BOXING

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17410, 12 December 1924, Page 4

BOXING

In a recent issue I. mentioned that a rumour was current in Christchurch, that the local centre had suspended a gentleman well known in connection with the sport for having attended a meeting which was called to consider the position of amateur boxing. The Auckland “ Star '’ writer of boxing notes in referring to the matter re* marks: “If it be true, it shows a spirit of intolerance which cannot go unremarked. Besides being ridiculously petty, it is the kind of ill-considered action that willyonce serve towards the breeding of a spirit, of antagonism hctaet. and a. readiness to see the other fellow's viewpoint were most needed.” The rumour turned out to be correct, and the case was referred to the New Zealand Council, which appears to have considered and rightly—that it had no jurisdiction in the matter, and decided to express to the Canterbury Centre the council’s appreciation of the interest it was taking in boxing, and to thank the centre for the information it had supplied. Polite, but a snub all the same. It is said that one gentleman, who is- an active supporter of amateurism. was requested to attend the meeting of the centre, and on ascertaining the business of the meeting, demanded an apology. 'Hie centre is now alive to the fact that it blundered badly, but the damage has been done. T mentioned in my original paragraph what the probable effect of the centre’s action in one person of quite a number would be, and the probability has become a reality. The members of the centre are very estimable gentlemen, hut inex* perienced in sport government, and, I am afraid, inclined to he autocratic. At a recent meeting of the council of the Xew Zealand Boxing .Association. one of its most prominent members is reported as having stated that “he believed that the future of New Zealand boxing rested upon encouraging amateurs to become professionals.” The members are entitled to their own opinions, but surely this is a most rc markable statement from one who is a member of what is regarded as an amateur institution, And equally remarkable is the fact that the other members appear to have agreed with it. as the report makes no mention of disagreement . A member of the Sydney “ Referee’* •.tuff on returning after a vis*!, to New Zealand, says there are no really good lighters in the Dominion. New Zealand has probably slipped more than any other country in this direction, when it is considered that it gave the game two world’s champions in Bob Fitzsimmons and Billy Murphy, and a near-champion in Dan Creedon. Many other good fighters have come out of the Island Dominion, including Otto C’ribb and -lini and Charlie Griffin. Ex-amateur champion Charlie Purdoy, who has just turned professional, may prove one out of the ordinary.

NOTES AND COMMENTS BY

“ CESTUS.”

At the present, moment (says the Sydney “Referee”) there seems to be too much backing and filling by titleholders in Australia. Every day there is growing evidence forthcoming for the urgent need of an Athletic Commission which would govern boxing all over the Commonwealth. The Germans are getting something hack for the licking they received in the war. The cable informs us that at Berlin on December 6, in an eightround contest, Bosemann outpointed Townlev. and in a ten-round bout Brvitenstrneter out-pointed Goddard. Domgoergen and Bloomfield drew. Instead of “ Hock der Kaiser.” as jt used to be in pre-war days, it is now “Hook der Britisher ” —on the jaw. A New York .cable message to the Sydney “ Sun ” states that the manager of a contestant who had lost in an elimination contest tor Johnny Dun-, dee’s vacant feather-weight title, became enraged at the decision*. punched one judge on the jaw, chased Tex Pickard down the aisle, threw a bucket of water over a policeman who tried to arrest him . The Boxing Committee 'held a special-meeting, and ruled the manager off- for life. Saw Euis Angel Firpo the other day in the suit of the type- known as Kollege Kilt Klothes. or something of the. sort ''says a New York writer). He seemed to look a bit soft and verging, on what the boys would call well groomed. Also lie was a trifle sad. He was quite a different picture from the hairy creature, plastered with mud. that I saw in a ring at Ebbets Field a. few years ago. That Firpo looked like London's “ abyssmal brute.” The Firpo of to-day looks less like* a fighter. He should have stuck to that celluloid collar. I cannot see where our North ' American civilisation has done very 1 much for Luis Angel Firpo. The council of the English Amateur Boxing Association recently dealt with an unusual ease. A short time previously Sir John Alilbanke. of Harrow and Trinitv. Cambridge, and Raymond de Trafford. took part in a friendly contest, in a "West End club. It was a private affair and a bet of £SO to £2o was made that Sir John would win. Neither contestant was interested in the wager. Sir John attendee, the meeting of the council and gave his explanation of the occurrence, and lie was nominally suspended until November 1, the opinion jbeing that tjiero had been an infringement of that portion of the amateur definition which reads: “ An amateur is one who has never competed for a money prize, staked bet or declared wager.” Jack Dempsey has not had a fight for some considerable time. He is wise enough to know that a champion must slip unless he is supplied with regular matches. But Dempsey’s terms are so high that no promoter can consider them, lienee he must

