My Reminiscences.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 4, 25 January 1911, Page 42

My Reminiscences.

AND THE SEARCH FOR A WHITE CHAMPION.

IW

HUGH D. McINTOSH.

I LTHOUGII ever since I was a | tiny lad standing no higher y than the dining-room table, I have always been an enthusiastic lover of boxing—and, indeed, I think I may say with due humility that in my time I was something of a useful sort of boxer-myself—yet it was not until the occasion of the visit of the American fleet to Australia that I first became actively connected with professional fisticuffs. Still, after all, as the poet tells us, "there is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” In my ease this particular tide brought with it the American fleet. In view of the international importance of the visit, it goes without saying that tremendous preparations were made by the Australian Government to receive their visitors in a manner worthy of so important an event. All my life I have been a "business man,” and putting two and two together the idea occurred to me that it would be no bad speculation on such an occasion as this to “corner” all the principal places of amusement, athletic grounds, motor-boats, points of vantage, steamers, buses,-motors, and so on and so forth, for the week of the reception of Australia's very welcome visitors. Accordingly, with that object in view, I secured options over all the principal places where visitors would be likely to seek amusement, including the Royal Agricultural Society's ground, where the Australian Commonwealth had to board their soldiers, the City Sports Ground, and all the. decent landing places abutting on the harbour that wele not Government property. .It was whilst engaged in securing Jthese options that the thought crossed my mind that it might be a good to 'bring the then champion of the world 1 , -Tommy Burns, to Australia, for although Bur ns is actually a French-Canadian, I was well spware that nearly everyone in the sporting world regarded him as an American? This being so, and knowing thpt there would be twelve thousand sailors in Sydney that week, I could not help thinking that if Burns could be indifved to box some foeman—an Australian foT choice —worthy of his undoubted ability, the event would almost certainly be? well patronised by. the public. For a day or two I thought the matter crjt, and filially having come to the conclusion that there was more than a gambling chance of such a proposition turning out successful from a financial point of view, I cabled to my representative in London to try to secure Burns for a tour in Australia, in which he would have to take jnrt in three contests. At the time Burns had pretty well wiped out the pretensions of all the best heavy-weight English boxers, and eo he at onee consented to fall in with my views for the sum of £400!) and two first-class return fares, the one stipulation ho made being that he should only meet Australian Iroxers. So far, so good. The next difficulty I was faced ■with was to secure suitable opponents for the world's heavy-weight champion. The champion of Australia, Bill Squires, was in Faris, where, by the way, he was already matched to meet Burns. I realised in a trice, however, that Squires was the man to whom Australia would lopk to bring about Burns’s defeat, and 1 therefore at once cabled to him to come over. His reply was in the affirmative, and before he sailed I guaranteed hipt a sum of £B5O and two first-class single fares.

Figures as a rule seldom provide interesting reading, but I will here make no apology for mentioning the matter of terms I offered to the boxers whose services I wished to secure, for the simple reason that since I have been in England I have noticed that, outside those "behind the scenes” in boxing circles, eo to apeak, the general public do not seem, to thoroughly realise that a famous boxer le as big a draw—and rightly so— from * box-office point of view, as in any other jkrofeuiohal show man, be he actor, rar-

ietly artist, or what you will. After all a boxer is not in the business for the benefit of his health—although a course of boxing naturaly exercises a most beneficial effect upon the health —any rnorei than is an actor or music-hall artist. Hence, if the boxer is half wise he realises that, providing he is within measurable distance of the top of the trep, his (services are of considerable value. And quite rightly does he form this opinion, for surely there is as much truth to-day as ever there was in the well-worn saying which tells us that “a. labourer is worthy of his hire.” But I am bolting out of the ring. To return to my boxing affairs. In duo course, in what was known as “fleet week,” Burns met and defeated Squires the contest attracting an almost record attendance. Hardly a seat was vacant in the specially erected stadium at Sydney when the men entered the ring, though, to my utter amazement, I discovered that amongst the great audience assembled there were, comparatively speaking, only a mere handful of sailors and representatives of the American fleet. It seemed clear at.once, therefore, that there was a real and genuine demand for clean, straight boxing contests in Australia. I determined to supply that demand. According to his contract Burns was required to meet Bill Lang in Melbourne, ■six hundred miles away from Sydney, eight days later. He did so, with a result that is now ancient history, thus fighting two world championships within eight days—something of a record, 1 and. no bad record either —but then, Burns always was a worker. Indeed Ido not think I am exaggerating when I say he was one of the busiest world’s heavyweight, champions who ever took the r ring, for while his latter-day predecessors almost invariably went “on the road” as monologue entertainers or “actors” with vaudeville or theatrical companies; and gave sparring displays the while, Burns, like the cobbler, stuck td his last,-; and took on all comers as fast as they’ happened along, with the result that lie has now acquired ample to not only keep the wolf from the door, but enable him to live in “Easy-street” till bis “hour” peters out. After defeating Lang, Burns was still signed to me to take part in one other important contest. “Who on earth can I put up against him!” I thought to myself. In Australia there wfi» certainly no

