PUG PARS.

NZ Truth, Issue 946, 12 January 1924, Page 10

PUG PARS.

Jack Humphries is keeping fit m liivercargill and " looking for a match \yith any 9.4 man m the game. He Was down at the Bluff tournament on Kew Year's night and took a good lad down In Athol McCurdy,' who put up a very fine exhibition against Tommy Grifiiths, the 'Nef Zealand bantam Champion. McCurdy \V6uld like a return match. He only hRd a week to train. Jack also has a heavyweight m Bruce Harroway who has only turned eighteen, and who. will be heard of later. ■' '" -„ ;" ■ ' ■ :':"''. '■ '' '. :.',■ '.' '•■ ./ ."'

The paragraph published, last Week with reference to the meeting of Carl Calloway and Lachle McDonald at Blenheim was not correct, though the writer was informed such was the case by a well-informed . official. .At the time it seemed odd that the Blenheim Association should- put Calloway on again, seeing he ; -.had-. participated-- m two fights there In recent months, both of which, by the way, ended m fouls.

Fred Hansen called on ".Truth" at Auckland the other aay and expressed his willingness to fight under any Association as he is after the middleweight championship. A matclr with J. JKeeney or Larry Lasher would suit him. '■ • i -= ■ ■..'•■ ■ .■.- , . :■■"■"•■ ■•:■■ ■•

Clarrie Blackburn is at present m camp at Buckland's Beach enjoying a fortnight's brief after'his fight at Taumarunui with Larry Lasher. Blackburn Btates that he is willing to meet Lasher again and will back himself for £100, the winner to take all; v

Harry Stone is to have his next fight m Napier on January 26. This- time he is to meet the Frenchman, Eugene Volalre, and as the latter. is. a shrewd general, Harry will have to keep to business all. the time. This wife the match Wellington fans were looking forward to,- and their loss Is Napless gaitt. . :.". ' .'. '.-• ' " : ;,' . ./•'. r' ■ •'. ,''-

Johnny. Sullivan, the young: <2ovent Garden boxer, who is yet only . 16 years at >age, was once a number boy at Hoxson, a suburb of the East End of London, England,, which means that he stayed away from school for the privilege of holding up a card on a pole during a bout (writes Trevor Wlgnall, a -well-known English boxing critic). Sometimes when a preliminary boxer failed to turn up he dropped his pole, donned fighting garments, and. acted as a willing deputy. He would have been doing that now had it hot been that Carpentler, when training for Beckett, needed a speedy, youth as a sparring partner. "Sullivan, the only person available, was sent down to fill the gap while a more experienced pugilist was sought for, but within an hour the . eagle eye of M. Francois -Descamps , had discovered m the boy a promiso and a born cleverness that should really have been evident to others, and the result is that Johnny Sullivan is now treading the precise road that Carpentier trod 14 years ago. <Is there no romance m that? Carpentler, to my knowledge, is very optimistic about Sullivan.- Every time he looks at him he sees himself as he once was, as I saw him In Paris m 1910, when he was beaten by 'Young Snowball' (Ted Broadribb), who by a ourlous chance was the first to train Sullivan when the latter was 10 years of age. Sullivan has a chance of ac» quiring pugilistic greatness that no other English boxer has ever had. He is an almost exact , replica of CarpenUer already, and as he is practically certain to grow into a big heavyweight his prospects of becoming the first boxer of the world are even rosier than were those of Carpentler .when he was fighting his way to fame. Sullivan appreciates > his luok, but he la retaining his balance. He has accomplished every schoolboy's day-dream-ing miracle, but he Is not permitting that to dull his knowtedgo that the next two or three years will be the Hardest of his 1 life. And ho. should make a champion. He has all the attributes, ami most 'certainly the natural gift. He looks to me to be the Dempsey of the future."

The latest American newspapers say that Jack Dempsey and his manager. Jack Kearrifi, haw beon making some big deals In roal ostatc.^ To begin with, the champion has his 160.000 dollar homo m Los Angeles on the market, and with Kearna has purchased a hotel property for 660,000 dollars. Already Dompsoy Is said to own the Wiltshire Apartments, worth 425.000 dollars, and another property worth 400,000. These are his main investments, but he hd3 smaller properties scattered here and thejje. -

There is aome talk of putting Sid Godfrey on with Bert Spargo at Sydney. ■ . - " ■ .■■'■,■'■"''

