BOXING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1160, 4 July 1912, Page 19

BOXING.

The finals of the Auckland, amateur boxing championships will be fought in the Town Hall to-night (Thursday), when some exciting bouts should be witnessed by patrons. In all classes the type of ooxer engaged evidences the rapid progress that boxing has made in Auckland of late years. In addition to the leading local amateurs that have entered for the championships, the names of such sterling exponents -as /W. OtS.ulliyan (N.S.W. and Australasian lightweight champion 1909), S. Mitchell (runnerup for the N.S.W. welterweight championship), L. Berger (Canterbury welterweight champion 1911 and runnerup 1912) figure on the list of competitors. The fact of two clever performers in Auckland in past tournaments in Gordon Menzies (Auckland featherweight champion 1909) and E. Manly (ex-Auckland middleweight champion) making their reappearance adds considerable interest to the championship carnival, and as tonight’s programme is certain to provide a regular treat for boxing enthusiasts the Town Hall should be filled with a representative audience. * cjs To-night Allan Maxwell (whose portrait is reproduced herewith) will

-jmeet the Auckland lightweight, Alf. Gault, in a fifteen rounds contest for .a £5O purse. As both men are clever .and vigorous boxers, the contest should prove an exciting one. Maxwell has come into the limelight during the past year as one of the best lightweights in the Dominion, and on every occasion that he has engaged in contests the audience has been treated to an exciting match, as being able to withstand much punishment he is able to last the fiercest bouts. In Gault he will have an opponent worthy of his mettle, and therefore the clash ’ between the pair in the Town Hall to-night should result in one of the finest contests yet staged in Auckland.

Mr. W. Chapman, manager for the clever American heavyweight, Dan (“Porky”) Flynn is at present on a visit to Auckland, and will leave at the end of the week for the States, where he will join Flynn, who has arrived in ’Frisco from Sydney. Mr. Chapman speaks enthusiastically of his charge, whom he is convinced is the coming “White Hope.” This opinion is not only shared by Flynn’s manager, but by a number of boxing authorities who witnessed the youthful Bostonian (for he has only just turned 21) fight Sam Langford in Melbourne recently. In next week’s issue we will reproduce a photograph of Dan Flynn, who, according to his manager, has only to cultivate a ha^' 7 < punch to place him at the top of the

championship ladder, as his cleverness, capacity for taking punishment and general ring craft are beyond question. * * * Mr. J. H. Trudgeon, formerly sec- . retary of the Northern Boxing Association, is at present on a holiday visit to Auckland, and attended the championship carnival in the Town Hall last night. sK ❖ :fe sj; Mrs. Sam Langford is a' passenger by the R.M.S. Makura, which called at Auckland on Tuesday en route to Sydney, whither she is going to join her husband. In looking into the future it may not be assuming too much to expect boxing contests in Auckland between Australians who have journeyed across the Tasman under contract to the local association and American boxers who happen to be passing through Auckland en route to Sydney. During the past year many American boxers of note have stepped off the mail boat at Auckland, either on their way to Sydney or when breaking their return trip to the States. Among their number may be mentioned Sam Langford, Tommy Burns, Johnny Thompson, Jim Barry, the Clabby Brothers,

Terry Keller and others. Of course, it would be next to impossible to provide opponents for the heavyweights, but as regards the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions it may happen that their visit may clash with that of Australian boxers who are in Auckland for the purpose of fulfilling engagements. It would then be quite feasible to arrange a match at one or the local tournaments between, say, an Australian and an American light, welter, or middleweight of note, as the case happens to be, as this would at best only necessitate the American delaying his departure for Sydney a few days. With Auckland the port of call for the Vancouver boats there will be quite a large number of American boxers calling at Auckland at regular intervals when in a few months’ time the boxing season opens in Australia, whither so many American exponents of pugilism are lured since Mr. Hugh D. Mclntosh first commenced to boom the game in the Commonwealth. ❖ * * Whilst on the subject of American boxers visiting Auckland it is worth mentioning that Mr. W. Chapman, manager for Dan Flynn, is anxious to secure a match in Auckland for “Terry” Keller, the American middleweight. who is at present in Australia. Keller has engaged in several contests since his arrival in Australia, and as later on he will be ca’llng at Auckland on his homeward

voyage to the States, he has asked Mr. Chapman to make a match for him if possible, to take place in the Northern city. Keller at present turns the scale at about 11.6, and his most recent engagement was with Bill Rudd, the ex-New Zealander, a fortnight ago at the Sydney Gaiety, when he scored a knockout in the thirteenth round.