one who looked like possessing anything of a genuine sporting chance. Then the notion crossed my mind that if the public would subscribe such large sums as £l3, (500 for the Burns-Squire fight, and. 18500 for the Burns-Lang contest, they would surely pay far more to see a meeting between the two greatest boxers in the world. I therefore approached Burns with the object of finding out what sort of a sum he would require to meet the coloured champion, Jack Johnson. Bighs demanded £OOOO win, lose, or draw.

“Six thousand pounds you shall have, Tommy,” I said; and forthwith au agree, nient was drawn up, and the money lodged at the office of the “Sydney Referee.” I then cabled to Johnson, who was appearing in London at the time, to find out what sort of an inducement he demanded before meeting Barns. "One thousand five hundred pounds, win, lose or draw, and three first-class return fares,” cabled back the famous brunette bruiser. “That’s yours,” I said in reply. From the moment the mere idea of the match was mooted the greatest public interest was created throughout the whole of Australia. Indeed, when the men started training, for weeks little else occupied serious attention in sporting circles other than this big match. After all, in this there was actually nothing surprising—as a matter of fact, I had calculated that such would almost inevit-

ably be the case, for it had been an open secret for a long time past that Burns had been “side-stepping” the big nigger, who had followed him from America to England after waiting around for a long time in the former country to try andi get on a match. It was also common knowledge that, apart from professional jealousy outside the ring, there was little love lost between the white man and his coloured brother. And so, you see, in one way and another there was substantial foundation on which to base a deal of public interest. To the actual contest I will not refer except to say that the gates of the stadium which I had especially erected were opened at six o’clock; by 7.30 fully ten thousand people were seated round the arena, although the contest was not billed to take place until 10.30; and iby the time the men entered the ring the greatest crowd that had ever assembled to witness a boxing match was gathered at Rushcutters Bay’. I have seen it written on countless occasions that the match was a disappointing, not to say a one-sided one. Let me take this opportunity-, therefore, of.assuring readers that such a criticism of tile bout was utterly and altogether erroneous. True, Johnson had well won .when the'police entered "the ring in the fifteenth round, but nevertheless Burns had given a wonderful showing—a truly wonderful showing when one remembers that he was giving away nearly 3st. in weight and sins. in height. At no time, perhaps, did Burns look like knocking out Johnson, but all the same he worried the present world's champion quite a lot, and onlv recently a few days after defeating Jeffries, Johnson told me that little Tommy Burns—after all he is only a light heavy-weight—had given him the hardest fight of his life—a far harder fight than Jeffries, the muchvaunted man of adamantine strength, “handed out” on July 4th. Yes, although Johnson deserves unstinted praise for the manner in which he has worked himself up to the top of the tree, one cannot help feeling admiration for the game fight which Burns put up when he lost the World’s Championship on December 26th, 1908, a fight, by the way, which I refereed. It is possible, perhaps, that the two men 'may again meet, in which ease a really exciting contest may once more be anticipated, for Burns has always been a particularly clean-living, abstemious man, and on that account his short ab-

