How Australian Boxers score in America.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume III, Issue 130, 19 January 1893, Page 7

How Australian Boxers score in America.

The American correspondent of the Melbourne Sportsman writing from San Francisco on December 10 says :—

Again I have to chronicle the achievements of lads from the Land of the Kangaroo. Four battles of significance has been fought in America since my last,

and four Australians have secured the winners’ ends—a Christmas box as it were —from their American friends. Burge, Barron, Dawson, and the incomparable Barrier champion, Joe Goddard, have been the lucky ones. Such boxers as the above reflect credit upon their chosen profession. They are no sluggards, as they are always willing and ready to make engagements pugilistically — not theatrically, like their American brethren. Joe Goddard’s decisive victory over Maher was no surprise here, as his San Francisco friends think him without a peer. Joe’s winnings since his advent in this country have been over £3,000 in purses, and he bids fair to secure the American championship at an early date. Doc O’Connell, who met George Dawson at the C.A.C., Bth December, is a native of Boston, aged 24 years, sft. 7in. high, and mills at lOst. He is one of the civilest and most gentlemanly boxers ever seen here, and has made hosts of friends during his sojourn in our midst. Dawson defeated O’Connell in the 20th round. Dawson did not show up to his old form in previous battles. O’Connell really fought but one ronnd. the eleventh. He appeared in the ring and fought in a light jersey—a very rare occurrence here, and which set many sports thinking he donned above garment to hide his condition. O’Connell fought the same kind of a dropping fight as did Dawson when he met Gallagher that is, in a measure, as O’Connell dropped suspiciously oftener than Dawson did when meeting the hard - hitting boy from Haywards. There is nothing special to commend in this mill, as it was a complete walk-over for the clever Australian. The purse was £6OO ; the loser’s end £5O. Dawson will now fly at bigger purses, and probably will be matched in New Orleans clubs against Ryan or McAuliffe Dawson escaped without a mark. O’Connell was badly punished. Jim Hall arrived in New York from /London on 7th December. He looked ithale and hearty, and was met by hundreds of his sporting friends. “Is your match with Fitzsimmons an assured fact ?” was asked the clever Australian. “ Yes,” hd answered; “I am going to fight this conceited fool at all hazards. I have signed, and he cannot crawl this time. The date of the match will be early in March, and the purse £8,000.” In regard to “ Chawley ” Mitchell, Hall says he will pome to America after his two months’ sentence is up, and has authorised him to act his match-maker in his proposed go with Corbett. Jim does not say whether his match with Bob is at catch weights or A list 61b. The latter is most probable. This match looks like an assured fact at present writing, but some time ago, at Minneapolis, it looked even more assured, and still did not take place. The leading sporting authorities of America seem to favor Hall. Hall, it is well known, has not been living the regular life a successful athlete should, and it is thought his close intimacy with “ Chawley ” has not tended to wean him from a “ series of rosy pleasures.” Fitzsimmons is dead broke ; his theatrical venture is a failure, and he miJt fight to live. Bob has taken good care of himself, and has not a fondness for “ a rosy life.” John L. now weighs 2671 b ; this is more than he ever weighed. Jim Burge’s brilliant victory over the renowned Billie Mahan was a surprise to the friends of the latter. Jim, in encountering a sprinter like Billie Lavigne, did not show to advantage, and had it been his fortune to have met a man like Mahan on his debut here (who, though defeated, is not disgraced), he would now have been milling for large purses. Jim gave Billie his quietus in the twenty-sixth round, when he drove his left hard into Mahan's stomach, and hit him with the right on the point. Jim refused £6OO to fake the fight, and thereby has made hosts of friends. The purse was £160; £2O to loser. Jim weighed but 9.4 ; Mahan, 10 0. Jim trained but a few days, under the able mentorship of Jack Hall. He had not a mark on him after the contest. Mahan was a sorry spectacle. Jim’s friends want to match him against any 10.0 man in the world, Dawson especially. On 25th November another Australian proved a victor, his opponent being the coloured man, Bob Dobbs, one of America’s best 9.12 men. Barron had decidedly the worst of the first round, but pulled himself together in the second, and knocked the coloured man, with the long record, dead to the world by a welldirected right-hand blow on the point. This occurred in the California Athletic Club, and Barron received £lBO ; loser, £2O. The weight was 9.12.