Louis S. Robertson, the well-known Stratford wrestler, has decided to retire from wrestling matches, and his contest last week with Joe Preschner, the English wrestler, marked his last appearance on the mat. The contest in question, which was decided at Stratford, proved one of the most scientific exhibitions that has taken place in the annals of wrestling in the Dominion, Robertson obtaining a fall after 78 minutes’ wrestling. Robertson’s skill as a wrestler has frequently been referred to in these columns, and the retirement of so fine an athlete will prove a big loss to the sport of wrestling, as he has done much to foster this branch of athletics in recent years. Joe Preschner intends visiting Australia at an early date, and the many friends he has made in the Dominion will wish him the best of luck in wrestling engagements on the other side of the Tasman.

To-day (July 4) is of special interest to followers of boxing in all parts of the world, as at Las Vegas (U.S.) the American heavyweight* “Fireman” Jim Flynn, will attempt the same task in which James J. Jeffries so utterly failed just two years ago, namely, to restore the world’s boxing championship crown to the white race. As the acknowledged, king of the “White Hopes,” Jim Flynn will to-day face Jack Johnson, the great negro pugilist, in the hempen square, with the grim determination to make the effort of his life to wrest the championship from the coloured race, and whether he will succeed in his mission will be answered when the cables flash the news of the battle across from America. The latest cables received in Australia from the scene of to-day’s battle are of a conflicting nature, but it is evident that a big effort is being made to prevent the fight from taking place at Las Vegas. In the event of Governor McDonald, of New Mexico, succeeding in blocking the contest, it will probably take place at Ciudad Juarez.

Other troubles have arisen in connection with the battle, Tommy Ryan, who was in charge of Flynn’s training operations, having resigned owing to the absence of harmony in the camp. Ryan has since come out with the statement that Flynn is in no condition to stand a winning chance against Johnson, but to this announcement Jack Curley, the fireman’s manager, gives an emphatic denial, and points out that Dr.' Shaw, who examined both Johnson and Flynn, asserted that the fireman carried very little fat. Curley also ridicules the report to the effect that Governor McDonald is determined to stop the fight. Legal experts have advised Curley that there is no law under which the Governor can prevent the fight taking place.

The report that Jack Johnson would insist on a 20ft. enclosure is denied by the champion, who says that he has no objection to the 17ft. ring that Curley has provided for. The coloured heavyweight has worked strenuously at his training during the past fortnight, and predicts that he will win on a knock-out inside 12 rounds.

Billy Papke, world’s middleweight champion, cannot be regarded as a “has been” just at present, despite his poor showing in short contests since he defeated the English champion, Jim Sullivan, in London, for

last week he succeeded in defending his title against the famous Welsh middleweight, Owen Moran, whom he defeated in Paris.

So phenomenal a run of success have the French boxers had during the past few months, that the result of the contest between the American, Frank Klaus, and the famous French glove artist, Georges Carpentier, in Paris, last week, in which the former gained the verdict in the eighteenth round came as a big surprise to followers of boxing. However, the victory was hardly a satisfactory one, as Carpentier’s second pulled his principal away in the eighteenth round, contending that Klaus had fouled him. This action caused quite a sensation among the ringsiders, the referee having no option than to award the fight to the American. It is practically certain that the pair will meet again shortly, as Klaus is not averse to giving Carpentier, whom he regards as an undoubted champion, another match.

L. Caldwell, who is to represent Wanganui at the New Zealand championship meeting at Wellington in the heavyweight class, is spoken of by a Wellington writer as a likely winner. Caldwell is a young and very powerful fighter, who can hit a tremendous blow with either hand (says our Wanganui correspondent). He is close on 13 stone, nearly 6 feet in height, game as a pebble and very cool, but he has a lot to learn so far as science goes. He is practically untaught so far, but intends to get some ten days training under a clever boxer here, which should improve him considerably.