Bob Martin, heavywolght boxer, ha« onlisted a« a "buck" private r In the State police, says the "Boxing Blade.' During tho world war Martin won tho heavyweight championship of the American expeditionary and the Interallied forces. Not so many months bnck they were calling him the mlffhtJe«t fighting man of 40.000.000 men. "They were still recalling that Black Jnck Perching, commander-ln-chlef of tho American forces, had shaken hln hand, whacked him admirably across the shoulder blades, and publicly applftuflcd hla boxing feats. Out of tho war 'had come no finer fighting type, no better specimen of physical perfection. It seemed certain that Bob Martin, winner of the intor-Allled heavyweight champlonHhip, would reach tho <wnl hl« buddies hart set for him — a lofty po«nion In professional fighting. To-day, instend wo learn thnt Mnrtln Ih shattered In physique, athlotio ha»-been, xhunned by boxing promoters and barred In eljrhtjscii ( Siatcs for fear of a possible fatality. Martin recently boxed Mnrty Burko In New Orleans. Burko knocked him out -In-wvcn rounds. Mnrtln wim a pnthetlc flirurp from the Htart. Thf vyondor w«s thnt' ho instwH an long n» he AM. Hie l*»fr» trembled hl« brrrnth i»«mo In Hhort JraspH, he hnd no cnjwclty' for pn»i | «brn.i i nt. Aftr thf* flirht Kit- hard T. Uurkv. of New Ork«an.s

president of the National Boxing Association, broadcasted a* letter to boxing clubs throughout, the country asking them to protect Martin from himself by refusing to use him as a contestant m a fight.";

"The United States, as far as .the 1924 Olympic Games are concerned, believes m preparedness,", stated a New York paper... "Ac'-ibrdlng to Robert M, -Thompson, head of the-Ameri-can committee, the athletes from- the United States are all set — six months before the start of the gameb- to'participate. Thompson declared that committees m each of the States have about completed the, work of choosing: the American participants." The Americans leave on June 16 and arrive m Paris on June 25V ■/- .

"Big" Munn, Sioux City aspirant to the . heavyweight boxing; crown, who has been'under the instruction of Mike Gibbons at St • J?aui, will , soon make his professional .debut m, the mitt game,.saya, the "Jpoxinsi, Blade," .art American sporting •' paper. ': . The man who will ..meet Munh has. hot been chosen, as'yet,. but.it is 'stated: that his opponent will be selected from' Farmer Lodge, Bud. Gorman, Jack Renault, Bill Brennan, Tiny Herman, and Jack Clifford, all well-known heavyweights. The newest title aspirant for the heavyweight, crown is 26 years old. As the. present crop of heavfes go he is stf 11 a young man. Munn's size is best shown by comparison with Jack Dempsey .and Luis. THrpb. He stands 6ft. 6in, being 4%1n taller than Demp*sey, and' 3%in taller. thaii Firpo. He haaa reach of. 80 inches.

Boxing fans Will be very pleased to know that the popular Wellington sporting medico, Dr r H..M. Cowen, has recovered from his serious illness, and that he id his old self once . again. Whilst m Napier he saw v Harry Stone bbx, and he'iadVlses the -fans on ho account to miss him, as he is absolutely the funniest - 'boxer «een ;in a ring. ■■•'■ ■;■ ; ; ■-, -. ■■■ '. ; . ;-.-. . ■ . '• ::.'' ■

Sam; Langfprd, the Boston Tar Baby, has not given- up fighting ye^ despite the rumors that, he, had recently .retired from the game. The;. following Is from thie "Bbxing Bl^de*': . Lang^ord met Jim Flynn, the Pueblo fireman* m, Mexico, and the twb= veterans fought for three rounds before Flynn waa outed with a right uppercut. According . .to: ..the. account .of . the •contest Langford had things air his own way, and punished; Flynn severely.

"Tommy Burns, one time ; world heavyweight champion, has' become fight promoter;" states the Newcastle-on-Tyne (England) correspondent of an'Amerlcan sporting paper. "Burns, who is making his home' -here, .has cabled offers to four American champions, and hopes within the next" six months to have all of them m action in' one or another of the arenas, m London or Paris, where' he has Established connections; Burns is anxious, to send Harry Greb against Roland Todd, the English middleweight champion. His plan Ib toxbring Qreb to England ' m November, send him against Tbdd, then another English middleweight, if Greb is successful. If Greb defeats bothrßurns wants to match" the American with Georges Carpenter. Nego^ tiations nbw> are ; under, way between Burns and Frank Churchill ,; hianaß:«r of Pancho Villa; champion, which aVe' designed to bring Villa to England 'for ■;'•■• three fights. Others Burns wants to send into action m England this winter are' Joe- Lynch, bantam champion, and Mickey Walker, welter king." ;

Jimmy Semmens and Mike Flynn are to /meet m Sydney m the near future, r .-.■..'.-.■

At the Sydney Stadium to-night the Englishman, Alf Simmons; Is' to make his debut and his opponent will be the Belgian, Louis Plees. Simmons holds a decision over the Belgian, having won o, fight, at hom.e front him on a foul. The winner of the contest will be matched with, ■• either Tommy Fairhall or Eddie Butcher.

"Mendies and Swift met for the third time at Melbourne last week and the rubber went to the former. .

