BOXING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 248, 23 November 1914, Page 2

BOXING.

AT HOME AND ABROAD. Eager for a match witli any featherweight or light-weight in New Zealand is clever little "Billy" Elliott, who is now in Christchurch, after a long sojourn in Australia. Elliott declares that his eyesight is all right again, and lfes eyes certainly look well. When lie left New Zealand a few yeaijs ago, Elliott was a bantam-weight; now he is a "fedder." He has not had a fight for nine months, owing to the eyetrouble which attacked him in Australia, but his physical appearance indicates that he should be able to get into form again without any trouble. He is anxious to settle down in New Zealand and start a boxing school if lie can strike a suitable locality. the meantime, any association seeking to stage a feather-weight or light-weight bout will find liim very willing. ! THE '' NO DECISION'' 1 SYSTEM. \* >• In an article on boxing matters in California, published „in. Tiiis Sun nine days ago, this journal's boxing .critic pointed out, at some length, that "no decision" bouts have done much to lower the standard of boxing in the s jjnited States. ' .It so* happened that ; the American mail which arrived last : week brought confirmation of our >;< critic's opinion. : < ; '" There seems to be a general howl, , from the Atlantic to the Pacific, regard- ' ing the down-grade of the art of boxing,'' says Jack Skelly, one of the clev- ' crest boxers that ever doftned a glove. , "Twenty years ago we had many great I finished boxers in every class from the ;Ibantams to the heavies. They were decisive, clever, ring artists, who held the . Championships against but oh, how we've deteriorated. The <' no decision' system is one great cause of this, but there are many other logical ■ reasons also. ,;:f "Old Professor Mike Donovan, who the swells of the New York A.C. for. some thirty years after he retired from active ring battling, seldom attends the boxing shows .nowadays, except when his son, Young Mike, is booked for a bout. He laughs at the queer antics of the modern boxer, and f declares they are simply a joke. 'Why,' saitf the old master of the manly art recently, 'they don't know how to hit ! straight, feint, side-step, or even block a blow.' : "Jim Corbett, one of the grandest ■' boxers of his time,, is of ( the jwne opin : ion. He declares he has l&&tMrterest in tie game since the old clever bunch retired from the fistic arena. He has endeavoured to impart his knowledge of the science to many of the young fellows, but found it such a hard task that he finally threw up the sponge in disgust. ;•, >fjßob Fitjssimmons says the present j flay boxers are 'a bloomin' pack of boobs.' He's crazy to box half a dozen of the big fellows, just to show them Jbow little they know. But the Boxing Commission has refused agairuand again FitepermJißsiOT to don in a public contest, on account of his age, and the old fellow is up in,the air."

DOWN AND OUT. >A few years ago "Willie" an American, was one of the beijt middleweights in the ring. Now, at the age of 30, he is a He.Jtas tried to "come back," but has failed. For some time past Lewis had been in Paris. When the war started he had invested all his money in a fine gymnasium in Paris. The outbreak of the -war ruined his business, and a few weeks ago he managed to get. out of .France, for America. "I'm going to Ight again in New York," he declared. "I had a number of twent.y-round fights in ! Paris, and this ten-round game will be easy for me. I'll take oli the best middle-weights. After leaving everything tied up in Paris I need the money." - ■ But- Lewis reckoned without '' the •ther. fellow," and now ' he must be 4 4 out'' as far as-matches are eoncerired. Here is the tale of his undoing in a recent contest in .New York —the tale is told byj Sam C. jAusten: — "If Al McCoy*/ the self-accused middle-weight champion, can extract any prestige for his victory over 'Willie' Lewis the other night, he should be permitted to enjoy it to the fullest extent. Time was—but what's the use!, "'Reckoned by years, 'Willie' Lewis is not an old man, but he lids been fighting for a long time, and a decade ago had passed the period of eligibility for stellar ring • honours. It was fourteen years ago that the then rosy-cheeked hid from the gas-house district won- his first fight, beating 'Jack' Coster in ten rounds. Since that day in 1900 'Willie' has fought hundreds of battles and, particularly on account of his always being a 'good fellow' and free aud easy in his habits, it is a wonder '.Willie' has lasted as long as he has. ,He went abroad, started the Jjoxing boom in France, where the sport was -tabooed, lived the easy life of a Parisian and became softened and effeminated by his long adherence to the butterfly existence in Paris. I recall' Willie's'' last appearance in New York back in 1912 February 12, 1912, to be exact —when 'Mike' Gibbons stowed him away in two rounds. It was hardly, to be expected that 'Willie' would improve in the two succeeding yearf, and consequently the fight fans who remembered what 'Mike' Gibbons did to 'Willie' two years ago, didn't expect him to cut many capers in front of a rugged, strong, if not clever, youngster, with a hibernating kick in each of his two mitts.