lower his demands or go without matches. The consequence is that he is now inclined to quite change his jioiiit of view as regards terms. “ What 1 want to do,” he recently said, “ is to fight about six times a year for the next twQ years. .1 don’t care .for the big purses. I ought to get more fights for smaller purses. Unless I got a bunch of matches I might as well, retire. Anybody who stays out of the ring a year or move at a time

is going to retire suddenly some time when he doesn’t expect it.” All very well, but naturally the promoter says where are opponents to be found that will draw a crowd and pays for the financial risk I take?

What chance will Dempsey’s next challenger have ot’ beating tbe man who is supposed to bo the greatest heavy-weight of them all ? He will have the best chance any man lias ever had (says an American writer) because Dempsey hasn’t been working at his trade. When Dempsey fights again t will bo almost two years since his fight with Firpo. During that time the. perfect co-ordination of mind and muscle will have become at least slightly imperfect. Some speed will have been lost and the .lightning-like instinct to do the right thing that develops with competition will he just a bit dulled. If Dempsey's next opponent will keep himself busy with fights until lie meets Dempsey there may be a new champion in 1925, for a busy phigger can always triumph eventually against the genius who is content to coast on his native ability. It is hard to coast without eventually arriving at the bottom of the bill. ' Tad borgau. in the New York “ Evening Journal.” recently printed this story about Kid M’Coy. who }& waiting- trial on a -charge of murder at Eos Angeles : “You know I’m going to live to be 300 years old, or it's going to he a great shock to me. I've taken care of myself all my life, and am more careful than over now". One of the secrets of good health is water drinking. A man should drink seven or eight big glasses of v.atei every day. People don’t drink enough water. I have a couple of fat millionaires on my staff now bringing them bs*ck to health. 1 give them my exer- **'!>• e l ‘deas and tiil them ui> with water. •II get them back to form in no time. "When a fellow gets money he usuallv sits around and. eats himself into the grave. I’ve got these fellows dieting a hit, exercising more. and drinking water by the quart. A When people learn to drink more water there’ll he less disease and more healthy men.” M’Coy might live to be 100 if he ran manage to escape gaol on the murder charge. NORKY AND CO. FIGHTING IN SUBURBIA. The following entertaining account of a contest between Sydney suburban battlers is from the pen of Jim Donald, in “Smith's Weekly,” on November 29: There was no. suburbia rampant when the ancient proverb, “A Prophet hath not honour in his own country” was

coined. Of a verity, the bruising prophet of the suburbs has considerable honour in his own bailiwick. Take the case of ‘‘Norky” Fowler, the

lion of Leichhardt, and- pugilistic pet of that thriving and industrious Sydnev parish. Now. strictly speaking, Xorky is quite a humble slave of the smiting lamp, an unimportant trader in the mart of busted bokos at the port of missing bins. His fame is purely local, and peculiarly Leichhardtian. One has to go back to that eventful day when Mr Patrick MTlugh blossomed forth as a fight promoter at the old Coronation Hall, Leichhardt to mark the first stepping-stone in Xorky s rise to parochial fame. The frugal-minded Air M Hugh, in whom is blended the acquisitiveness of the Scot, the idealism of the Irish, and the audacity of the Australian, proved a keen student of the barometer of suburban pride. There was but one pug in Leichhardt, and his name was Xorky Mr M.’Hngh. knowing full welt the value of a local drawcard, promptly decided to make friend Fowler an important pawn in the game - Now Mr MTlugh runs his show in to shirt sleeves. So‘ to speak. There is a great deal of social freedom and personal liberty out at the ••Coronation.” If a customer finds beer a solace, lie brings it with him and quaffs at leisure from the bottle. If it is his custom to be unconventional in language, ideas, and attire he may be so and nobody speaks of it. ( crtainlv not Mr MTlugh. He knows the value of atmosphere, and is anxious to please. Acting on the principle. the. less space the more stoush, Mr At Hugh thoughtfully installed a 16-foot ring, and applied the grim maxim, “No fight, no pay-’’ So that as ‘pugs is pugs" for revenue only, the result is Patrick’s Friday night reunions usually lead to enough bloodshed to free all the oppressed nations of the earth. ‘ Lead Kindly Right,” is Mr At’Hugh’s favourite hymn, so I decided to go out and see for myself. When T arrived, a crowd was besieging the one narrow entrance. No congregation could enter a church more decorously than this horde of humanity. The manscapo inside the Coronation is a spiritual Caliban, a mob monster. These people bow before the knotted fist. They glory in belly smashes, rich, fruitv. crunching jaw-breakers, and stabbing, jarring jabs. They love the drumming, rub-a-dub of gloves on gleaming flesh. Visions of the old Gaiety and the riotous boxing halls of my youth, arise A nostalgia of the senses that has laiu dormant through the years assails me. The preliminaries come and go, short, savage, hard-punching affairs fought to a blood-curdling accompaniment of

