at Kushcutter Bay Stadium, on Saturday night, December 16, says "Truth's" ringside rep. J The men had met twice previously, In Melbourne, on December 4, 1915, when Uren had Kay so bad, m the twelfth round, that the referee stopped it, Fred being quite unable to contiiuue, and awarded a k.o. to Uren; and again, on July 22, 1916, m Sydney, when Kay got a very much disputed verdict at the end of twenty rounds, of which Uren -won about 17* In those fights both men were welters, but recently Kay has gpne up to light middle- weight, and on Saturday Uren, too, exceeded the 1471 b, though only by half a pound. There was a very large crowd arid much enthusiasm, and it is regrettable that a fine contest should have been marred, as on the previous occasion under referee Arthur Scott, by a verdict that was against evidence and the weight of evidence, as the lawyers bave it. On Saturday night Uren won thirteen rounds, namely, rounds 2, 5, «, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, and m seven rounds it was next to impossible to , separate the men, though m round 10 Kay may have had a shade the better of matters, owing to the fact that he made Uren miss several times; though the hitting waa as nearly equal as don't ma^ter.| • Both men showed evidence of careful training, but, even m the matter of condition, Uren stood out superior, for he never turned a hair throughout the fight, being as cool, strong, and resourceful hi the twentieth as In the first round, while he never once wilted, even for a. moment, under Kay's tremendous lefts to the body; whereas Kay was wobbly on his legs through ■ part of several of the concluding rounds, and on quite a number of occasions ho was knocked so hard by "Tommy's right as to stagger almost to a fall. This was so even { In the first round. To give Fred the credit that is due to him, it may be said that m all his career he* never fought so fiercely or stood so determinedly up to his man. His fight with Jimmy Clabby. whom he beat on points, oppelara to have given him more reliance upon himself and his wallop, and left him with less fear of the other chap's; He fought the first and second rounds with the fierceness of a champion who meant to mow his aspiring -rtya} oft til© map, while some of his spurts later on were fine bits of aggressive figtjtlng. Several times it appeared as though' ho was about to put Uren on the slide, but as each time Tom came back, generally with more than be totfk, Kay seemed to lose both confidence and heart; and tbere were moments when he looked Absolutely despairing. ; Strangely enough, the south-west comer 'was a bad spot for Uren, for nearly every time ho backed into that angle Fred got him with lefts to the body and head that shook him up pretty severely. Equally; strange was the fact that Kay's own angle and the north-east and Uxen'^ corners werp danger spots for Fred. Every time he either backed into, or backed Tom Into either of these, he got hurt pretty bad. It was a fine fight from goag to goug, only marred by the decision. Key scaled lOst 9%1b; Uren's weight was 10s l%lb. Almost at the first tang of the electric bell Kay bustled Uren Into the S.W. corner and cut loose with his somewhat famous left at body and head, varied with short hooks with

the right. One left to the midriff made Tommy open His mouth, and he ducked under and clinched. They broke by mutual consent, and almost instantly a left to the lug knocked Tom sideways into the ropes. He kept his head, and as they shaped again hooked hard to the chin, but took another left In the belly, a fair terror of a punch. Showing no sign of damage, the boy from Xeichhardt slipped close and drove a straight left to the mouth and a fearfully hard right to the nose and mouth, and Kay staggered back all abroad. Tom was up to him immediately and led the right m quick succession, getting on to the neck, just under the ear, and the chest, and they sparred off till the bell rang. Here was the first of several instances where ' Kay led at the start only to be overhauled before the finish. Kay also began the row m the second, landing left and right to the body and cheek and belly, and he jombed Uren m the south-west corner. But Tom swayed under . his. flying arms and came up, with a smashing right to the jaw. Kay sparred off and Tom s^vung a big left with a downward sweep, that even at that sailed over {he tall fellow's head, and he repeated this xather foolish stroke; but he then drove the left to the belly, and was put of reach like a cat, and came back, as Kay hurled a punch at nothing, with a left swing to the side of the head that sounded like the fall of- a brick on hard clay. Kay was now ahy of 'that right, and for the first time gave a sample of duck and glide; but Tom overtook him and put left and right fair to the dial, just on the bell. Kay hooked and shot right and left, but Tom head-moved them both; but his own terribly hard left swing went round the neck, though a stiff punch at that; the right banged to the e-ar and Kay sank a left one into the ribs, and Tom put a hard right to the jaw, while