LANG’S LUCK TURNS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIX, Issue 1101, 18 May 1911, Page 10

LANG’S LUCK TURNS.

AUSTRALIAN DEFEATS LESTER. AMERICAN RECEIVES PAINFUL INJURY. The contest between Jack Lester, Tommy Burns’ protege, and Bill Lang, the Australian heavyweight champion, was decided at the Sydney Stadium on Saturday night last, in the presence of an enormous crowd. According to the cables to hand the fight proved inconclusive. Five torrid rounds were fought- Towards the close of the sixth, the American delivered a heavy blow at Lang’s body, but it landed on the Australian’s fending elbow, and Lester’s hand was partially crippled. Suffering from pain, Lester turned his back on his opponent, and started to walk to the middle of the ring. Lang followed, and was preparing to deliver a blow when the American dropped on one knee. The referee, Mr. “Snowy” Baker, thereupon disqualified Lester for dropping without receiving a blow, and proclaimed Lang the victorLester showed himself to be a willing, punishing 'fighter, but wanting in

skill, and Lang outpointed him in every round. A doctor who examined Lester stated that the hlow was driven on the circumflex nerve, near the shoulder, against the hone, causing intense pain. Lester protested ignorance of the rule which lost him the fight, and that he was allow'ed in America to do as he did. He said he was keen for another match. The result of the fight, which shows Lang to be the cleverer boxer, is rather disappointing, as but for sustaining the injury Lester would have been little the worse for whatever punishment he received in the six rounds. Lester has made no secret of the fact that he is a fighter and not a boxer, and he fully expected to win on a knockout, so that it is impossible to say whether the American would have succeeded in giving Lang his coup de grace had he been able to fight on. Lester is a dangerous opponent in the ring, and most of his battles have been won by his terrific knockout blows, and like his tutor, Tommy Burns, he is said to grow stronger each round, while he has a remarkable capacity for taking punishment. The unexpected injury which he sustained would upset his plans, and it is certain that Lester will do his utmost to secure a return match. Nobody will begrudge Bill Lang his victory, as bad luck has dogged the Melbourne pugilist ever since he left on his tour abroad, and as he is regarded as one of the pluckiest men engaged in the profession, no boxer is more deserving of a turn of luck than Australia’s champion heavyweight

Billy Crawford, of Napier, Hawke’s Bay, the well-known professional featherweight boxer, is at present cn a visit to Auckland in search of matches. Crawford is desirous of meeting any boxer in New Zealand at 9st., but states that in the event of his opponent being unable to turn the scale at this weight he is not averse to giving away a few pounds up to not more than 9st. 41b. * * « * Franisch, the Austrian strong man and wrestler, who left Auckland several years ago for Sydney, met the Scottish wrestler. McMurdo, at Warrnambool, Victoria, last week, the latter winning the match in 22 minutes. McMurdo, who was giving away weight to Franisch proved the most experienced wrestler, and though the Austrian when thrown to the floor, defied all the Scotchman’s efforts to turn him, McMurdo. finally brought his two shoulders to the mat with a half Nelson. Franisch’s second, Jack Graham, complained that Mackenzie, McMurdo’s second, had rushed round the ring giving instructions to his man, and after an argument the contestants left the ring, not, however, before a further match had been arranged between the pair for £lOO aside. * * • • Jimmy Clabby, who in his last contest in Sydney was defeated by Dave Smith, sustained a serious injury in his second contest in England. He met Harry Duncan at Mr. H. D. M’ln'osh’s Olympia. In the first round of the contest he caught Duncan a terrific punch on the head and smashed the middle knuckle of the right hand. This was the second time the bone had been 'broken, and, consequently, Clabby’s medical adviser states it will be quite three months before he is able to use it again. Clabby is returning to America. • • « When Bill Rudd, the New Zealand heavyweight boxer, met Jack Blackmore, at Hastings, on January 26 of this year, and lost to the Sydney man on afoul, he was exceedingly angry at the decision being given against him on that occasion, and one of the chief reasons of his journeying to Australia was to have another encounter with Blackmore. The second match between the pair duly came off at the Sydney Stadium the other night, before a very small attendance, and after three uninteresting rounds Rudd knocked his opponent out. Blackmore clearly proved that he is not the boxer of a few years back, and he made a decidedly poor showing against the New Zealander. The punch which broke Blackmore up was a right swing that landed on his right glove, bumping it to the jaw, and he fell back helpless, with his right arm across the top rope, which, being taut, prevented him from falling- Rudd stepped back, and Blackmore, in a dazed manner, swung a wild right and missed, and, although he recovered himself sufficiently to put his right up as a guard, Rudd’s right again crashed to the glove, and another right to the side of the head put him out.