AUSTRALIAN BOXING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 561, 26 November 1915, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN BOXING.

DEMLEN BEATS SIMPSON. Very little boxing of any importance | occurred in Australia in the week pre- | ceding the departure oi ! the last mail to hand. The principal match was that l in Sydney between Henri Demlen, the Belgian welter-to-iniddle-weight, and Nichol Simpson, an .English middleweight. Demlen won on points. The bout is thus described by "Solarrievus," in the Sydney ".'Referee": — ''Nichol Simpson's showing on Saturday night revealed that he is leagues behind his true form, or that the secondrate middle-weights of England and America, with whom, we are informed, he has more than held his own, are of a very interior boxing brand. It is no pleasure to say such a thing about so good a fellow, but his boxing against Henri Demlen, the Belgian middleweight, was slow and unscientiiic enough to warrant his defeat in a /middleweight division of a novice tourney. Of fOiir-ie, I do not overlook the fact that in Deinieu he was meeting an awkward customer, oiie whose peculiar and clever style might baulk most men for n while. But as the contest progressed the. Belgian's score increased, until lie ran out an easy winner. Even the power of punch that the Englishman, by his defeat of Tic Howe, made a show of possessing, was not there, for in the few instances of his scoring, especially with his right to the side "of the head and jaw, they had such little effect that his opponent left the ring without a mark to show he had been through a 20 rounds' contest. Their weights were announced: Simpson list oslb, Demlen l(»st 121b. . . Nothing exciting occurred in any of the 20 rounds bosed, for, if Demlen was not plying his left straight, hooked, or swinging, with an occasional right -to the head, lie was easily defending himself -from Nichol's erode attempts to score." , A Sensational Finish, There was h. sensational finish to the, contest in Melbourne between Bill Carrie (list .".lb) and Sid Francis (10st; 1] Alb) for the Victorian "middle-weight championship at the Melbourne Stadium. .Frauds punished" Carrie severely in the first two rounds, but in the succeeding round Carrie showed' better i form, and both men.fought vigorously, Francis scoring with heavy swings to the face and body. In the seventh round Francis sent Carrie down for Psec with a right swing to the jaw. Carrie rose, only to go down again for Osec, but managed to see the.round out. In the next round he came up 'remarkably, fresh, and, lighting with unexpected vigour, swung a right to Francis's jaw, which sent him to the boards. Francis struck his head badly, and was taken from the ring in convulsions to the Melbourne Hospital, ; where he was found to.be suffering from concussion. Later it was stated at the hospital that Francis was not seriously injured, and was expected to recover. G-eikie Beats Stanley.

Tommy Uren, the skilful Sydu'oyside.r who recently won and lost the lightweight championship of Australia, was to have fought Frank Thorn, in Brisbane. But a dispute over weight conditions caused Uren to pull out, about 24 hours before the time set for the bout. George Taylor, the clever 'featherweight who knocked out Jimmy Hill, was: immediately substituted for TJren, but that night he developed 'influenza, and a fresh-.match had to-be arranged in a hurry. Then Wave Geikie and Jack•'Stanley, two promiuent Queensland feather-weights, were ;hitched up, and, though neither was in the best; of condition, *as was only to be expected* iii the circumstances, they provided a fast bout until, in the seventh round] Geikie knocked out his opponent. A Comedy Bout.

Really the most interesting boxing event of that particular week in Australia seems to have been a preliminary bout in Sydney, in which Harry Marquet, formerly of Christehurch, was one of the principals. This is how the "Referee" tells the story of it:— "Is reality stranger than fiction?' If any doubt existed in the minds of spectators at the Stadium it was dispelled on Saturday night, after witnessing the second preliminary, in which Marry Marquet, the handsome young New Zealand Hercules, and Tom O'Malley, the North Queensland comedian, were principles. If Charley Chaplin had been •substituted for Mr Fred. Baker, with the kinema man on the job, the funniest moving picture on record would now be in the possession of one of our enterprising film firms. 'Kuock-out O'Brien' was a tragedy in comparison. "The fun began at the word 'Go,' when Marquet, with a confident smile, meandered from his angle, to annihilate his comparatively small, but most determined, opponent. O'Malley, however, Avas there for a similar purpose, judging by his gyroscopic gesticulations. But the only damage he inflicted on the big fellow was when, in tho third round, he did his billy-goat act and butted Marquet over the left eye, inflicting a deep cut. The latter smiled all the more, but could not hide behind it his auger ■■ at such a liberty, for he immediately proceeded to 'swat that fly.' He chased the little fellow round and round the ring, and heeded not the intervening gong as he was about to chop down from aloft his mighty right to the back of the huddled-up O'Malley, who was seen in the attitude of prayer instead of being in the hands of his seconds. Seriously, that was a foul, but Mr Fred Baker's keen sense of humour did not permit him to interfere, and for not doing so lie earned the thanks of all, who thoroughly enjoyed the subsequent fun. As the battle progressed it became funnier than over. At times they provided an excellent imitation of the mother inflicting corporal punishment, on the' unruly son —O'Malley, as the son, being perfection in the matter of attitude. More than once O 'Malley ducked so low as he swayed from side to side, that if it had been in the days when canvas did not cover the flooring boards of the ring ho would have run the risk of getting a splinter or two in his nose.

"Marqnet, mean while, with right uplifted, preparatory to striking that ily, oftener succeeded in pounding the linoleum-covered boards instead. On other occasions O'Malley, if not successful in hTuding his right on the damaged optic, never failed to rub the spot affectionately with the palm of his upholstered mit. The little fellow, while in a close embrace, happened to unpack a kind of left hook to the nose and tried to follow up with quite a new loop the loop, which, however, struck his own jaw, and, to even matters, Marquet 's long left -struck him on the other side, much to the amusement of everyone but O'Malley. -Then, as a fitting finale to this screaming comedy, Mr Fred Baker, looking .as - serious as a judge, and striking a tragic-comical attitude, with arms.uplifted, declared in favour of a draw. Good old Fred. Did he so decide with the object, of bringing the pair again together? If so, we are

with him to a man, for it was certainly worth watching. That the pair en-, joyed the bout -was clear by the irierry smile on Marquet% face, -ftml the -more serious one on. that of the smaller and; more agile man." '