BOXING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8244, 17 February 1905, Page 1

BOXING.

NOTES. (By C^ESTUS.) , " Snowy " Sturgeon has again tasted the bitterness of defeat. 'Once so feared by his fellow pugs that for many months he was quite unable to secure a match, and was left to pine in solitary state- at the > top of the tree in the middle-weight division, he is now considered a good mark for second ahd third raters:* In his prime Sturgeon was a clever and an aggressive boxer, and though none too popular, his merits were freely admitted. A troublesome ailment and easy living sapped his vitality, and while still a young man lie is unquestionably a back number. Quite recently Sydney papers reported that he was, as .regards ' health and^ condition, the bid rugged "*" t Snowy," 1 fit to " fight for a kingdom," said ojffe. Yet he has been defeated on points by Quigley. The contest took place at the National Sporting Club, Sydney, on January 28, and went the full twenty rounds. A light- weight who has come into prominence lately is Lewis, of New York. Recently he scored a clean-cut win over the clever Martin Canole, and American writers now regard him as in a direct line for championship honours. Bob Fitzsimmons was a proud man on December 26, on which he received a letter from .President Roosevelt written from the White House, and marked '.* Personal." The ex-champion presented the President with a silver horseshoe on a highly-polished hoof, the whole mounted on a silver stand. In acknowledging- the gift the President extended aii invitation to Fitzsimmons to visit him at the White House. Hence the ex-New Zealander feels happy. '"■:'• A band of "purifiers" recently started out in an American town with tne intention of endeavouring to induce the authorities to stop the boxing contests that were in vogue there. The sporting men of j;he community got on to the "purifiers" very badly by threatening to throw "a searchlight on to some of their scandalous doings." As most of them (remarks a contemporary) had been at somo time mixed up in "shadowy affairs," the threat scared them, and the. proposed purifying crusade came to a sudden end. The Cambridge A.C., of Boston, Mass., on November 14 held two bouts that are probably unparalleled in the history of the ring. The contestants were L. Connelly and F. Bryson. Both men won. Connelly by a knockout in one round, and Bryson by a decision in ten rounds. But fifteen minutes elapsed between the two contests. In the first bout, after a minute of boxing, Connelly hooked Bryson on the jaw and he went to the mat. He was not out, but merely took the count, which he misjudged. Connelly was declared the winner, and the crowd, disgusted, began to file out. Then the contestants, realising the disappointment of the crowd, agreed to box another bout, the first going to Connelly's credit. They boxed the entire ten rounds at a furious pace, Bryson getting the decision. When boxing flourished in this State (says the New York " Sun ") the profits of the clubs were enormous. Two or three big encounters placed one of these clubs on a sqlid financial footing. It was nothing uncommon for one of these institutions to make from 20 OOOdol to 30,000d0l on one battle alone. And these contests were held with considerable frequency, and invariably drew a packed house. Most of these clubs were controlled by politicians who made a monopoly of. the business. Tom Sharkey said recently that out of five matches, covering a period of a little over two years, m which he was one of the principals, he divided with his manager a net profit of something like lOO.OOOdoI. or an average of 20,000d0l for each scrap. /' •• ■

From this one can easily glean just how much the clubs made. The second contest between Williams, champion of South Africa, and Palmer, of England, took place at Johannesburg on Saturday, December 24. Williams recently visited Australia, but remained in the "West, where he twice defeated Doherty 7 Although he was offered a match with Cripps, whom he had twice met in South Africa, Williams refused to visit the Eastern States, and Sydney papers did riot hesitate to say that Cripps has scared him out of Australia. This, naturally enough, Williams strenuously denied. The contest with Palmer was a sorry affair, as. will be seen from the following extract from the Rand "Daily Mail" of December 27:— When Palmer was defeated by Williams some few months ago the pair had fought very fairly, but on Saturday night the reverse was the case, and such a disgraceful exhibition of boxing ..as sel--dom, if ever, been seen on the Rand. From the time the gong sounded for the commencement of tbe figlit until Williams was disqualified in the sevc enth round the pair simply hugged and fouled each other, and,, instead of hitting, their endeavours seemed to be confined to throwing one another through the ropes. Each earned disqualification two or three times in every round, and though the blow for which "Williams was' disqualified was certainly a foul one, the referee was as as much to blame as Williams.