BOXING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, 1 August 1912, Page 13

BOXING.

Ad. Wolgast, who went dangerously close to losing his title of “King of the lightweights” in his recent encounter with the Mexican boxer, Joe Rivers, may yet be toppled from his pedestal as negotiations are beingmade for a return match between the pair at Los Angelos on Labour Day. Wolgast will receive £3OOO for the match, while Rivers’ share of the gate receipts will be £l6OO, win, lose, or draw. In view of the fierce battle which they put up on Independence Day the keenest interest is centred in their second meeting, and much speculation is being indulged in by American fight . critics regarding the probable outcome of what should prove a battle royal between the world’s greatest lightweights. With the exception of the heavyweight championship no other division claims anything like the attention from boxing followers as the lightweight class made famous by that wonderful fighter, Battling Nelson, who lost his title to Wolgast in the 40th round after a sensational battle. The lightweight championship appeared to be secure in Wolgast’s possession for some years to come after his defeat of the hardy Dane, but since he was laid low with an attack of appendicitis fears have been constantly entertained by Wolgast’s admirers that the lightweight champion had lost his strength and stamina. His close call with Joe Rivers coming on top of this has been taken as a sure sign that the “Michigan Wildcat” (by which sobriquet Wolgast is known in the States) has lost much of his old-time form, and many of the best boxing authorities are to be found predicting his defeat when he next enters the ring against Joe Rivers. * # <<■' It will perhaps be remembered that the first serious bout in which Wolgast engaged after his illness, was a four-round contest with Willy Richie. In this battle Wolgast is reported to have been as savage as ever in attack, -while it must not be forgotten that fohr rounds is most emphatic,ally not a Wolgast route, as the lightweight champion takes time to get into his stride, and is always found fighting more effectively towards the end of a long- bout. In his engagement with Richie, however, he put on an extra burst of speed, which surprised the onlookers, and twice he sent Richie to the floor with his punches, but Richie fought back valiantly, and by dint of punishing straight left jabs wrought havoc with Wolgast’s features. In fact, the champion sported a pair of discoloured eyes at the close of the bout’ and his lips were cut up as a result of Richie’s left-hand visitations. Wolgast, however, is always willing to take a couple of punches for the sake of getting in close and landing one, and seldom escapes a little hand painting on his visage. Wolgast has demonstrated his right to the title of world’s lightweight champion by virtue of many hard-fought battles, and should he meet defeat at the hands of Joe Rivers in their forthcoming battle many boxing critics will no doubt point to the recent operation which he underwent for appendicitis as the cause of his downfall. * Sjt * Opinions have been about equally divided as to whether Wolgast is likely to suffer from the effects of the operation performed on him for appendicitis. Many surgeons aver that quite a number of athletes have gone under the knife, and inside of a few months have been unable to resume their strenuous exertions, with vitality apparently unimpaired by the ordeal through which they have passed. On the other hand there have been cases where a lasting weakness remained, and the frame of the athlete had never recovered its former muscular power and ability to stand fatigue. According to Ameri~n writers, Ad. Wolgast never looked better than he does at present, end if there is a weak snot in anatomy it does not show when he indulges in gymnastic practice, for he goes at his muscular exercises with all the vim and snap that has always distinguished him. But, judging by the narrow escape he had of losing his title in his battle with Joe Rivers on July 4, the crucial test will assuredly come when he engages in the return match with the Mexican lightweight.

Joe Rivers, upon whom American boxing followers are at present concentrating a great deal of attention, is being looked to as the coming lightweight champion of the world. Cables from San Francisco last month conveyed the news that a better-conditioned boxer than Rivers never entered a ring, and his excellent showing against Wolgast in that battle makes his future full of promise. During his career as a fighter Rivers has proved his ability to hit a terrific punch, and carry an opponent along at a heartbreaking pace, but at the same time the results of several of his battles have demonstrated that his jaw is none of the strongest. Johnny Kilbane, now featherweight champion of the world by virtue of his defeat of Abe Attel 1 . recently ousted Joe Rivers neatly, and beyond all argument, with a straight drive on the point, and yet Kilbane is more noted for his cleverness than his hard-hitting powers. In the case of Wolgast, his capacity to withstand severe punishment is one of his strongest qualities, and he has taken savage jolts on his jaw times without number, and has always managed to shake off the effects in quick time, and rush his opponent more feroci-

ously than ever. In fact, this ability to take and give punishment is the quality that has enabled him to climb to the topmost rung of the pugilistic ladder. That Wolgast is not too anxious to meet Rivers again is borne out by the latest cables from Los Angelos, which state that the champion has refused to sign a contract to tight Rivers a return match on Labour Day. He says he is out of condition, and would be unable to fit himself for what he knows would be a gruelling match. Mr M’Carey, the promoter of the contest, contends that Wolgast had practically consented to let the match go on, but the champion says he realises that the removal of his appendix has caused a loss of strength which he wants to build up. “Anyhow,” he said to an interviewer, “I have a right to a postponement. Tell Rivers I’ll not run away from him. I want him again, and I’ll be ready for him in six or seven months.” Levy, the manager for Rivers, accuses Wolgast of cowardice. * * * * Robert Fitzsimmons, who just won the amateur heavyweight championship of New Zealand at Wellington, is a nephew of Bob Fitzsimmons, and hails from Timaru, where he can be seen working at the same anvil on which his uncle pounded shoes into shape in the old days. * * * * Tom O’Rourke thinks quite a lot about his protege, Al Palzer, and wants the world to know just what

