DEMPSEY WINS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18818, 6 July 1923, Page 6

DEMPSEY WINS

RETAINS WORLD’S BOXING TITLE

GIBBONS BEATEN ON POINTS

WAS THE DECISION CORRECT?

At Shelby, in wild Montana. Jack Dempsey on Wednesday retained the World's Heavyweight Boxing Championship by defeating Tom Gibbons on points. The referee fled as soon as he announced Dempsey the winner! Dempsey received £75,000 for the light.

THE FIGHT GOES FULL 15 ROUNDS

NEW YORK, July 4. Jack Dempsey defeated Tom Gib bons on the referee’s decision. The fight lasted 15 rounds.

THE FIGHT BY ROUNDS

SHELBY, July 4. Dempsey's weight was ISSlbs, and Gibbons’ llojlbs. In round one Dempsey led viciously. landing heavy body blows, and drew blood from Gibbons’ mouth with a left hook. Gibbons retreated, and landed twice on Dempsey’s jaw, but the champion knocked the challenger about easily. Round two: Gibbons landed a hard right to the body, and then opened Dempsey’s eye. Dempsey jarred his opponent by the left to the jaw. Round three: Gibbons protested against

DEMPSEY MAULING him in clinches. Dempsey pounded his body savagely. Both exchanged head blows. In round four Gibbons landed a right uppercut. Some in-fighting followed, Gibbons boxing well and the champion having trouble in hitting him. Round five: Gibbons drove Dempsey back, knocking him to the ropes with two lefts to the jaw. Dempsey kept clinching but Gibbons again drove him back.

Round six: Dempsey knocked Gibbons between the ropes as he came out of a clinch, Gibbons protesting. Dempsey gave him severe punishment at close quarters, which he continually sought.

Round seven: The crowd were angry as Dempsey held and hit, then twice hit Gibbons

BELOW THE BELT without the referee protesting. Round eight: Gibbons rocked Dempsey with two lefts to the jaw. Dempsey hit low, and the crowd resented it. The round ended with an exchange 6t head blows. Round nine was mostly a series of clinches. Gibbons was distinctly out-boxing the champion and standing body punishment well. He also landed several hard blows to the jaw. Round ten: Gibbons improved in the clinches, and also neatly dodged Dempsey’s uppercuts and straight hits. Round eleven: Dempsey was outmanoeuvred again, and struck below the belt. The

CROWD WAS FURIOUS. and Gibbons retaliated with two hard blows to the jaw and dodged Dempsey's counter. Round twelve was marked by savage in-fighting, Dempsey roughing it all over the ring and striking low. Round thirteen; Gibbons outguessed Dempsey, dodging terrific uppercuts. The challenger boxed beautifully, and forced Dempsey to miss repeatedly. Round fourteen: Dempsey was tiring, missing continually at long mnge, and sought to get in close. Gibbons' generalship was far superior. Round fifteen: Gibbons was now strictly on the defensive, and Dempsey desperately tried for a knockout. He landed on the right jaw, badly shaking Gibbons, but the bell sounded.

THE REFEREE'S EXIT. The referee's decision was in Dempsey's faveur. The wildest excitement followed the fight. The referee rushed out of the stadium immediately he announced his decision.

EXTRAORDINARY SCENES

TWENTY THOUSAND SPECTATORS.

YET A "POOR" GATE,

Received July 5, 8.15 p.m. NEW YORK, July 4. Shelby reports state that extraordinary scenes preceded the Demp-sey-Gibbons light. Half an hour before the main bout there were less than ten thousand spectators, while a big crowd outside the stadium repeatedly endeavoured to crush through the gates. Inside the occupants of cheaper seats frequently swept forward into dearer seats, the police and cowboy guards being powerless. Meanwhile Harry Drake, the English boxer, and Bud, the German, refused to fight the preliminary unless they were paid. Kearns offered a thousand dollars, whereupon the fighters entered the ring. The referee, Daugherty, up to the last minute, was doubtful whether he would officiate at the main bout, declaring he had not been paid. The majority of newspaper. critics at the ringside regard the decision awarded to Dempsey as fair, despite Gibbons’ display of superior boxing and ability to outguess the champion longer than any other man. Toward the end of the bout Gibbons was plainly only desirous of lasting, and took a terrible body beating. The crowd, however, applauded vigorously for Gibbons, threatening personal violence to Dempsey when he several times hit below the belt without the referee professing to notice it. Referee Daugherty has always been regarded as a close friend of Dempsey. His decision was without regard to the judges, who made no statement.

