BOXING.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 21, 26 May 1909, Page 10

BOXING.

, Jeffries to Meet Johnson. English files contain an announcement that Jeffries has definitely decided to meet Johnson, and expects to be his old self again after a year's training. He has already reduced his weight 331 b, and is steadily regaining form. Mr. Mclntosh, who promoted the Burns-Johnson fight in Sydney, states that he has deposited with the “New York Journal” 5000 dollars on behalf of Burns, challenging any man in the world, especially Johnson. “Fights Forgotten.” A welcome addition to the library of pugilistic literature has been issued this week by the house of Werner Laurie, in the shape of Mr Henry Sayers’ “Fights Forgotten.” Herein the author presents in very readable form concise and, in many instances, dramatic accounts of the most notable encounters of pugilists who have loomed large in the public eye from the time of Gentleman Jackson to the day when big Jim Jeffries cut tha comb of that wonderful veteran, Bob Fitzsimmons. To some this book may only appeal as another small monument to a brutal and degrading sport, but most men will find ft a blood-stirring record of courage and endurance—misapplied, maybe—of the highest order. Who can read the account of the extraordinary display of pluck, vim and stamina of the Jew Mendoza in his fight with Jackson without some feeling of admiration and respect for, at any rate, the beaten man, or scan tha narrative of Jem Belcher’s defeat of ths big bully Joe Berks without admitting that this brilliant buj; unfortunate fighter deserved the admiration and esteem in which he was undoubtedly held by a very large portion of England'a population in the early days of tha 19th century? And who will deny that in John Gully England possessed a man of whom she could be justly proud? Tha tale of his 64-round fight with that marvel of fistic prowess, “The Gams Chicken”—the only man from the days of Figg who presents a career as champion of England untarnished by defeat—gives one an insight into the character of this most extraordinary man. He was no mere “brutal bruiser," and he exhibited in the ring many oT those qualities which carried him to success in every walk of life he tried. The son of a publican, John Gully was successively butcher, pugilist, publican, bookmaker, colliery owner, a member of Parliament, an owner of racehorses, including a Derby winner, a millionaire, and a friend of progress. His name still lives in popular legends as the man who, as • youth of tender age, vowed that he would gain the championship of England, win the Derby and become an M.P. Any on« of these summits was difficult to attain, any two presented a most arduous undertaking, the three of them almost beyond human power. But John Gully accomplished the feat, though at 21 ha was languishing in Marshalsea Prison for debt. Who can help admiring tha fine physical and mental qualities that enabled Gully to achieve hia ambition, or find it ia their hearts to sneer at the man who could secure an acknowledgment of defeat from one who, possessing great

physical advantages over the '‘Chicken,*’ was himself a marvel of courage, endurance and dogged determination? Of the rascality that became associated with the ring, Mr Sayers gives a few glimpses; but in the main “Fights Forgotten’’ is a splendid record of human pluck and endurance, and many of his champions were men worthy of admiration for other qualities than those which go to make a successful pugilist; Jem Belcher and Tom Spring were men who might easily have made their mark in any walk of life. Both were “Nature’s gentlemen,” chivalrous even in the ring, and certainly more worthy of one’s respect than many of their wealthy and titled “patrons.” Coming to more recent times, Mr Sayers gives realistic word pictures of the fights between that wonderful little champion Tom Sayers and the big, beau-tifully-built “ Benicia Boy ” Heenan. There can be little doubt that but for the Intervention of the police Sayers would have been beaten, but even so, Tom’s glory would not have been dimmed. From the sixth round onward he fought practically with one hand. The triceps muscles of his right arm had been so violently wrenched that the arm was practically useless for either attack or defence. Yet, round after round, Sayers stood up to be battered and thrown by his big antagonist. He was fighting a hopeless fight, and almost everyone at the ring-side recognised it. But the little champion stuck to his work grimly. At times he was a mere chopping block for the sledge-hammer blows of the Boy, and it seeme dimpossible that he should eome up again after the fearful knockdown blows and soul-shaking throws Heenan doled out so frequently. But Tom Sayers took all that came, and came up again for more. He was one of England's heroes, and no athlete the Old Country has ever produced stands higher in public estimation than the gallant fellow who defended his title of champion of the world at Farnborough on April 17, 1860. Nearly 50 years have passed since that memorable encounter, but the memory of the battle is still green, and it can never be rightly placed among “Fights Forgotten.” The fights of the redoubtable Jem Maee (one of the most interesting figures in the ring) with Sam Hurst and Toni King find a place in Mr Sayers’ admirable volume, in which can also be followed the rise and fall of John L. Sullivan, Jem Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons. The story of Bob’s fight with the gigantic Jim Jeffries is not the least interesting in the book, and the pluck the veteran exhibited in this battle commands wholehearted admiration. Fitzsimmons indeed was greater in defeat than in victory.