he thinks. So he is carting the lowa farmer around the States and letting everybody hear what he himself has to say, as well as see for themselves. “Al Palzer,” he says, “is the most promising material for championship calibre before the boxing world today. You all know what he has accomplished in the short time he has been in the game. His greatest fight, and the one which placed him as a prospective worthy opponent of Jack Johnson, was the knocking out of Al Kauffman, who up till then was regarded as the best white heavyweight in the world at that time. Palzer had only a few months’ experience, practically, when he stopped Kauffman, a veteran as fighters go. Since then he has been under my guidance, the subject of which has been to develop him to whip Jack Johnson, and I think he has the makings. He is not a naturally clever boxer, and depends on his ruggedness and aggressiveness to carry the fight to his opponent and beat him down by main strength. Realising that this would not get him very far with a man of Johnson’s, skill and hitting power I am teaching him the defensive art and the finer points of the offensive game to reinforce his natural fighting ability. He has proved himself an apt pupil, showing an eagerness to learn and a quick intelligence that has made him improve every day. I am confident

that he is the one man to-day who stands a show, and a good one, of beating Jack Johnson.” « * ❖ * Jack Johnson has announced that if Joe Jeanette wants to fight for the world’s heavyweight championship he must first meet Sam Langford. “Then I will meet the winner in Australia,” he added. The champion has stated his intention of sailing for Australia early in September to fight Langford and M‘Vea, for which matches he had already signed up. # * * * A cable from New York states that Bombardier Wells knocked out Tom Kennedy, the New York “white hope,” in the eighth round of a fast fight the other night. The English heavyweight showed some of his old form, which has been lacking since his arrival in America. The knockout was the finishing touch to the fastest fight seen there for many years. Working hard, Wells floored Kennedy for the count of nine, and then a series of smashing blows sent him down and out. • * • • Aucklanders who attended the recent boxing championships in Wellington speak highly of the courteous treatment they received at the hands of the officials of the Wellington Boxing Association. The Auckland team of boxers in particular appreciated the hospitality of the Wellington boxing officials, who left nothing undone to make their visit to the Empire .City an enjoyable one- Mr Frank Burns, who ‘ managed the Auckland

boxing team, is loud in his praise of the coraiai welcome extended the Auckianuers, who, though they did not have the satisfaction of bringing uacK a championship title to the Northern City, were nevertheless well pleased with their trip to Wellington Battling Nelson, who has only taken part in short exhibition bouts since he was defeated by Wolgast for the world's lightweight championship, has definitely decided to never again don the gloves, and will henceforth slip back into the refuge of veteran fighters. Nelson has come to this decision as the result of having broken his hands in a contest four months ago. The famous Battler at the time took the matter lightly, but on having his hands put under the X-rays by a leading American physician, and carefully and thoroughly examined, that authority remarked to Nelson:—“Battler, your hands are gone, and I regret to add that your days as a great fighter are over.” The Dane took the sentence stoically, fully realising that his sun as a boxer had set. It will be many days before a worthy successor to Battling Nelson is found. * * * »Je The National Sporting Club of London is making an effort, through its American representative, to match Jem Driscoll, the featherweight champion of Great Britain, with Johnny Kilbane, for the fea-ther-weight championship of the world. Kilbane, as king of the feather-weights, has been much in the limelight since he gave Abe Attel a severe lacing. He is 23 years of age, and claims Cleveland, Ohio, as his birthplace. If there ever was a boy who liked to fight, that boy is Johnny Kilbane. There is plenty of Irish fighting spirit in his makeup, and he fought just as hard for nothing in his boyhood days as he does now for purses worth thousands of dollars. * * * * Johnny Kilbane has only been in the fighting profession for five years, and in that time has achieved the goal of his ambitions by winning the feather-weight championship of the world. The first real fight—-that event which makes or ruins many a fighter—had the same effect on Kilbane that it has had on other pugilists who have attained fame. He was scared nearly to death when he entered the ring, and wanted to dash back to his dressing room, get on . his clothes, and get out into the fresh air. Zahniser, his opponent, was larger than Kilbane, a fact which didn’t help Kilbane’s mental condition one bit at that time. But Kilbane saw he was up against it, and had to go through with what he had started. He gathered all the courage he could muster, and, when the gong sounded, he brought into play all his boxing knowledge. In the ninth round Zahniser was stretched cut on the canvas for the ten count. * X: . . For a period of a year after his fight with Zahniser, Johnny Kilbane did not do much active ring work, but his first victory gave him what he needed most —confidence in his own ability. So he spent his time boxing in the gymnasium with his tutor, Jimmy Dunn, a veteran featherweight, where his improvement was rapid. Kilbane had a couple of other bouts in the year 1907, but it was not until 1908 that he began to run up against the real thing in fighting stock. He fought and was beaten a couple of times by his namesake, Tommy Kilbane, who isn’t any relation. From that time on he kept busy, taking all the matches he could get. Among the victories was one over Jack White, a noted Chicago featherweight, who later also aspired to’ Attel’s crown. Sc * Kilbane’s real success can be dated from the time he defeated Jack White on a decision at Columbus, Ohio. The bout was over the twelve round route, on February 14, 1911. There were no obstacles that he could not overcome after that until he ran against Joe Rivers, the Mexican whirlwind, in May of last year. He lost the decision. Since that time, however, Kilbane has had the pleasure of reversing that decision by knocking out Rivers in sixteen rounds. But that wasn’t anything compared to his triumph of taking the championship away from Abe Attel, the crowning victory of his career. Kilbane is one of the fighters who is “good to' his folks,” in the strict sense of the word. He has a wife and baby and a blind father in Cleveland, whom he takes care of.