BOXING.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1926, Page 5

BOXING.

FIGHT DECLARED OFF. By Telegraph—l'ieus Assn.—Copyright. Received Nov. 28, 5.5 p.m. Sydney, Nov. 28. At the Stadium, alter four rounds the Eght beiv.een Jim Williams and Tiger Payne was stopped and declared off owing to Williams receiving severe injuries to his ribs. The contest ended amid great excitement, partisans of the two men angrily disputing over the referee's decision. SIDELIGHTS OF THE RING. N.Z. NEWS AND NOTES. 1 To-night at Auckland. Alec. Musson, a featherweight wl:o has just been granted an official O.K. for professional figfits, is ret down to cross gloves with the southerner, H. Leckie. Dick Meale will officiate at Hamilton to-night z (Monday), in the meeting between Salvino Jami’to and the local boy, Nelson McKnight. The northerners anticipate a good mill and will be there in strong force to cheer their man —and the ever-popular Filipino will, no doubt, have his share of supporters. Both are in the pink. On Thursday night, December 2, Bert McCarthy will have something to do to foot it with will-o’-the-wisp Purdy. The Aucklander is in grand order and the Victorian will have to do something snappy in the punch-placing line to have the necessary margin of points when the referee indicates his choice. The Capital City is the location. Grcymoutli will give a local lad in Dick Pascoe something to do on Saturday week. The ex-amateur champion will have as an opponent Tommy Armstrong, of Christ church. Uhiless Armstrong has improved vastly since the writer last saw him in action he will have some difficulty in surviving the short-arm stuff at which the Coaster excels. Dick Elmour and Harry Casey are in the boom, and their meeting at Tauinarunui on December 13 marks the third occasion in a month on which they have strutted the same canvas. The Wanganui Association has something first-class tc» offer its patrons on December 13. Purdy and Trowern provide the exchanges. Exactly a fortnight later Purdy and Trowern will renew hostilities in the Palmerston North ‘’stoush” parlour. Duke Maddox and Roy Overend are in line for a donnybrook at Hastings (date indefinite). At their last meeting Maddox won by a technical k.o. in six rounds. The Wairoa Association is seeking an opponent for the local pride and heavyweight amateur champion, £ Tx)fty” Lewis. The ex-lilywhit© is a veritable “streak,” and the northern body will have some difficulty in finding a suitable opponent. Having completed his residential qualifications, Harry Casey is after Chief Welterweight Hay’s scalp. The Millerton Association is angling for this pair, and the West Coast township has some live wires who would make light of staging even a title affair. •Mark Carroll, with height, weight and reach advantages, caught the referee’s eye in his bout with Roy Overend at Levin. Despite these obstacles the smaller man offered stout resistance, and at the conclusion of the final round (the tenth) had his opponent in a weary state and almost set for a balance-destroying punch. Another quartette of little men will provide the sport at Auckland to-night. The programme arranged is similar to the last professional tourney, when four Dominion undersized pugs were paired to do battle over ten rounds. The bouts are: Musson (Hastings) v. Leckie (Otago), and Harry Gunn (another southerner) v. Roy Overend (Hastings). Looks like a brace of victories for the south. Victorian Bert McCarthy obliged with a neat display of shadow-sparring and skipping last week at the Levin Association's fight. BRIEFS FROM ABROAD. If Fidel la Barba carries out his intention to retire from the ring in a few months’ time, there is one fighter in the universe who should most worthily fill the little man’s shoes. That man is Elky Clark, the Scottish flyweight who holds the European title, and whose boxfight methods have, during the past couple of years, proved destructive to the several opponents placed in the ring with him. The dynamic, diminutive Scot is considered by critics in a position to know, to be good enough to place in opposition to the world's title-holder (la Barba) at any time. With la Barba out of the way the chances of Clark annexing the crown would be even less difficult, so at no very distant (Lite England may again be in a position (o boast a world’s champion—a rara avis in the Old Country thUse days. Solly Seaman, New York welterweight, provided a meal for Maorilandcr Les Murray over ten rounds recently. Les must have slugged to some purpose, as he is credited with a comfortable margin of points. Jack Dillon, Australian middleweight, has returned to Sydney from a tour encompassing America, Canada, the Continent and England. He claims 22 wins out of 24 starts, but unless the writer’s memory is playing tricks the Wallaby artist lias mislaid a loss or two. He is camping on the trail of Billy Edwards, S nny Jim Williams and Co.—looking for real trouble, in fact.

