BOXING. THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF N.Z.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 6406, 6 January 1888, Page 2

BOXING. THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF N.Z.

MATTHEWS KNOCKED OUT IN

FOUR ROUNDS.

For months p»st the sporting world hag been looking forward to one of those historio matches in puglllstia annals, whioh from time to time crop up, to be remembered for many a year afterwards, when lesser events have faded from recollection. Laiag, of Wanganui, had made for himself a n.ime, having beaten Lanrie, Pettengell, Murphy, and every one elss he has met. In order to encourage the noble art of self, defence, some Wanganui patrons subscribed the needful to get a champion bait made, one of the conditions under whioh it w»b to be held, being that it must always be fought for in Wanganui. This belt was given to Laiog as the first bolder, and i Mrtthews, who had previously challenged ' Laing in Wellington, bat whom Laing wai then unable to meet, deoided that he woaH have a trial of skill with the holder in Wanganui, The conditions were duly drawn up, and preliminaries settled in Wiinganui abont 6 months back, Laing requiring that period of time to allow the knuckle he smashed in the Murphy fight to get thorough y better! " Jim " Donnolly the sporting barber of Marton, baoked Matthews, while his old backer Sutherland, stood by Harry Laing. The stakes were to be £50 a-side, the Championship of New Zealand.and the Chamnion Belt of New Zealand, ilr Parson., ofthe Rutland Hotel, was appointed stakeholder and the committee who had the belt made superintended the general details of the Jl match. Matthews insistedon the prioei of '" admission being fixed at 6s and 10s as he did not want to figh; to a rowdy audience and both men were agreed that the winner should take all the gate money.. In the interval that has elapsed since the matoa was made Diok Matthews has been kept ' hard at work in Marton, where he bad the meat; oareful attention and training at the hands of Messrs Pratt and Donnelly Laing, with his oustomary take-thlnggl eat y atyle.did not regularly go into trainSe till after he bad fought Riohardaon (whom he beat easily). Since then he has had tho attention of Richardson and Diok Ellis, the latter, by the way. one of the most awkward young , fellows with his fists that oan be found in the co.ony. Reports gained ground from time '? to time that Matthews was doing too muoh - work, and when he stripped last night at Hat Slbs, it was easily observable that he had been drawn too fine. In build he ia tall, but loosely made, has grand development in the oalvea and thighs, bat lacks chest and stontaoh, but his long arms give give him every opportunity of getting ia some awkward blows from a safe distance, Liing stripped a perfect picture. He ' turned the beam at 12st 81bs» His sturdy ,■> frame looked one mass of mnsole,|the baok muscles showing up particularly well. Both men were on the stage at a few > miontes after nine o'clock, but at this juncture there was trouble ahead. The Committee had suggested Mr Biley of f Wellington as referee, but Laing would not have him as he was understood to have ' money on the matoh. Then they conld not agree as to who should act, or rather of the four or five 'named by Matthew* none could be induced to go into the ring. ' to the audienoe, and the committee asked the competitors if they were willing to - leave the appointment of referee to them. To this both the combatants agreed, and in * a few minutes the committee returned and anaonnoed that they had appointed Mr G. H. Chavannesreferee, with MessreThrtcher and Abbot to watch the interests of Laing and Matthews respectively. Matthew* ' objected to all the judge* being Wanganui men, and he picked Mr Dwyer of Wellington in preference to taking Mr Abbot To this course Laing at first objected as its had been agreed that the committee should appoint the umpires, and Diok, who was br ginning to fietannojed at what seemed J needless opposition, getting £20 from hi* backer strode aoross the stage and ohal. lenged Harry to stake another £20 on the . result, No sooner said than done, the "'* money was paid over to the stakeholder, and no further objection was raised br , LMng to Mr Dwyer. Then the gloves were in-psoted by the police, and after a little more quibbling on' Laing^a part as to the choice of gloves the men went to their comers, Laing took off the ohampion belt and returned it to the committee, the > conditions were read, the timekeeper (Me - ' Sam Powell) took np his post, the referee introduced the competitors to the audience, they shook hands, as also did the second* (Hall, the pugilist who defeated Murphy, and has his arm in a sling, aoting fo'. ' Matthews, and