BOXING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1163, 25 July 1912, Page 13

BOXING.

The Wanganui representatives at the New Zealand championship tourney all acquitted themselves well, though they tailed to land a championship. Hogan boxed in good style on the opening night in the welter ciass, but though he won his bout he was unable to compete again owing to breaking his hand. Bond put up a good display in the lightweight division, but was not clever enough to lands the goods. L. Caldwell, the heavyweight, performed splendidly, and gives every promise of developing into a champion. He lacked experience, as was pointed out in these columns before the tourney, and to this fact alone was his defeat in the final by Fitzsimmons due. He made a very, favourable impression, his ■ pluck, coolness, and ability to hit being much admired. He is only a youth, and with his splendid physique must go very near the top next season if he has any tuition in the meanwhile. * Abe Attell, ex-featherweight cham- . pion of the world, who, early this year suffered defeats at the hands of Johnny Kilbane and Tommy Murphy, is to meet the latter boxer at San Francisco on AUgust 3. 3: * # , Matters in the fistic world in America have quietened down considerably since the Johnson-Flynn fiasco. Jim Flynn has gone on to New York to seek matches with Al. Palzer, Carl Morris, Luther M’Carthy, and any other “white hopes” who may be itching for trouble. Jack Johnson has now made the announcement that he would like to meet Joe Jeanette in New York, but it is clear that it is not a desire to meet the big coloured boxer so much as a desire to convince the Boxing Commission that they had no right to discriminate against him, and that he wants to appear in New York. The champion is willing to sign on any time before Labour Day. * * * * An X-ray examination of Ad. Wolgast’s left hand has revealed that it was broken in three places during his recent fight with Rivers for the lightweight championship of the world. ■* * * * Carl Morris, back in the cab of his engine, has made boxing followers sit up (not to his boxing ability), by declaring that the glove game is brutal and the followers of it in New York a lot of thugs, all of which goes to show that Carl’s knowledge of what he speaks is in strict keeping with his knowledge of the game in which he attempted to shine —very poor. Morris has demonstrated at least two things—that size is not the only essential for a successful boxer; also, that the millions of an-oil king cannot make a locomotive engineer into a successor to James J. Jeffries. * ¥ V ❖ Battling Nelson, ex-lightweight champion of the world, says fighting is the only fun he has. Two injured hands, a broken nose, battered face, a pair of cauliflower ears, a broken thumb, and two broken ribs are tributes of the furious “fun” the Battler enjoys. Although 50 years old and “all in” so far as the roped arena is concerned, Bob Fitzsimmons keeps his arm in trim. “I’m growing old, but I’ll never be too old to fight when a lady is insulted,” said the former horseshoer in Chicago the other day, in commenting on the walloping he delivered to a young “masher” in a local hotel. The man was severely chastised by Fitz after he had made “googoo” eyes at Miss Myrtle Byrnes, the former fighter’s vaudeville partner. Fitz dragged the man from the din-ing-room and administered a spanking when they got to the sidewalk. Jp * . * Billy Papke, the middleweight champion, whose retirement from the ring has been announced on more than one occasion lately, would appear to have returned to his old-time form, for only a few weeks back he defeated the famous French boxer, Marcel Moreau, in Paris, in a battle for the lightweight championship of the world. The “Illinois Thunderbolt” thus retains the title of the class once made famous by such great performers as Dempsey, Fitzsimmons, Tommy Ryan, and in later days—Stanley Ketchel. Should Papke, however, be matched against the French champion, Georges Carpen-

tier, who, though only 20 years of age, has already won £20,000 in stakes since taking up boxing as a profession, there will probably be a new middleweight champion, for the American boxer is known to be anything but a consistent performer in the roped arena. •k *s• V It is hardly likely that Billy Papke will ever reproduce the great form he displayed in his memorable battles with the late Stanley Ketchel. Since the last-named star passed away, however, not a man has come to the front who furnished evidence of sufficient ability to win and wear the mantle fallen from the shoulders of the deceased pugilist. On the death of Ketchel the latter’s ancient rival, Papke, at once claimed the title by virtue of having scored one

victory over Stanley. True, Ketchel itterward defeated Papke decisively, but as the Illinois boxer was the only middleweight who succeeded in registering a black mark against Ketchel’s name, the former’s claim appeared to be fairly logical. But that trip to Australia resulted badly for Papke’s hopes. Two defeats, one at the hands of Dave Smith, the other by Johnny Thompson, put a couple of nasty dents in the Papke record. He redeemed himself in a measure by whipping Smith in a return match, but as Smith is looked upon as a boxer of mediocre standing, Papke didn’t gain much by his triumph. * * :S * According to an American authority the “400” of Louisville negroes entertained Massa Jack Johnson at a local undertaker’s establishment. The coloured folk toasted the champion until long after midnight, whilst the coffins which had been displayed on the lower floor were moved out of the way. It is not on record whether the party held a moonlight dance in the local cemetery, or whether Jack was put in a shroud for the purpose of appearing in the role of Pepper’s Ghost. ❖ * ❖ * The Wellington Boxing Association have matched “Billy” Hannan, of Maitland (N.S.W.) and D. Murphv (N.Z.) for the welter championship of

the Dominion. The contest is to take place in the Town Hall, Wellington, in the first week in August. * * w si: The New Zealand championship results point to Tiniaru being the home of boxing in New Zealand, for representatives from that town captured three championships. The 1912 amateur boxing champions of New Zealand are as follows: —Bantamweight, J. Gunn, Timaru; featherweight, G. Barr, Wairarapa; lightweight, M. M'Grath, Timaru; welterweight, G. Watchorn, Manawatu; middle-weight, S. Monaghan, OhaKune; heavy-weight, R. Fitzsimmons, Timaru. * * * * B. Payne, the Auckland bantamweight. met a more experienced boxer in T. Kutner, the clever Wellingconian, the latter securing the decision after an interesting bout. Payne impressed the audience as a result of his aggressiveness, and with a little more experience is certain to turn out well at the game.