sence from the ring will not have affected his health to any great extent, a!-> though, of course, anything like a real "holiday” seldom does a boxer much good. r . • I do not think I need here touch upon any of the other contests I promoted in Australia, with the exception,of just mentioning in passing the third meeting between Burns and Lang, the present champion of Australia. On the previous occasions on 'which the men had met Burns had won with a good bit to spare. However, Lang is a young, ambitious, improving boxer who has come on a lot, and who, with more practice, may readily turn out a really dangerous rival tb the world’s champion. As proof of this; I need only say that in his third meeting with the French-Canadian he made the latter “gallop all the way”—and gallop so fast that quite a number of the large crowd of spectators present

lustily shouted Lang home as the wins ner. - - - ’ , •’ But then, after all, Lang is an Australian, and an Australian crowd is nothing if not patriotic. Probably, therefore, the spectators were carried away with enthusiasm by the excellent showing which Lang made. Anyway, at the end of the twentieth round they shouted “Bravo, Lang! You've won,” so lustily, that it was sevaral minutes before I could make the decision heard that Burna had won, and well won too. On my reckoning he was well ahead on points in fully sixteen rounds out of the twenty, though the fact that in the last four rounds he was tiring somewhat doubtless caused the bulk of. the uninitiated spectators to form the opinion that the Australian champion had succeeded in getting up in the last stride, so to speak. It is a far cry from Australia to Reno, Nevada. But to the real lover of boxing, time and distance are as naught when there is a prospect of witnessing a, big match between two champions, each of whom has proved from A to Z that he is deserving of the title of champion. After unsuccessfully bidding a £200,000 purse, therefore, for the Jeffries-Johnsort contest, I did the next best thing, I went to witness it with Burns and other fistic stars. What was the contest actually like? I think I may say, “Like nothing on earth,” for from every point of view it was one of the most disappointing fights I have ever witnessed. From the time he entered the ring until the time when he was counted out, Jeffries never showed a vestige of that form which he was said to possess. Instead of tackling Johnson in game fashion, he just plodded along after him round the ring, missing the coloured champion time after time, not by inches, but by feet. Ami yet the spectators kept on hoping against hope that “Jeff” would! tally and ge.t in some of those big body punches of his against which, his admirers said, no man yet born could possibly stand. But it was not to be. Johnson literally played with the hitherto unbeaten white champion, the while smiling amiably, his liberally gold-stopped teeth glistening In the sun as his opponent’s seconds diij their utmost to make him lose his temper. “Why don’t you fight, you great coward?” taunted Corbett. “Because I don’t know how to, Mistali Corbett,” answered back Johnson, as he flatted Jeffries on the back in the fri’endiest manner, generally following up this token of endearment with one or two stiff upper cute.

"Have never seen such a skunk!” •hou'ted Corbett again. “Guess there’s no looking-glasses where you come from, then,” would Johnson answer back, following this up by blandly asking, “•Say, Mr. Corbett, when your man’s put me to sleep what will you charge to give me a few lessons? You must be a wonderful teacher, Mistah Corbett.” Yes, yes, it was indeed a disappointing contest this much-advertised chantpionship bout, in which .it was said Jeff -would make Johnson crumble to pieces Hike so. much ash flicked off the end of a cigar. So disappointing, indeed, was it that certain Americans charged the exchampion with “laying down.” Whether be did so or not, it is not for me to say, but I may at least express it as my honest conviction that the white man was thoroughly pleased when it -was all over. Would Jeffries have beaten Johnson in his prime? That question has teen put to me -many a time. Happily it is not a. difficult one for me to answer. “Never at any moment in his career do I think Jeffries could have tackled this big, almost childishly amiable, coloured gen’elman.” Johnson possesses to a marked degree those particular physical character-

