A Tale of Thick Ears

NZ Truth, Issue 1031, 29 August 1925, Page 15

A Tale of Thick Ears

Memories of Two Particularly Fearsome Specimens

Thick cans have long been the trade marks or ring men. In days of ° '•*"""■ those "good old days" — they were more plentiful than to-day, and though not exactly a beautifying; or symmetrical ornament, warriors of the past were prone to proudly vaunt them after the manner of a knight sporting a lancse v/ound sustained m a joust for milady's favor.

These times of Beau Brummell boxing champions, however, calloused auricular appendages are avoided like a dangerous malady. At the first signi of thickening our present-day ring rulers immediately spend small for«tunes m medical aid, and tirelessly apply hot fomentations for hours *m end m order to retain naturally- sizsed listeners. But even then thick ears are at times unavoidable. If our champions idly allowed their ears to swell to three times their normal proportions they would considerably decrease the said champions' moving- picture value. And society, bai jove, would no doubt frown ferociously through its lorgnette should it behold an ear of brass doorknob dimensions surmounting an imnmculate outfit of dress suit and stiff shift! Present-day boxing men, y'know, have "weally" entered 'society, and the task of preserving the pontour of their features has becotVhs quite as formidable as that of cofriC|iiering sturdy opponents vvi-lbin the arena. With this particularly m vdew, they invariably wear specially designed head and ear guards wheip. indulging .m training bouts. (Some .of those ■ possessed of scanty foreslighft, it may ■be mentioned, have, taken to these t -protectors AFTER AN BAR HAS '.BEEN THICKENED; .but that is, by fche way, quite an ordinary thing for boxing men to do.) These guards are comjposed of leathgar and elastic, and have two aluminium cups' that fit over the ears, and .so protect them fro/m. punches. Tjbie whole is somewhat like a helmet, and fastens under- the chin with tapes. It is a strange tb/ing, but most cauliflower ears have .been given and taken ' m the gymnasiium. Carelessness Ims generally be^n the cause. Now and then, thciugh, that somewhat gsoi-y spectacle of a rapidlyswelling ear is witnessed within the ring. Perhaps the ' worst and most painful experience buffered by a Sydney boxer was the case of Tommy

Uren when he met Reg Sproule at the *Newtown Olympia. » Sproule was a very accurate punch- ( er, and one who landed his gloves m ' practically any spot he desired. His flying .fists visited Toon's left ear many times, and it puffed with a rapidity that was amazing. Quickly it assumed egg-like proportions, and the very weight and pain of it seemed to weigh Uren's head to one side. "Hurt?" said- Tom when talking of it, "I should say it did. It seiemed as big as a balloon, as heavy as a pumpkin, pained as though someone was piercing it with a red-hot nejedle, and every time Reg hit me m the body the pain seemed to settle m my ear. "I begged them m the corner to cut it off. ' "Then he hit me a good punch fair on it and btirst it. I thought the roof had fallen m on me; my head swam, and blackened, bruised blood spurted all over the, ring." Only a man who has had a badly thickened ear knows the pain of it. In New Zealand we had a case last year — at the amateur championships. Dick Loveridge came out to fight Reg Trowern m. the final of the lightweight division, and what an ear ha had! It looked like a football, and what a target it made! Troworn got to work on the ear, and it was not long before it went — went off with a pop. The next couple of rounds the two boys bore the a}= penance of Red Indians. They were fig-Ming all the time — a regular he-man fight — and m the end Loveridge won. Most people were of the opinion that Isoveridge was m agony all through that fight; but he wasn't. Prior to taking the ring he had a "shot" put into it, and the ear was "dead." But was it sore when the effects of the dope wore off? Well, ask L/overidge.