Had Gilchrist, the Auckland bantamweight, been a competitor at the New Zealand championships he would probably have secured the title, as his dangerous hooks would have played havoc with his opponents. Gilchrist was not well at the time of the Auckland championships, and consequently did not reproduce his true form. In addition to being a very clever exponent, Gilchrist is an aggressive boxer, who carries a heavy punch in either hand. * * * ck H. McKenzie, who represented Auckland, in the featherweight division at the Dominion championships, defeated A. Lane (Otago) on a foul the first night, and A. Jervois (Manawatu) the second evening. The Aucklander was considered lucky in gaining the decision over Lane in the manner he did, as the Otago boy was one of the cleverest boxers seen at the tournament. After defeating Jervois, there appeared every likelihood of McKenzie bringing the championship back to Auckland with him, but an injury to his groin unfortunately prevented him from competing in the final. 3c gc J. Whalley, the young Auckland lightweight, made a very favourable impression upon the critics at the New Zealand boxing championships, but he found the handicap of giving away so much weight too great to

even carry him through the first night successfully. His opponent was L. McGrath (Timaru), and he succeeded in knocking the Southerner down twice in the first round, but in the second round the Timaru man floored him with a heavy right cross, which ended in his taking the count. After Whalley’s excellent showing against an opponent to whom he was conceding 121 b in weight, it seems a great pity that he did not take off l%lb in weight, and compete in the feather-weight class, in which he would assuredly have proved a hard nut to crack. * * * * Auckland’s representative in the welterweight division, M. Mitchell was unlucky in meeting such a pastmaster as Geoffrey Watchorn, of Manawatu, who won the amateur championship for the third time, while in 1910, it will be remembered, Watchorn established his claim to the Australasian amateur welterweight championship at the carnival held in Auckland. The Manawatu boxer went very close to having his colours lowered by the Aucklander, but it was evident that Watchorn was not up .to his usual form. Mitchell brought into operation that right swing of his which won for him the Auckland championship, and Watchorn could do no better than equalise th e honours of the bout. The referee, however, gave his decision in favour of Watchorn, a verdict which was by no means unanimous among the audience. * * * The Auckland heavyweight, J. Dwyer, was not expected to do anything sensational at the championship meeting, as he secured winning honours in the Northern province simply as the result of defeating a much smaller opponent. Dwyer, who is quite a young fellow, is far from an experienced boxer, and his one and only opponent at the championship gathering was the Wanganui lad, P. Caldwell, who easily gained the decision over his heavier rival. Caldwell repeatedly worried the Aucklander by his clean hitting, and after sending him to the boards twice in the third round for seven and eight seconds respectively, the referee stopped the bout and declared Caldwell the winner. N. Bond, the Wanganui lightweight, put up a plucky showing against the Wellingtonian, E. Stewart, who secured the verdict after a keenly-fought bout. Bond has a splendid guard, which has a puzzling effect upon his opponents, and though beaten by Stewart, he was nevertheless responsible for a convincing display. sfc ❖ A Wellington critic thus refers to the winner of the New Zealand amateur heavyweight championship:—Of the heavyweights who competed at the carnival R. Fitzsimmons has the most science, clever foot-work, a double left to the jaw, and a right follow on, but he leaves his point as open as the day. There will be a funeral some day if he doesn’t learn to block a common or garden “hook” with something besides his jaw. In his bout with Caldwell he just earned the laurels. Had the Wanganui boy started mixing it earlier he would probably have reversed the decision. In Fitzsimmons, McQuarrie, Matthewson, and Caldwell, the Dominion possesses a good quartette of heavyweights, and, although Caldwell has a good bit to learn yet, any of the above four could be depended upon to give an Australian heavy a run for his money. Matthewson showed; some very clean hitting, but his blows lacked sting. His blocking was also the best of the heavy brigade. « T. * * Among the events mentioned as likely to take place in Wellington during the season are the following: — “Denny” Murphy v. Billy Hannan for the welter championship; Hegarty v. Ellis, for the feather title; and a lightweight fight, Gault v. Porter, Cook, or Allan Maxwell. Should a return match be successfully arranged between Gault and Maxwell, an unusually good contest should be witnessed, as their recent encounter in Auckland was so even that the decision in favour of the Aucklander came in for much criticism at the hands of boxing enthusiasts. * * * * The work of erecting a roof over the boxing stadium at Rushcutter’s Bay, Sydney, is now nearing completion. and everything points to the coming season being a highly successful one.