BOXING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIX, Issue 1090, 26 January 1911, Page 12

BOXING.

JEM MACE’S FUNERAL. The funeral of Jem Mace took place at Liverpool (says a London exchange). A large gathering of boxers, old and young, assembled at Anfield Cemetery, where the body was borne from the residence of the dead boxer’s daughter in Walton, Mrs M‘Millan. Jem Mace was well known personally in Liverpool. He had lived there many years ago, and it was recalled that one of his proteges was a black, who was known as Jem Mace’s Smiler. The city is now a very important centre for pugilists, and many wellknown veterans were present at the funeral. They talked of the many battles they had fought, and of the changed conditions of to-day. In addition, old friends of the late boxer were numerous, sporting men generally being well represented. The ceremony was conducted by a son of the champion, Mr Alf. Mace, of Devonport, and the floral tributes very striking, one being sent by the National Sporting Club. Attached to one of the wreaths was a card bearing the following: — Where hardy heroes nature’s weapons yield He stood unconquered champion of the - field. Time counts him out, but memory will remain; We ne’er shall look upon his like again. THE NELSON-MORAN BATTLE. THE BATTLER BADLY BEATEN. American papers just to hand give full particulars of the recent NelsonMoran battle fought in San Francisco. Battling Nelson, of Hegewisch, Illinois. will no longer menace the lightweight belt. For the first time in his fighting career, the “Durable Dane,” a shell of the once great pugilist, was knocked out beyond all dispute. Owen Moran, a sturdy lad from Birmingham, England, did the feat in the presence of one of the largest crowds that ever assembled at a glove contest in San Francisco. Moran knocked Nelson out in the eleventh round of a scheduled 20round event, his victory being clean and leaving no room for argument as to his complete mastery over the

one-time champion. But he was compelled to drop Nelson five times in this round for, despite the force of the Briton’s hand punches on the point of the chin, the wonderful fighting spirit of the Dane was ever present. MASTER AT ALL TIMES . Moran, from the first tap of the gong, proved himself complete master of the situation. There was not one round of the 11 fought that could be accredited to Nelson. Th) Dane was always the aggressor, his evident intention being to force Moran to fight close. In this he was accommodated, but the fight was scarcely two rounds old before Moran showed that he, too, could fight at the “Battler’s” old game. Round after round, Moran would step back, sidestep and dance around the aggressive Nelson, all the while shooting in straight, forceful punches to the jaw and head. He seldom suffered a punch in return. The eleventh and final round opened with neither fighter perceptibly in distress. Moran, who apparently had been biding his time for a finishing blow, got his chance when Nelson, with bowed head, rushed into close quarters. Moran flung on the jaw. Down the Dane went to his haunches for the count of nine. It was the same kind of blow which several months ago caught Tom McCarthy oft his guard. He subsequently died as a result of the fight, and the ousting of the Jeffries-Johnson bout from California followed. TOTTERING AT THIS PERIOD. Nelson tottered to his feet, bleeding and dazed. Moran stood back, waiting for him. Again the Briton’s powerful right shot out and Nelson dropped to the mat once more. The performance was thrice more repeated. Moran each time reaching Nelson’s unprotected jaw with his right. With the last knock down the referee and the time-keeper counted the fateful ten. When Referee Selig declared Moran the victor, Moran turned a handspring into the arms of his seconds and dashed from the ring without a mark to indicate that he had been in a fight. “I always knew r could turn the trick,” he later declared, “and you bet I feel proud to have been the first man to put Nelson out. Now I want Wolgast. The sooner the match can be made the better.” NELSON LODGES PROTEST. Nelson declared that he had been counted out prematurely. He said: It lacked but three seconds for the round to end, and I believe that I ’vould have been as fresh as ever in the next round. However, Moran deserves all the credit. He is a great little lighter, and will be able to hold his own against any of them.” The contest was the first 20-round bout to be held in San Francisco since last June, when Gov. Gillett stepped in and put a, temporary stop to fighting of more than 10 rounds’ duration, and the fight followers are hopeful of the future. It is estimated that 8,000 perosns witnessed the fight. The receipts amounted to about £3,600. The battle, which ended in the eleventh round by Owen Moran’s right cross that sent Bat Nelson to the carpet for the count, settled the controversy as to whether Nelson could come back and it also put Moran in line for a. fight with Champion Wolgast. Five times Nelson went to the carpet in the latter part of the eleventh round before his bulldog courage gave way and he submitted to the fatal count—the first which the fighter ever took.

ings in various parts of the world, chief of which are the Terra Nova leaving Port Cardiff for the South Pole, fatal railway smash at Hellesden, and the unveiling of Sir Henry Irving’s statue at Charing Cross. A splendid military film is screened of “The Fugitive” depicting several exciting incidents in the Great Civil War. “Oronko’s Vow” is a sterling film, illustrating an Indian love tale. A trick film of a most amusing character is that of “Bewitched Portraits,” while a trio of great laughter producers are shown in “Sufferer from Insomnia,” “The Puzzle” and “Tontolini Bassoon.”