Gordon Kiely, who appears likely to develop into the best of his weight in Australia, was decidedly unlucky in his fight with the Gaul caveman, Yvan Llaffineur. After giving the Frenchman a feast of left leads and some pretty right-hand play to the body, with an excellent demonstration of how to make a fellow-biffsmith look ridiculous and novicelike. Kiely stepped in the way of one picked up from the. region of the canvas—one of the wildest haymakers seen in the Sydney ring—and was inimediatclv reduced to a state collapse. His ’‘inability to carry on gave the Frenchman a very flukey win. KNOWLEDGE OF The greatest asset a man ean have is knowledge of himself. Billy Grime has this knowledge of his own capabilities to a marked extent, lie knows to a fraction if he is in the position to land a punch or avoid one. He knows what he can take and what he can give. That was why he proved his superiority over Joe Hall, the New \ oi k negro, in a 20-round contest at the Melbourne Stadium. For the most part the match was on the academic side, but none the less interesting because of that. In four rounds, however, from the 13tli to the 16th. the boxers indulged in toe-to-toe fighting, and the crowd were roused to enthusiasm. At the end of 20 rounds Grime had a nice lead on

points. He had proved himself to ly the master boxer, and rightly was crowned the winner. Some members of the crowd did not like the speedy footwork, the clever ducking and blocking, and expressed their disapproval. They wanted blood and thunder, and were annoyed that they did not get it. Two sluggers would have suited their mood better than two speedy scientists. DEMPSEY AND TILDEN. The sportsmen of America have had a couple of shocks in the defeat of "Big Bill” Tilden and Jack Dempsey. Only the first-named has been seen in action (seriously) in this country, and then he was not at his best, my American friends tell me, says an English writer. Both men are typical Americans, supremely confident and very capable. Tilden was always very approachable when over here. I saw him annoyed twice. On the first occasion he was going on to court at Eastbourne. He had an arfmul of rackets, in his nisengaged hand. As he was stepping over the canvas a woman rushed forward and thrust an autograph book under his nose. Tilden got a terrible look when he said he could not "oblige” at the moment. The second occasion on which I saw a frown of annoyance pass across his genial face was in the never-to-be-forgotten final against “Baby” Norton at the old Wimbledon when very rightly he was dropping the ball short and someone in the crowd called upon him to "play the game.” One cannot help feeling sorrv for both men in their hour of defeat. GENERAL. Jack Dempsey, late heavyweight I champion of the world, had much vitriabuse hurled at him because he would not fight for his title, but some of the old-time champions had fewer Tights to their credit than Dempsey had. John Jackson, who was champion from 1788 to 1795, only had three fights. During the seven years he held the title Dempsey averaged about a fight a year. This is the opinion of Artie Schinner, the American boxing critic, of Gene Tunney. "Tunncy, in a mechanical way may not rank with the slugging champions of the past like Jeffries. Fitzsimmons, Dempsey, but when it comes to cool, scientific boxing, brainy battling, he is the greatest we have had since Corbett, and he rates as the fastest big man since the days of the famous ’Pompadour Jim.’ ” NEEDED STITCHES. After giving “Sunny Jim” Williams his toughest light in Australia, George Thompson (12.3) heavyweight champion of Australia, was compelled to surrender at the end of the *?'th round at the Stadium recently, owing to his eyes being atieetcd through cuts received through Williams bumping with his head. There was only half a pound difference in the weights, Williams be-

ing the lighter. At the conclusion o! the bout, the medical officer of Stadiums, Ltd., inserted four stitches in Thompson’s wounds. ’The two fought in Melbourne in February, when Thompson won on points. The making uf this maten was justified, ats from the beginning to the end of it, the battling was fierce. Williams got into his stride in the eighth round, ami had slightly the better of things to the tweiftU, which was a startling round. Both fought fiercely. Thompson was at a great disadvantage owing to his eyes closing. However, he mixed matters with the American, and it was hard battling. The Australian scored a terrific right to the jaw, and spun Williams half round. The latter, however, attacked fiercely and at the bell was forcing the light. There was a great rally at the beginning of J3th tenni, both men standing up and punching for all they were worth. At the beginning of the fifteenth Wiliams crowded Thompson and hit from all directions, but. towards the end of the term Thompson rallied. The 19th term was bad for Thompson, who could hardly *jee owing to hits eyes being cut and bleeding, Williams hit him where ami whenever he pleased. At the end of the term ’Thompson spoke of his disadvantage, but fought another round, at the end of which he was compelled to acknow* ledge defeat. IIEAV Y PUNISHMENT.

It is practically certain that two white boxers could not have so long sustained the speed and fury al which Gavino De Leon and Joe Esler fought at the Sydney Stadium. Patrons *aw these little brown men assimilate, in almost every round following the fourth, {uinishineiit that aeempd beyond human endurance, but they were there at the -.nish, tired fighters ind?ed, trying to put over a punch that would mean victory to the one lucky enough to land. De Ijcoii seemed impervious to pain, md, displaying more stamina than his adversary, did much better towarded the end. He also won mo.*-t of the first ten rounds, su wa> well ahead when the nal bell clanged, and he won a very popular decision.