The fight took place under a blistering sun, and was witnessed by twenty thousand people, half of whom entered at the last minute when the promoters lowered the prices from 50 dollars to 5. It is believed the receipts will not exceed 300,000 dollars. Thus Gibbons is likely to get nothing like the promoters promised. The critics are agreed that two years’ absence from the ring has done Dempsey no good.

WHAT JIM CORBETT THOUGHT DEMPSEY UP AGAINST IT.

Jim Corbett was one of the cleverest world s champions ever known. His views of the Jack Dempsey v. Tom Gibbons possibilities were sent out to a Sydney paper by its American contributor. He does not discount the prospects of the smaller man against the champion, even though Dempsey is one of the most terrific punchers the world has ever seen. “Those who figure that Jack Dempsey will have little more than a workout on July 4, when he meets Tom Gibbons in Shelby, Montana, may have different thoughts on July 5.” So says Gentleman Jim Corbett. "Dempsey has performed impressively even spectacularly when confronted by giants. The reason is that Dempsey has been able, through superior speed, to step out of danger and then to race in with a crashing attack and land before the cumbersome opponent could get out of the way. CHAMPION’S TERRIFIC PUNCH.

“Dempsey is a terrific puncher—certainly one of the greatest that ever lived, and perhaps the peer of them all in that department of pugilism. But it always must be re membered that punching power avails a man not at all if he cannot laud.

“The champion rarely had difficulty in connecting against such men as Willard, Fulton, Morris and all the other big fellows. For they were rq slow’ that they could step around but little, and as a result they were always in the nature of stationary targets for the piledriver blows of the king of pugilists. I “But Dempsey against Gibbons is

somethiffg else again. Gibbons is fast—some folks insist that he is Dempsey’s superior in the matter of speedy legs. Gibbons is a splendid boxer—perhaps the best boxer among the heavyweights in the game to-day. And Gibbons has demonstrated through nearly two years of ring warfare that he packs dynamite in both fists, and that when he connects solidly something must fall to the canvas.

GIBBONS IN THE CLINCHES.

“Dempsey has always been able to man-handle opponents in the clinches. His mighty strength, coupled by his knowledge of in-fighting, has made it possible for him to pave the way to ultimate triumph by the use of inside tricks. But, unless all signs are wrong, he isn't going to do much punishment in clinches with Gibbons.

“Tommy-has studied and learned in-fighting. He is regarded as a master in the matter of so entangling the arms of his foeman as to render his opponent’s fists useless for attack—and at the same time leaving his (Gibbons’) hands in post tion to hit.

“Courage and ability to take punishment are vital needs to consider when two men are battling in a prize ring—and especially so when a world's championship is at stake. Dempsey, as everyone knows, can take a beating and continue his rushing, tearing tactics. He seems almost impervious to ring hurts, and there is no disputing the fact that in all his contests he has demonstrated courage to the nth degree. “And as for Gibbons:

TAKES HIS PUNISHMENT.

“Well, no man has ever hit Gibbons hard enough in the last few years to hurt him. And so, since the day when Gibbons jumped to the front and became an outstanding heavyweight, he has never been put to the definite test. There are some folks —those who scoff at the possibility of his beating Dempsey — who “ ‘Tom can take it. He doesn’t like to be hit, and when he is badly hurt you will see him fold up and crawl into a defensive shell.’ "But there are others who have seeu Gibbons in all of his stellar bouts and claim: “ ‘Gibbons has a heart like a lion —and he is game from top to bottom. When the real acid is applied in his fight with Dempsey, you will find that Tommy will display courage in the face of punishment—if he has to take it—beyond anything that Dempsey will exhibit to an audience.’ “And there you are. * “On form and on past performances, Dempsey, at this moment, figures to win. But Gibbons may spring a colossal surprise on July 4.”

WELLINGTON PROVINCIAL TOURNAMENT

(Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 5. To-night’s provincial amateur boxing tournament was a great success. All the finals were keenly contested. On the whole the boxing was of a high standard. The winners were: —Paperweight, P. McQuade; flyweight, M. Carroll; bantamweight, M. Carroll. featherweight, W. Barnes; lightweight. J. Napier; welterweight, E. Napier; mid'dleweight, V. Gunnion. light-heavy-weight, V. Blair (only entry); heavyweight, C. McCrae (only entry). The best boxers were—Carroll. Barnes, Gunion and McQuade. The fight between Black and Barnes was the best of the tournament.