The announcement that there was to bo no fight m Wellington this month met with expressions" of regret on all sides. Fans had been silohtJy wishing for Harry Stqhe to step out at the Town Hall this month, but they will now have to wait till February.

With Alf Simmons newly arrived, Tom Fairhall and bis £200 backing all but ready for action, and Sid Godfrey m the game again, the Sydney'promoters should ' stage some real . bouts m the near future. Simmons, on his record, and judging by appearances, is one of those hard-flghtlng, pleasing; chaps who becomes popular, win, lose, or draw. -

Pat Mills, after starting: no well In America, woa knocked recently ,by a lad Unknown m this part of the world named Herb Brodle. Mills lasted only half a round. The 'Frisco, "Redhead," m its cryptic style, Just observes "some setback" regarding the happening, so evidently Brodle is not rated any class m his own land. MilU never could fight beyond ham and egg** class m Australia, and it has been a deep mystery to us how he ever defeated Marcario Villon m Manila, and lasted eight close rounds with J6e Tlplttz m New York.-* . 4 * ■ ■ . ■ • '. ■-„■-..

; Benny Leonard says' he will box Lew Tendler again — an announcement In an American paper by the last mail. Why shouldn't he? He's beaten Tendler twice, knows he can beat him again, and that the public (though they know what ha knows) will again come and bco him beat Tendler th 6 third time. And isn't it better to fight an intimate you are sure you can lick than a stranger you think y6u can't whip?

Haw Wills wants to fight Jack Dompsey! J. Dawson also wants New Zealand to exist without moisture, but It's not llkoly he'll get his wish. The Hey. Dawson and Harry Wills are, therefore, brothers m distress.

Welshing 12st 7%n>, Billy Shade recently fought nn eight-round preliminary m America. The main eventerH on the card were Jack Renault and Floyd Johnson. Renault is a much-boomed, and, presumably, a rather taking flfjhter, for he stopped Johnson In the final BOHBlon of a ilf teen-round bout. lie is now m a line to meet Wills or Tom Gibbons. Shade won his content on points, but Australians remembering the unchecked swath© he cut thero, will not bubble over with enthusiasm on hearing he Is not even a main eventcr m America now. Rather, Shade's shadow will be a gloomy reflection for us.

Tho tense situations that marked every phase of the Oodfrey— Plees fight In Sydney had an effect even on the hardened flstlc roportors, who are never disturbed from their natural calm, even if a pugilist is hurtled through the rope* on to tho desk m front of them. Tho contest called for a description with vigorous touches, and between rounds the representatives of th* Sunday pupers were busy telephoning nn uecouni to the wrlto-up man In the ofllco. One writer evidently had somo difficulty m making

one pungent point clear to the man at the other tnd of the wire, as he suddenly changed the receiver to his right hand and accurately executed the peculiar left hook that Godfrey treated Plees to> m the twelfth round. Almost immediately he realised that the party listening. in was oblivious to the move-ment,-atid sought proper words to apply the necessary' touch. Harry Stone is back m Wellington from Napier, and "he intends to malce his headquarters m the Capital City m future. Any association wishing to put him on can get m touch with him, care of this office. Charlie Peoples has been living the simple life over the holidays at Ohaewai, he being. the guest of Mr. and Mrs. 'M&y, Harry's parents. As it is to be expected with such a fine boy . both are keen followers'- of the game. Eddie Parker was by no means dis- j graced by the effort he made against j Harry Stone at Hastings, and he is to be commended on the fine exhibition he gave, He has only to repeat his performance to keep all contenders for! the light heavyweight championship well out of the, picture. Stone has nothing but praise for the officials of the Hastings Association. All treated him well, and two m particular, Messrs Johnston and LimbrlcK. ThePeoples-Thomal combination m Taranaki Is still going like the proverbial house on fire. Charlie was m the cow country this week giving matters the; once- over. , A good match for the welter title would foe between Harry May and Clarrie Blackburn. The latter after his spell should come up smiling and with a new lease; of life. In a chatty letter from Billy Preston received at this office' lie states* that owing to the serious illness of his wife he has not' done any work for a longtime, but he expects to get into training again In the near future. He hopes to return to New Zealand some day, and show that his form over here was all wrong and "wipe out the blackest page m my boxing career." In the meantime he wishes to be remembered to all fans m the country. , At Bluff : on New Year's night Leckie and Sycamore met In a return match, and the decision this time went to the former who managed to keep his man off and so avoid his haymaker. The N.Z. bantam .champion, giving away weight, accounted for a lad named MeCurdy. The Auckland Association were after the services of Volairo and Stone for January 28, but as the pair are to fight m Napier on January 28 there is nothing doing. Les Murray is hopping off to Sydney, having received a cable from the Stadium authorities over there to come across and meet the Englishman, ,Alf Simmons. Simmons is a very rugged type of fighter, and if Les can get a decision over him he should not want for fights while he remains. Good luck to our light champion.