BOXING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2857, 16 December 1908, Page 58

BOXING.

Since Charlie Griffin, the Now Zoi- i lander, v\a^ beaten by Bort Ke\ es m ; America he na= sc-euro<' a deci(-ion o\cr a i lead in fr hirht-'veight narnod Dornian in } three roin.cis. f Tommy Burns's colours are dark rod. '< and bear the lege-nd, "Tommy Burnt, tho t ih-ampion." Jack Jchn.-on's colours aro r iark blue, with the lett<M\ng:, "Jack John- c son. coloured champion." < The match betu j en Jim (rriffin and ' Joe tJrimm, boxed at the Gaiety Athletic a !'lub <<n November 24. resulted in a draw, t I'wpnty rounds were boxed, and (-Jriffin is f •oporre t j to ha\ c- ha<l the Italian champion T f-ac r j,oi i 'ig- about tho ring when tlie goiig i 'oppe-d the cont^ a t. t Tin- traiiunor of the i>rincipa!s in the h vorlcl's championslnp bo\ingr contort is - irou*i!isr a rlcal of infor^t m Svdnpy On p N'o'.omb"; ?,8, Tom'rn liiims, aysKtcil 1)V c I'ar O'Ker ff .-'ikl 1..-- o"Donneil. f.a..-> <i .ii e\lnb;tion of -.hct'ow -p-.n ii.-j, skipping. 'A .nt\ other exerc^cs at tlu- Stjdium, Rugli- h mtten?' liay. There was an attendance of b

Jack Johnson, who is training 1 at the Botany grounds, was visited byfabout 1500 people during the same afternoon. He sparred with Bill Lang and several others, and went through his work in a style that greatly pleased the critics. When Johnson proposed that two judges should be appointed a number of the papers stated that the request was most unusual. That is not so. It was the invariable custom in the days when the Melbourne Athletic Club was a power in boxing to have a referee and two judges, and the practice has been followed more or less in important events since the club became defunct. The lastmatch Squires had in Australia prior to meeting- Burns in San Francisco for the world's championship was with Bill Smith, and the Australian champion insisted upon having two judges. Particulars of the final match between R. H. Baker, champion of Australia, and .T. W. H. T Douglas for the English amateur championship arc to hand by the la-sf mail. Douglas had an easy pa-ssaare up to the final, whereas Baker had a sf-ries of hard fighte. In the first he met a former champion in W. J. Dees, and won cornforfably. In the second Baker fought W. Chakl, previous holder of the championship. It %va6 an animated contest from start to finish, and the Australian just won by i narrow margin. TlTe semi-final saw Biker opposed by W. Phils, a boxer of great hitting powers. Phils, however, had no chance with the clever Australian. After making several ineffective swings, Baker put his m.in out in less than a minute with a well-timed chin hiU This left Baker and < Douglas for the finS. Douglas crouched in the latest American fashion, while Baker adopted the old style of standing erect and well up to his man. In the first round there was little to choose between them. A good deal of work was done, but not of a very effective character. In the second, during a hot rally, Baker received a r ight on the head and vent down for 6ix seconds. On resuming Bak"i - fought with great cour- \ age, ana n^-> r ] c llp r»iuch of his leeway be- ; fore th^ <nfl ot Kic round. -The third round _wa< n:->e:r»ncorii'v fought our. The fine give-and-take wor'c w^e-d the speita- i tors to a hiurh pitch of o\Jt<?inent. At ihe close the judtrp.s unnniir.oi'sly decided in favour of Douglas, who. t'sa Tx>ndon Sportsman say*, k adni)Tf«v;iy :ho best amateur j mirldle-v,ei!fhf ;n; n ihe country. Douglas is the <op of Air .7. IT. 'Doiierlae. the president of .ho AiiiAtctir 'iox'ntf As«oeiiU 'on. who, in Kis tl<n-, was also a middle-weipr'^t , champion. FJnker has bince returned to his home in Sydney. ' i Jack Johnson hns l>een sparring -with Bill Lang, amonjf others, but the Victorian heaiy-weight had to have v couple of nays' j spell. In a rather lively encounter John- ' son touched an old wound over the left ! eye rathe/ too heavily, and opened it. - i The agreement provides that the men * shall be in the rine: for the world's chamP'onship contest at 10.30 a.m. on December 26. There will be no preliminaries or waste of time, and the battle will start punctually at 11 o'clock.