Kay's one, two, were very gentle taps. Tom whanged the right to body and ear, heavy blows, and took a stiff left m the belly, but immediately a very heavy right just grazed the point and smashed into the throat; it was a cjose call for Fred. Kay tried several smashes with the left and hooks with the right, opening the fourth, but they were elegantly blocked, while Tom's right plunked hard on the nose. Kay rushed Uren into the south-west corner and landed the left to the body three times, but a fourth was taken on the elbow. Tom was distinctly flustered, and hit out wildly, several times, but missed badly, though his menace drove Kay out. Then Uren steadied himself and twice drove the right to the marie, while he sprang on his toes and down-chop-i ped the chin with the same hand, staggering Kay, who clinched close and gxlnried over Tom'a shoulder. They 'parted, and Uren had Just smashed a dinger right to the nose -when the bell rang. ■ Uren missed a fearfuVjjright lead, at the opening of the fifth, ; end came to his hands, but was up v a flash, and put three rights m quick succession to the face, and Kay wis In trouble; while twice three more sent him staggering almost to a full; Ipit he ducked and stumbled into a clinch. Tom tore > free and attacked furiously, but Kay ! clinched again. Uren gpt clear and banged a right to the chin and a left rip to the body, and Kaj swayed on his feet; but Tom missed a tremendous left swing and almost slung himself down; Just when a knock down, at least, appeared certain.! A straight left to nose and right to jajv, however, bad Kay m Queer-street, when the [bell came to his relief. t ; The sixth was also a bad round for Kay, who did not seem to have got over that severe fifth. Tom's right lead hardly ever missed, wh^le one left I swing to the head was a h<>tty. Kay

1 was set fair on hedge, forgot he had a right hand and put all his energies into fierce attempts to land the left m the body. Uren's back or in-move and timing: of his own hitting quite discounted these efforts, till Uren missed and left himself open to a double left to mark and jaw; but Uren was full of fight and instantly smashed the right to the mouth, banged it at the chin, only grazed hard, but brought it back very hard to the jaw. A heavy xi&ht to the other side made Kay grab Tom's left glove and pull him m, -while Tom belted the ribs and jaw hard with his free Tight, The house cheered maaly, thinking it saw Kay's finish, and Fred hung on to that left duke for dear life. Lack of space precludes the giving of fu-rther details, round by round, and we must condense. Once, m the seventh, Kay staggered out of a clinch, almost to a fall, Tom having nearly chipped the chin, but a Kaysy left, just above the hip bone, made Tom wear a worried look; but he uppercut the face hard, just before the bell. Uren won the Bth a mile, punishing the body badly, and that despite one awful left by Kay to the body early m the round, when a rousing right lead to the jaw had angered him. Kay went m for deep-breathing as he sat m his corner, and was evidently winded. - A beautiful left swing split Kay's Tight eyebrow m the 11th, and with brief intervals, the cut bled freely thereafter. In trying a similar wallop, earlier m the round, which Kay ducked, Uren swung himself to his knees right m front of Kay, and It was a miracle that Fred did not lose on a foul, for he was just starting a left wallop. Tom was down again to his knees m the twelfth, missing a swing: and Kay hitting his right away at the same moment; but he was up as the bell Tang once. The 13th was a pretty hot session and the house went mad as Uren's hooks and swings restarted the ruby and set it fairly streaming oveT face, neck and chest. ■' ; ■ Once, m the sixteenth, Kay gave a sample of his beautiful ducking and elusiveness, and Tommy stood waiting for him and meditatively wiping his nose with the thumb of his glove. And a few silly jossers actually hooted Kay for being clever! He certainly had good reason for getting away, just around here, for Uren was hitting as hard as ever and was after him all the time. In the 18th Kay's left smash at the body landed below the Plimsoll mark, but Uren only gave a reproachful look. Once Kay slipped him so neatly that Tommy shot into the ropes, while Fred was out at centre. Kay's retreat, m the 20th, was almost sprlut-like, but Tom was after him incessantly. When the last bell rang and Scott crowned Kay the house was dumbfounded. The usual few who i|g)plaud everything clapped and raised a feeble cheer. Then, as "the thing was . realised, a perfect hurricane of hoots broke out and continued for several minutes. Uren's action, when he saw Scott's, was tragic m its depth of expression, and when he turned and looked at the bouse lor sympathy, it cheered him madly. This was renewed as he crossed the ring to leave and as long as he was m sight the crowd cheered and cheered and cheered again. Uren lost the award, but had the satisfaction of knowing that he won everybody's sympathy, and that everybody was In accord as to the badness of the verdict