Boxing.

Southland Times, Issue 19508, 6 May 1922, Page 9

Boxing.

(By

“Straight Left.”)

At a recent meeting of the Otago Boxing Association it was decided to make the fol lowing recommendations to the New Zealand Boxing Council:—(l) That the promoting association for the North and South Island championship be authorised to appoint the referee and two judges. (2) That dies and design of a medal for the championships be prepared by the council, and the medals manufactured in the town where the championships take place, (31 That the winners of each class in the Nortb and South Island championships be selected to compete for the New Zealand champion ships, and in the event of any winner being unable to compete, the referee and jud ges of the respective island championship be empowered to select a substitute. The secretary of the Otago Boxing As eociation has been authorised to enter into negotiations for a professional contest between Bryan McCleary, of Christchurch (heavy-weight champion of the dominion! and Paul McQuarrie, of Bluff, (ex-cham-pion). A purse of £l5O and £l5 each for expenses were agreed upon by the Associs tion. In conversation with McQu&rri® 1 gathered that he is prepared to try the come back act and that he is confident of his ability to make at least a creditable lowing. It is some years now since McQuarrie was in the limelight at the top of the game, but he is a man who keeps himself perfectly fit and I should say that if it is possible for any man to regain his level after the years have passed, that man is McQuarrie. Pat Gleeson, the well-known New South Wales lightweight, has returned to the Dominion, and as his prowess was demonstrated on the occasion of his last visit to these shores he should experience no difficulty in securing matches. It is customary for boxing writers to make comparisons between present and former champions of the roped square, and not infrequently the holders of the various ring titles are subjected to much outspoken criticism. Jack Dempsey has had his boxing abilities discussed more than any other champion, and the following able opinion and comparison by Joe Vila, an American who is an excellent judge of fighting men, having seen them all in action from John L. Sullivan up to the present champion* is particularly interesting. He says:— “Jeffries, when he won the heavyweight title by knocking out Fitzsimmons in 11 rounds at Coney Island in 1899, looked like the greatest fighter of his weight and inchee that ever lived. As the champion, he proved his supremacy by whipping Sharkey on points and by stopping Fitzsimmons a second time, together with Corbett (twice) and Gue Ruhlin. “Dempsey would have had nothing on Jeffries in height, and would have been at least 251 b lighter. The present champion might have been a trifle faster and a bit more scientific, but, in point of strength and endurance, Jeffries probably would have been his superior.” In making a comparison with the present champion and another great old fistic warrior, Mr Vila states: —

“Fitzsimmons was a harder hitter than Jeffries, who excelled all pf the other Horton law heavyweights in that respect. I never have seen the Cornishman’s superior in punching, although Dempsey has been rated on a par with him by many veteran experts. In his battles with Carpentier, Brennan, Fulton, Willard, and others, Dempsey did not receive the punishment that Fitzrimmons was able to hand out, which leads me to believe that if Dempsey and Fitzsimmons had clashed the former would have been subjected to a real teat. In fact, one of Fitz’s powerful hooks to the jaw or painful body punches might have made Dempsey lose hia bearings with disastrous results.”

The above just and wise opinion of the expert veteran sporting scribe only goes to prove that Dempsey is a lucky champion indeed to reign during a period when there are no Jeffrieses, Fitzsimmonses, Sharkeys, or Ruhlins to give him the gruelling add test, which many of his predecessors were, obliged to go through in order to gain their title and hold it against all dangerous contenders. Dempsey may or may not be the greatest of them all; but how can we compare him to the past masters of his class? He has never met a first-class man in his prime. Surely neither Willard nor Carpentier was fit or at his best when the rugged champion battered them to the canvas. Willard was a big, ponderous, slow, untrained, awkward victim, who had gone stale after being out of the nng for some six years. Carpentier was also passe, and considerably nerve-wrecked from his strenuous war hardships and experiences. If Dempsey had stood the punishment and gruelling mills that most of the worthy past champions were obliged to endure, we might be better able to pass a more logical and practical judgment on his fighting ability, but how can we justly compare Dempsey with Jeffries, Fitzsimmons, „nd Sharkey without the real acid test’