veils. So might Red Indians have howled while dancing round the stake. At last the fight, of the night a grudge battle, artfully Jostered by that promoting la go—-MU* M’ Hugh—between Leichhardt's pride. Norky Fowler, and the. Rajah of Rozclle, one Sid. Shannon.

Napoleon never received a greater welcome from the grand army than did Norky from the flower and chivalry of Leichhardt. 'Hie din was deafening. Shannon, a lithe, supple warrior, veteran of many battles, appears lighter than his gimlet*eyed, bunchy-shoul-dered opponent. “Seconds out!” Bang goes the gong, and the boys are at it like furies, Norky driving powerful rights under the heart, and hooking lustily with the left. Shannon works a swift jab and a rip to the stomach. Their fists are whirling drumsticks. Gloves flash in the air. criss-cross, rise and fall with the methodical rhythm of flails. Shannon

is the more wily. He has the gift <;l prophetic evasion, but he needs all his guile to-night. Norky is a demon Time and again he smashes the smoke, while Shannon wriggles into the open, and with tigerlike ferocity proceeds to turn defence into venomous two-fisted attack, but always it is the dour, indomitable Norky who has last punch, and always Shannon is the first to clinch, only to be driven away by a jarring rip-saw. body bombardment. Shannon is the artist, subtle in tactics, but the sheer ferocity of Xorky’s whirlwind attach beats "him back and around the ring to an obligato of hoarse veils that arc akin to the baying of a famished'wolf pack. The ding-dong fight is fast and furious. Ferocious round follows ferocious round. Midway Xorky’s fiendish intensity toils iis talc- Shannon’s face hears signs of wear and tear. A crashing right-hander gashes liis hose. His loot lose their oiled speed, moles blur his faultless vision for distance. Caunily ho saves himself and waits for Norky to tire. But ho knows not Norky. Norky never fires. In the twelfth Shannon stakes all on a. flashing sortie, replete with stabs, belly rips and hooks galore. For two rounds Norky is overwhelmed, but fights back stubbornly the while. Opening the fourteenth

Norky speeds hot foot across the ling at the hell, and pins Shannon in his own corner, and scatters that worthy's henchmen like chaff before tbe wind. Ensues a prolonged punching bee. but the virile Norky prevails. Slowly the stubborn Shannon breaks ground, fighting a vicious retreating battle the while.

The speed, venom and skill with which this battle between little-known warriors is waged is astounding. I would not have thought it possible. As the fight reaches its crisis the house is a roaring furnace of howls. The issue is decided on points, and only the expert can teli which man has won. As the referee’s hand descends on. Norky’s head, the roof rose three inches and fell into its j»lnce again. Eeichhart triumphant! Suburbia, a joy ! Going out l pass Shannon- His lips are gashed, his nose scarred, his indomitable smile awry ! A worthy loser of a. groat fight. The best I have, seen in years. Saturday night's offering at the Sydney Stadium consisted of a mixed vaudeville and boxing' show. w herein Bill Thurbon outpointed Ec<> Garrick in the main. bout. As this page is entirely devoted to the noble art. I have featured the epic. Shannon-Norky Fowler battle. There was no vaudeville in theirs.