Sutherland for Laino)' < away to their corners, " time " wsg oa*;^ ' and the battle oommenoed at exaAtlv 29 minutes past 9. * In the first round both men -y^g wary and Matthews was forcing th'j going with hisout^hting. Laing was. kept as much " as possible at the front ot the Stage, thai • giving Matthews the ad<r in t,g B of the rise . in the floor, but Harry was very quick in ' his movements, and ty fighting across the fi'Si. he uT°Q the **™*S* *»* Matthews had. For nearly a minute both , men did little else than run round one ' ' another, but. at length Matthews hit out, ,'.' and Laing countered the blow nicely. After '< a trifle more dodging the first real blow was , got in by Laing, who landed it jast below the heart, Matthew* seemed somewhat ' " staggered at this, and launched out rather wildly onoe or twice, but Laluc "dnoked" them, and on the second occasion was successful in landing a 6ound blow with nil right on Matthews' jaw, whioh sent him flying against the ropes. Matthews, still ' tryiug to force the fighting, got one vary close to Laing'a ear, but Harry was too qmok and had his head out of danger bo- ' fore the blow got home. A little more dodging and the fiwt three minute spoil ' was over. Ronnd No 2 commenced on the time, and , with it came new taotios, Laing forced the. .' s fighting as he could see that he had gained ' the advantage in the first ronnd. Mat- ' thews countered one or two blows very T nioely, but he was too slow in his movements, and had lost what little vivacity ho had at starting. He lunged out one thatt fell abort of Laing, but Harry, in dnokinir. mimed hia footing nnd fell full length on the stage, ■ He was np in a second, and in less time than it takes to write it, had, landed M%tthows a jtwbreaker with his, right whioh atretohed him on the floor. • Diok got up to time, bat the fight w*a over. Laing got In another and still another good hit and Matthews fell on the ropes in a deoidedly groggy condition. The remainder of the round was one con- '. tmuation of severe punishment for Matthews, who was more often on the rope* than in the centre of 'the ring. At the beginning of the third round " Diok got up a Utle fresher looking, but. Laing had him on the ropes again lnA§|." moment, and got in some severe bio waw'i Matthews was advised at this stage of thlfr game to try the effect of in-fighting, but Laing oarried far too many gum for him there. Twioe Laing was held by Matthews and they had to be separated by the, ' referee. Laing continued to force the^ fightinp, and, as the work wai severe, ho seemed a little fatigued, bnt Matthews continued to reoeive very severe punish*, ment, the ropes ontting his baok np, while ' Laing had laid opan a severe gash above his right eye, and he was also bleeding from the mouth and ear. Several times ha r was down, and Mr Dwyer, who was watoking his interests, time after time advbedl hi* backers to take him away, and not leave him there to take punishment he oooM nob return. It was no use, however, andi Matthews stood np again for " The fourth round. This lasted two minutes ; and Laing. though he had to oontinue the work of punishing till his opponent gave in, w&s very lenient. ■ Time after time Matthews fell helplessly to the ground, bat more from sheer inability to stand than anything else. At length one blow landed him on the broad of his back, ' and, amid cries of "Take him away," hiai > second threw up the spQnqe.and at sixteen; minutes to ten— exaotly seventeen minutest after the business commenced— Lame amid the loud and enthusiastic applause! of fully four hundred people, waaj ' declared the viotor. Matthews was ' carried off the stage, and Laing, looking none the worse for his battle, withoit a sign of disfiguration, walked off to hia room, ' firut calling in on Matthews and shaking; hands with him. One result of the contest will undoubtedly be to iaorease tbo reputation Harry Lain? has for straightont hittiag and scientific boxing. In aolenoe he » not the samaLaingv ' who fought hero bei»re ; he has Improve! "• ' in every respect. His delivery ia quicker • ' his oountonna more efficacious, and fiii " whole deportment shows signa of oareful training and teaching. Till 'he' met Matthew*, Laing hardly knew himself <A what he could do, and though it is trna ° Matthews was stab, and too fine, - still ■ there are* not many rhen who oonld knooK .-,

him out in the second round, even with 17U-S advantage in weight. Matthews lought a good honest fight, and took more punishment than he needed, only because - he would not give in while he thought he had a ghost of a ohauce. He has lost all he possessed, and his party have lost heavily. We are glad, therefore, to hear that a purse is being got up for him, as he deserves it.