BOXING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144086, 3 May 1913, Page 8

BOXING.

(By 1 “Upper Cut.”)

Notwithstanding the had luck experienced by the New Plymouth Boxing Association in tho severe weather conditions which prevailed at the time of the holding of the championship tournament last year, they camo out with a credit balance of £7 6s 6d, which, under the adverse circumstances'may be considered satisfactory. Tho meeting brought out some new members, so it is ti he hoped that boxing matters will receive a fresh impetus. The fact that the meeting was held during the absence of the Territorials in camp no doubt accounted for the somewhat sparse attendance, hut sufficient numbers wore piesent, and enough' enthusiasm shown to augur well for the future of boxing in the town. The American mails have contained full accounts of tho Wells-Smith fight. It would appear that the fight was lost hv tho English heavy-weight champion almost solely on account, of his own confidence, and that although beaten it was nob a victory obtained over him by superior skill on the part of his opponent, hut tlie result of a chance blow landing on a man who was not expecting it, after having completely outpointed his man in the first round. Such a beating should not detract from his reputation as.a boxer to any great extent, and it is-absurd to reckon him as another “onted” white hope. The following interesting account is from an-American source:— There was a tremendous gathering at Madison Square Garden . on Friday, Alarch 14, when tho English champion, Bombardier AVells, entered the ring tn show us hew much he had improved | physically. The man selected to try him out, Gunboat 'Smith, 'though not hitherto regarded as being among the first flight of White Hopes, has yet proved himself to be bn exceedingly awkward nut to crack. He has climbed slowly but steadily to a most respectable position through a series of 46 contests, no less than 30 of'which he has gained by the k.o. route. Gunboat lias not been given any vasf, amount of press boosting, but ho .has put more men to sleep at short notice (in one or two rounds) than - almost any" heavyweight who has over been' :'n tho business. He is as game' and as strong as they are made, and has a wallop in either hand which isn't far short of being a battering-ram in its effects. Someone ought to have put the Botpbardier wise to this, but if anyone did come along with the straight dope it must have got mislaid ou .the way. For AVells just walked up to his sudden and smashing defeat as though not expecting even a gentle pat of any description . That first round was his undoing. The English champion won it from gong to geng, and made Gunboat look like one of the veriest novices who ever got kidd ed into fancying himself a boxer. AVells found Smith’s face with a swift left drive almost as soon as Gunboat came face to face ..with him. Smith tried a rush, but the Bombardier sidestepped with the utmost ease, and, -walking or dancing around tho husky Westerner, proceeded to jab and jolt, his face as fast as tho beat of a watch almost. Smith swung round all sorts of ways. He tried persistently to heave some terrific swings over with either right or left hand, but AVells either dodged or blocked-these, and now and again varied his persistent face-pecking with a sharp body drive. Gunboat was all at sea, and appeared unable to make either head or tail of the situation. Ho was swinging like a gat© in a gale, and even when he absolutely flung himself

oil top of? Wells the Briton blocked him neatly ami checkmated' all his efforts. Smith only lauded a couple of puncher, in the entire round, and neither of these hurt to any extent. Gunboat ■ meant one of.them to hurt, but Wsllo broke most of its force before it arrived, while (he second delivery was more of a dab'than a punch. On the other hand, all Wells’ punches were carrying plenty of steam, and Smith was both bruised and bleeding when bo returned to his corner. The Bombardier* had exploited a wide variety of punches, I and had shown himself to be Gunboat’s j master at every rr.int of the game as■ far as that round had gone. j It looked dollars to dough-nuts on Wells when the gong sounded, and tho Bombardier beamed happily on all j around. His seconds looked as jubilant j as if tho world’s championship was already in their ,grasp, and 1 don’t suppose there were twenty people present who expected to see Smith last longer than another round or two at must. It was perfectly plain that Wells intended to settle- all tho ■ trouble right out of hand. He jumped up from nis seat at tho gong and advanced to meet Gunboat, looking as though ho. was the greatest thing the sun had yet beamed upon. It was a fatal ovor-confi'lcnoe, j. because although he let out at S-i i'U i, as the latter came tearing in on a do- ; or-die mission, Smith ducked under the ; jab, which just brushed his hair, ami | smashed a terric right to the body, i Wells was taken badly by surprise; He j wr.sn’t on his toes, : made iio attempt;!, to upper-cut or side-step, and so paid,! (he penalty. That punch practically won ; the contest, for Wells doubled up as - tho blow lauded, and was plainly badly hurt., ■ Ho managed to sway away, but it was more like a reel away than an in-, tontional side-step, and lie was too had ly hurt to get out of Smith’s next rush, which caught him on the totter. SmithI saw that lie had snatched a victory out of the, fire,' and lie is not the man to miss chances. A vicious loft hook to ) the head got homo, .and the Bombur- ] dior’sl head turned, round only to be | met by a hard right swing which con- j ; nected with tho jaw. : , Tho Bombardier went down in a heap,- ; looking.out to the world. He was clear-1 . ly half dazed, for ho rose at tho count i i of 5, hut could net lift.his arms. Smith, i who had been waved hack by the refe- i ree, charged in again, sending in a 1 shower of blows which caught .Wells on i the head, face and body. Gunboat was j i almost beside himself with excitement, j and was hitting wildly, but Wells ( wasn’t steady chough to get out of tho i way, and took at least half-a-dozen j punches before a terrific right swing camo c down on tho back of his neck and j brought him forward on to his face. . j The Bombardier was all out, .hut made s a terrific effort, and once more man- i aged to struggle up. Nine seconds had c gone, and his case was hopeless. He t stood swaying' like a tree in a wind, { and Gunboat had only to measure him I and put in a.right to tho jaw to send I his big opponent down like a log. This t time it was tho finisher. Wells was t counted out, and had to' be carried to s his corner by his seconds, fully ten min- j utes,elapsing before he could regained!- f sckmsness. It was tho most sensational j, and unexpected ending which could be -j imagined. g Wells had the fight in hand easily, 0 and has only himself to blame for his T defeat, which .was entirely duo to over- j confidence. i