GENERAL NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1246, 5 March 1914, Page 29

GENERAL NOTES.

The Wellington Boxing Association has decided to hold a tournament on March 6. The chief attraction will be the match between Barney Ireland (Waipawa) and E. Lowe (Gisborne) lor tne heavyweight championship of New Zealand and a purse of £su. A number of amateur bouts will a.b_ ce decided during the evening.

Jimmy Clabby, the u.acx American middleweight boxer, who Mr. R. L. ii ax er has been successful in engaging for Australia, will leave San Francisco by the R.M.S. Sonoma on March 10. Young Ketch ell, a lightweight of repute, and Eddie Clabby, who came to Australia with his brother two years ago, a mere lad, are accompanying the famous middleweight.

The Eddie McGoorty-Jeff Smith fight has been fixed to take place at the Sydney Stadium on Saturday, March 14. The battle will be for the world’s middleweight championship, and the winner will probably be given the first chance to meet Jimmy Clabby, who has been engaged by Mr.

R. L. Baker to fight three matches in Australia. The latter battle will also be for the world’s middleweight championship, and will take place in Sydney at Easter time.

Frank Ellis’ willingness in coming forward as a substitute lor Boyo Driscoll when that boxex’ was, owing to an accident, unable to fulfil his engagement with George Taylor in Melbourne the other evening, created a very favourable impression among boxing enthusiasts. Ellis was quite unprepared for the match, and as his opponent’s slogging abilities were well known it speaks well for the exWellingtonian that he should have come forward and beaten Taylor on points.

Tne boxmg commission of New York State has decided cnat hereafter an weiginng of boxers wnf be done in a private room to winch only their managers and the commissioner shall have access. This is the result of some boxers in New York City protesting against public weighing, the same as Tacky Mcrarland did in Milwaukee when he fought Jack Britton recently, there is no reason w r hy the boxers should be compelled to weigh before a lot oi curious people unless they should want to do so of their own free will, as long as they make weight to tne satisiaction of their opponents ana the members of the commission, tnere is no reason why they should be asked to go further.

Weight 9st., about sft. Sin. in height, and 18 years of age, a good-looking f rench brunette, Mlle. Marthe Carpenter claims to be the world’s champion woman boxer. She has been in training tor the last six months in the femes quarter of Paris with M. Albany, who is an ex-champion of jiujitsu, and boasts that no white man nas ever beaten him. