BOXING

Southland Times, Issue 17655, 12 February 1916, Page 10

BOXING

Sydneys bout to-night; George (K. 0.) Brown v. Fritz Holland. ,** Les Darcy has no wish to leave Australia in the meantime. Herb. McCoy and Fred Kay engage in Brisbane this evening. On Saturday next Darcy meets Hardwick for the heavy championship. Frank Ellis has recovered from his ear injury and is looking for fight. B. Spargo had Jimmy Hill beaten for the feather title when he lost on a foul. Sydney’s Chinese fighter, “Tuggle" Young, is leaving for a tour in the United States. Les Darcy is asking Mr R. L. Baker to bring Mike Gibbons to Australia for an Easter bout. Melbourne feather Bert Spargo is expected to oppose Llew Edwards on Saturday of next week. Champion middleweight Darcy is willing to clash with Ed. McGoorty on the latter’s terms of "catch weights.” Boxer, bandsman, and' Rugby footballer, Private A. Kirwan, returned from Gallipoli via England on Wednesday night. The popular “AUo” picking up again after a serious bout of sickness. It is claimed that the Simpson-Ed-wards match, won by the former, attracted the largest crowd which has ever witnessed a Dst engagement in Melbourne Stadium.

In a match over the ten-round route with Harry Willis (negro) bn December 3 In the U.S. Sam Langford had very much the worst of the argument. Willis is claimed to be the "hope” of the black race.

Arrangements had been made for Dodger Ryan to encounter Jack Jannesse on February 5 for the bantam championship of Australia in Melbourne, but the title-holder (Jannesse) broke his hand while training and the contest had to be deferred.

According to English papers, Private daggers tof the Queen’s Royal West Surreys) and three comrades managed to escape from one of the prison camps in Germany. They say escape would have been impossible but for their splendid condition, which they attribute to having a set of boxing gloves sent to them from England, witli which they practised for three weeks, working themselves into good condition before trying to get away. Private daggers is now in England, and is responsible for a large number of boxing gloves being sent to the soldiers at the firing line, and to the military prisons in Germany.

It is on tile cards that Frank Moran, ami not Fred Fulton, will clash with Jess Willard at New Orleans on March -1 tor the heavyweight championship of the world. On being asked his terms for a match of this description Moran replied that ho would take 7500 dol., but added that in addition to this amount he would expect as part of the conditions to have a percentage of the gate receipts over a certain sum.

The Hill-Spargo contest for the featherweight championship of Australia in Melbourne on January 29 resulted somewhat unsatisfactorily. Fight thousand people witnessed the contest, and saw a remarkable finish. Honours early in the fight were even,' both men evidently trying to secure a knock-out; hut later Sparge began to assume the ascendancy. Hill shook Spargo with a heavy right to the .law early in the third, hut Spargo more than evened matters before the round closed, punishing his opponent severely about the face. Spargo assumed the offensive in the next, and had Hill in difficulties, hut the Victorian narrowly escaped disaster from a hook to the jaw while on the ropes. in the fifth Spargo rushed Hill and sent him to the hoards wiiii a heavy right swing linsh to the jaw. Hill rose at eight, lighting blindly, and was sent down again lor one. He rose only to bp dropped again with another right saving. Hill was rising at eight when Spargo rushed across and struck him while lie was still kneeling. The referee, Val Quirk, thereupon declared Hill the winner on a foul. Spnrgo’s act was apparently due to over eagerness.

A correspondent writes in Sydney Sun

"Referring to the double knock-out, Otto fribli v Sturgeon in the Sun. 1 can remind you of another instance when the unique happened. Tito incident took place a good few years ago, and f think you saw it as v'ell as myself, and a full house included, at the old Gaiety Club, during the late Pat Green’s regime. It was the outcome of that fast and furious

fight between Albury Clifford and that big-jawed slogger Harry Prillips.- In the seventh round both fighters swung their rights, got home, and out. There we saw both pugs lying toe to toe, Albury nearer the ropes. Here that shrewd little second Abo Willis (as timekeeper, .lorry Parr had the count oil) yelled in Albury’s ear; 'Get up, the other bloke is out I’ Clifford staggered up and, partly lying on the bottom rope, was declared the winner.”

At the animal meeting of the Christchurch Sports Club the following circular was received from the Hagerty Memorial Committee: —Timaru, Nov. 4, 1915, —"Dear Sir, —On behalf of the Hagerty Memorial Committee we wish to bring under your notice the proposal to establish a fitting memorial to the late Trooper .lames Hagerty, who was recently killed in action at Gallipoli while serving the Empire with the New Zealand Forces. James Hagerty was born in Timaru on January 16, ISS9, was educated at the Main School and spent almost the whole of his life in- this district. A.s you are, no doubt, aware, lie enjoyed an admirable reputation as a good sport. Ho attained pre-eminence in the sport of boxing, but the proposed memorial is intended to commemorate not only his skill as a boxer, but also his record as a clean-living, honourable lad. a good sport in the very best sense of the term. Those who have ftssociated themselves in the effort to raise a fitting memorial feel that every good sport will wish to do his bit towards achieving a purpose that is as practical as it is worthy. The committee propose to raise as large a fund as possible and devote it to the endowment of a cot in the Timaru Hospital—the Hagerty Memorial Cot —the idea being that the cot and free treatment may be available at any lime for the use of returned soldiers. The Hospital Board has approved this plan, and with the board’s help the scheme should be carried to a successful issue. Any donation will be thankfully received.” The meeting decided to forward a copy of the letter to all members of the Sports Club, soliciting a subscription towards the fund. As Hagerty was such a great favourite witli local patrons of the sport the hope was expressed that others than members of the Sports Club might desire to assist the movement instituted at Timaru.

A Sydney Sun writer whose experiences in resard to a certain championship have not been altogether happy writes: "There may be some glamor attaching to the term championship for a lew people, but followers of boxing generally are caught by the possibilities of the battle only. What’s in a name? There was no title involved in either of the McGoorty-Darcy encounters, nor did Matt Wells and Hughie Mehegan meet fOr a championship when they drew £4OOO. The first Langford-McVea tussle in Australia filled the Stadium. Did one or other of those men have a belt, or a position of absolute supremacy, to lose? Go on as you have been going, Mr Baker, using and placing well the material at hand. Let other people play as fast and loose with championships as they may please. Remember you are a good deal the custodian of the rights of the Australian ring. Listen to what Right Cross, the clever New York livening ilournal critic, has to say about championship titles in a country where "bull stuff’ (kidding! goes more than it does anywhere else: —"The first thing that the international boxing congress should do, if it ever gets together, is to abolish titles in the prize ring. Right now there are about two title holders whose names do not cause the audience to laugh out loud —Willard and Kilbane. The others are title holders for ten rounds, or while title holders, or title holders because everybody is too hoarse to contradict them. Once upon a time a boxing title counted for something. Now a contest for a title would not draw a corporal’s guard, with the possible exception of one for the heavyweight title. All that you have to do to keep the crowd away from a fight is to announce that one of the contestants is the title holder in his class. This is a consequence of the too free use, and the frequent misplacing, of the term championship. Consider the efforts of the fight managers’ syndicate to rouse a little interest in a contest for the lightweight championship. There has been more ballyhoo employed than has been used at Coney Island since its existence, yet the interest is languid. The usually responsive fight sucker seems deaf, dumb, and paralysed. Freddie Welsh has come to the conclusion that he will fight for considerably less than the 15,000 dollars ho first demanded. The value of the title has depreciated rapidky since he held it. Only a few years before the whole pugilistic world was widely excited over a contest for the lightweight championship. Witness the Gans-Nelson fight at Goldfield, the Wolgast-Nelson fight at Richmond and the Ritchie-Wolgast fight at San Francisco. Most of these fights drew more than a present-day fighter could make in a lifetime. Now nearly any old fight but a championship fight draws. The answer seems to be the champion himself. The lack of interest in title holders also extends to the* middleweight division. When Stanley ICctchel was defending that title the promoters did not have to ballyhoo the match to get a gate. Now when it is announced that A 1 McCoy is matched to defend the middleweight title the crowd rolls over and goes to sleep.” Ritchie, ex-champion of the world in the light-weight class, and Lewis, formerly featherweight champion of England, met in New York, on December 2S, at catch-jveights, which meant that each man was at his real fighting weight, which is a shade over lOst. It was a fast and furious battle between two classy men, but according to reports there was only really one in it, and that one was Lewis who, after the third round, held a decided advantage. Referring to the contest the New York Sun says:—Fighting at their true weight and a poundage in which each was in possession of every faculty, Lewis and Ritchie almost outdid themselves. They were possessed of speed. Judgment and punishing ability, and they wasted not a second of the thirty minutes of actual trying to masquerade as light weights milling. Had the boxers being still and met at a lightweight poundage it is certain they would have been slowed rip, drawn, excitable and unable to do their best. But they were free from all restraint and worry, and a fight resulted equal to that of any seen in Now York for years. Lewis, with a style peculiarly his own and resembling somewhat that of “Tommy” Ryan, established himself as one of the leading welterweights of the world. He never left a doubt as to his mastery of Ritchie. He was fast, hit with both hands from any ami every position, and defended himself with body movements which reminded one of “Young" Griffo. Even going away Lewis seems able to land a blow of stinging force. He proved himself one of the best boxers in the ring in humbling Ritchie.