istics essential to the making of a successful fighter. Beyond -all manner of doubt the greatest living exponent of the art of “defensive” fighting, he also possesses a stiff punch in 'both -hands, and, better still, he is as game as a pebble. Many a time have his enemies declared that Johnson possesses -a large “yellow streak.” On what foundation this adverse criticism is based I- know not, for in all his matches I have never once heard it said that Johnson has shown the slightest suspicion of cowardice, neither has he ever betrayed that -he even possesses a bad temper, for no matter how a bout may- be going he just goes on smiling. Truly, he is the most amiable of fistic champions. Many people are doubtless wondering whether the much-discussed cinematograph pictures of this match will ever be shown on a large scale. In ‘time I think they probably will, for, after all, it is mere cant and hypo-critical humbug to decry the pictures of this contest as -providing a record of a “degrading and demoralising" spectacle. “Degrading and demoralising” spectacle forsooth! Mere rubbish! !A “needle” match -between two big schoolboys must surely -be far more unsavoury a 'spectacle to watch than was this World’s Championship contest, in ,-whielt the winner smiled and chatted cheerily to the crowd all the way through the while the loser plodded after him in a manner reminiscent of nothing quite iso much as that of a cart-horse taking part in a polo match. In any ease, it is quite safe to prophesy that the cinematograph record of this icontest will never attain half the popularity that the films of the Burns-Johiwon match gained. T-he latter, indeed, created bo much public interest that they were shown in almost every country under -the nun, including Borneo, Siam, British West Indies, Portugal, Egypt, India,. South America, Mexico, Panama, China, Manila., Japan, South Africa, France, Belgium, United States, Australia, Fiji Islands and Honolulu. In all, the gross takings from pictures amounted to considerably over £ 100,000. The moral effect of these pictures •showing a representative of the black race triumphant over the white, was particularly interesting. On my way horns from Australia to England the films were shown at Colombo for two performances, at both of -which the house was packed {principally with dusky gentlemen who displayed intense interest in the match, the while betraying a certain quiet, yet triumphant dignity in the success of their black brother which did them every ©redit. In -South Africa, however, the

Kaffirs did not prove themselves such “good winners,” for they were so wildlydelighted with Johnson’s victory that for hours together they would congregate in hundreds around the pictorial posters advertising the pictures, from time to time raising wild cheers of delight, thus demonstrating the fact that to their minds Johnson’s success was a matter of almost international importance. Still I feel bound to say that while the natives of each country were obviously overjoyed at the victory of black over white, their delight was nevertheless not of a vicious order, anti there was no foundation for the report so widely spread -by spoil-sports that the defeat of -the white man meant a real loss of -prestige to the white race. By- the same token I would add -that I am convinced that, as • a matter of actual fact, the victory of Johnson over Jeffries did not really exercise any powerful influence for bad in America. Naturally enough, in a country where the “ colour question” is felt so strongly, it would have been far better for -the prestige of the white race had Jeffries won, but from personal observation of -the effect of the white champion’s defeat on the black race, I can say that the -harm it was sa-id

to have done was grossly exaggerated. At the present moment the question uppermost in the minds of every sportsman is: “What white man can.be matched with Johnson with any chance of success?” The conundrum is not an ■easy one to answer. Burns might possibly have some sort of chance-—that- is to say some sort of outside chance—despite the fact that Johnson has already shown his superiority. Lang is a strong and improving boxer, who one day, with more experience, may win back the championship of the world; for, a much younger man than Johnson, he is capable of the greater improvement. Then we come to Bombardier Wells, a boxer in whom -probably the finest referee in the -world, Mr. Eugene Corri, has expressed the greatest confidence. A steady, clean-living man, Wells has the great advantage of youth on his side, and as he will now have plenty of opportunities of gaining experience, it is quite possible that -he may one day prove himself a real top-sawyer among -champions. As far as I am concerned 1 shall leave no stone unturned to unearth a white champion, for an intimate knowledge of both

races has impressed the fact on my mind that there simply must exist a white man who can hold his own with the best representative of the coloured race. The more I ponder on the subject the more strongly do I feel that it would be an influence for the good of the white races were the world’s boxing championship to be in the hands of -a white instead of a black. In England, of course, the importance of this point cannot be realised quite so clearly as is the case in America. But all the same, ns one who has travelled a great deal, I can assure readers of this article that it ia a matter of real importance that the coloured races should be mnde to feel their inferiority to the white race. Mark you, I do not suggest for an in-

stant that Johnson should not be given every credit for -the posit on he holds. He has won it by sheer aodity, and no really “ white ” sportsman wilt endeavour - to belittle his record. Still, he must not be allowed to remain cock of the walk. A white champion must and will be found, and for my own part 1 shall never rest content until I have discovered “ the missing man.” The search, hapily, is one which possesses an enthralling fascinattion for a lover of sport. England, after all, is the real home of boxing, and on that account it is “ up to” the old country to prove that her gloved hand has not lost its cunning.