THE SPORT OF BOXING

Taranaki Daily News, 31 July 1931, Page 4

THE SPORT OF BOXING

FEATHER-WEIGHT’S LADY BACKER POOR HEAVY-WEIGHT PROSPECTS. (By Eugene Corri.—Special to News.) London, June 4. How surely Al Brown has become a vogue was demonstrated at the Albeit Half last Monday night, wlien Mr. Jeff Dickson resumed his operations. A lady present at the ringside, the wife of a Spanish amateur boxer, had the announcement made that she was prepared to back the Panama negro for £lOOO to fight Nel Tarleton, who a few moments before had defeated Douglas Parker. I have every reason to suppose that such a challenge was made in every seriousness, but whether the Liverpool featherweight will accept, in the sense of being able to table such a large stake, is quite another matter. May be that Jeff Dickson, who thinks ever so highly of Tarleton, is willing, and perhaps eager, to cover the proffered bet. Of this I am certain.

Al JJrowp, provided that he beats Johnny Cuthbert at Olympia on Monday week, will offer no objections to a match with Tarleton, which, if fought on a percentage basis, would add considerably to his bank rool. I would suggest that Tarleton makes known his ideas. Meantime, he has himself made me doubtful whether he would have more than outside chance of beating Brown. I was not too greatly impressed by his exposition against Parker. He began at such an amazingly fast rate, and generally showed such cleverness, that it seemed as though he would outclass his man completely, but, as he did when he fought Jack Garland, he tired after four rounds. He did not seem thoroughly tuned up. At least he was unable to maintain the pace which he himself set. If I were more certain of Tarleton’s stamina, I should be tempted to predict that in the very near future he would attain championship rank, for he has style in abundance, courage without limit, and can be as engaging as any fighter before the public. I hope the fear which he spread that he, has gone back will not be justified. And now abbout Len Harvey. It is ancient history that he had Rene Devos down and out in less than a round, but it would be wrong for those who were not present at the Albert Hall to suppose that there was high merit in his swift victory or definite proof that he is as good as he was before he went to America. The fact is that Devos was poor in the extreme. It was impossible to imagine that there was a time when the Belgian was considered to be the nearest approach to Mickey Walker. Gone were his old fire and? confidence. It was as though Devos had become suddenly and impossibly old, and that he would have been well advised had he not returned to the ring. I will grant that Harvey, with the sound of the first bell, jumped in to fight with every purpose, and in a way unlike his usual cautious self, but it would have been thought that a man with experience so vast as Devos would have met him with some sort of defence. NOT THE OLD DEVOS. Devos seemed to be no more than halfhearted, and he was put on the floor in almost record time with a blow under which the old Devos would not have even wilted. When he rose Harvey rushed him near the ropes, and hooked him in the neighbourhood of the ribs, and Devos sank to the floor, there to remain to be counted out. We were all amazed, the more so when he got up immediately after the 10th second had. been called, and, so far as appearances indicated, did not seem to be more than a little the worse for the blow. I am given to understand that Devos claimed that he was hit unpardonably low, and at a moment when Harvey was holding him with his right' hand. I am bound to say that Harvey was holding, hilt the blow was a perfectly good one and one to which the most fastidious referee could take no exception. Dan Sullivan, Harvey’s manager, professed to be elated with the readiness and completeness of the victory, and it was whispered that he was willing , to back him for £lOOO against any middleweight. Upon reflection Sullivan, I am sure, will confess that the opposition represented by Devos wqs especially .weak, and was no test of the possibilities of our champion. If present plans are adhered to, Harvey will fight Jack Hood, who turned up to challenge the winnei, some time this month, and I dare say that, if Harvey’s pugilistic father is then speculatively inclined, Jack Hood and his supporters would not- be averse to a substantial side bet. There is this that promises well for Harvey’s future. He has got himself into splendid physical shape, and appears to be none the worse for his sorry experiences in the States. And we m ay take it that he has not the least doubt that he will again beat Hood.. This should be a capital match, and will perhaps draw a gate so handsome as to compensate Jeff Dickson for more th an one financial disappointment he has suffered since he set himself up as. a promoter—and a most desirable one, be it added —in ILondon. STILL CONFIDENT. Dickson remains a tremendous, optimist. Far from having lost faith, in London, he is contemplating launching out on a larger scale than ever. I have a shrewd idea that ho will not be content until he has a hall of his own m London, where he will be free to run weekly shows, as he does with much success at the Salle Wagram, Paris, in which city, by the way, he is to exploit sport in many of its phases at we Velodrome d’Hiver, which has been taken over by a syndicate which he has formed, and of which he is the. head. It was at the Velodrome d’Hiver that I saw Jack Johnson defend the world’s championship against Prank Moran on the eve of the Grand Prix in 1914. Foi many years it has been the home of indoor sport in France. Few short of 20,000 people can be accommodated there, and it is Dickson’s intention, when he opens it in a remodelled form early next October, to stage two world’s championships—Emile Pladner and Brown for the bantam title, and Frankie Genaro and the accredited best of the French fly-weights. If Jackie Brown, of Manchester, had been more venturesome he would perhaps have been tlie selected opponent for Genaro, and lie might have beaten him, for the little Italian-Amer-ican is nothincr like he was a couple of years ago. As for Pladner, I consider him to be a very fortunate young man to have the privilege of trying for the bantam championship. According to my rating of him, he is not so good as the best Bst 61b man we have. WANTS POLISHING. 1 saw Dom Volante beat the young Welshman, Selwyn Davies, at the Albert Hall- He was too strong for the youngster, but Davies did more than passably well. He promises to do better. But I regret that I cannot see Cyril Woods, the 6ft 7in young man, of Plymouth, making his mark. . His boxing knowledge is elementary in the extreme. It is necessary that he should undergo a rigorous course of training beA«rja aitimnitiM to make good as a

heavy-weight. It was perhaps trying him too highly to. put him up against Moise Bouquillon, a. Frenchman. At all events, he was unable to last a full round. Bouquillon has the distinction of having gone ten rounds against Camera, but that was before the Italian had shown himself in London, and must have been about as green as they make them. Bouquillon is a big fellow, hut much of a slow coach —so slow that Woods should have seen the swinging blow, which put him out, coming long before it reached his jaw. After seeing these young men, I despair more than ever of seeing a heavy-weight fight really worth the while. Perhaps we shall take heart next Saturday at Leicester, when Scott is to re-appear in an affair against Larry Gains. Perhaps not. I have lost faith' in Scott, and can it be wondered after his feeble display against Stribling last summer? The most that I hope for is that Scott will make good his assurance that he is feeling in fine fettle, and will justify his belief that the time has not yet arrived when he should retire. We, of London, however, will go to Leicester in large numbers, and, given favourable weather, I have not the least doubt that the fight will attract an enormous crowd. Meantime, there is an ever increasing demand for the fight at Olympia on the 15th between Johnny Cuthbert and Al Brown. There is every indication -that the attendance will be larger than that at the recent contest between "the black shadow” and Teddy Baldock. , JlJffl-ty-e-J v