"Lewis looked the part; a fat, poor-ly-trained veteran of the, ritfgy one who lad left his punch and stamina back in the years agone, and only; had his shrewd fighting head andJlion's heart to keep him going. He. was thpre, however, as long as abused Nature rallied to bis aid, without a whimper, seeking *0 quarter and fighting desperately to the end. 'Willie' was not,stopped until after being floored once in the fourth iround and thriee beaten to the boards in the last 'chukker.' The veteran gave all that was in him, used every trick and strategy his long ring experience had taught him—but youth had to tee served. There is no .rifteal of • going into the harrowing details. Suffice it to #ay that early in the fifth McCoy swung

a left, and right to the jaw and sent 'Willie' toppling to the canvas. The veteran took a count of nine and tottered to his feet, only to be sent crashing to the boards for another count. Once more he gamely rose. McCoy measured him carefully, aud hooked a terrific 'one-two' left and right to the jaw. Lewis sank to the canvas. There was no need of a count. He was completely out."

SAYLOR DRAWS WITH MOY,

Milburn Savior, the hard-hitting American light-weight, who created a considerable stir in Australia until '' Fred'' ' Kay checked his 'career of conquest, made his reappearance in the American ring on October 15, when he met "Eddie" Moy in a 20-rounds bout in San Francisco. Moy is a Philadelphia light-weight, who has lately beeu tackling the Californian light-weights with indifferent success. Saylor does not seem to have fought as well as he did in Australia,„ for the "San Francisco Examiner" thus reports his contest with Moy:—

" 'Jim' Griffin, who refereed the Say-lor-Moy bout, called it a draw. Griffin's decision was absolutely correct. As far as boxing is concerned, Moy had the better of the bout, but the cleverness of the Pliiladelphian was offset by the fore# of Saylor's swinging blows, which carried a lot of force with them.

"Saylor's boxing consists entirely of swinging. There is plenty of force in his blows, whether they ; come from the left oi- the right side, but Itis idea of direction is none too good. The gallery enjoyed many a laugh when his blows swung harmlessly over the head of his opponent. As a championship possibility, Saylor is a joke. Outside of his swings he has nothing. There is no question about the force and punishing power of his one pet blow, but when a boy like 'Eddie' Moy can duck under it and come smiling, experienced ringsiders have to laugh when they think how slim Saylor's chances would bo to land such a blow on boxers of the calibre of Welsh, McFarla'nd, Ritchie, and White.

"Saylor started last night like a champion. In the first round he landed all the clean blows, and his. cleverness in getting away from Moy's punches gave the impression that he had an easy task in hand. Moy, however, sized nip his opponent tactics, and in the second round he made Saylor look silly by getting .out' of range of the Indiana boy 's' swings, and he pressed home his-v-adyatitage'.'-'Vpitii right.swings to the body, wliith made. Say lor wince. "In the next three rounds Saylor was the aggressor, but most of his leads missed. Occasionally one of his round house blows would land, and the impact of his glove on* .Moy 's body brought exclamations "from the ringsiders. Moy, however, showed no signs of being hurt. As the fight advanced, Moy got in many good counters, and was particularly clever in taking advantage of • the openings left by Saylor when he missed with his swinging blows.

'' In the thirteenth round Moy acted as if he had solved the Saylor defence. He stepped inside of Milburn's swings, and at close range gave his opponent a severe body beating. In the two founds that followed, Moy did great work. Saylor's swing went around Moy's neck, and Moy did not fail on each occasion to land a punishing right to the body. i '' In the sixteenth round Saylor started with a rush, and had Moy backed against the ropes with right and left swings, but Eddie : came ; back in strong fashion, and when the gong Sounded the end of the round he had his man in the corner #ud .was belabouring with both hands. "The seventeenth and eighteenth were, tame, but in the nineteenth Moy, coached by his seconds to make an aggressive fight, forced Saylor around the ring and punished the Indianan severely. The round would have been a good one for Moy but for the fact that, in the midst of a rally, Saylor, swung a right that hurt Moy and forced him to back across the ring. When- they came together for the twentieth round the men seemed to" realise that they had to make an extra showing to win, and they fought hammer-and-tongs throughout the three-minute spell. "There was no advantage, however, and when Referee Jim Griffin raised the hand of the two boxers, indicating a draw, the crowd in the arena was Well satisfied. It Was the only decision that.could have been given "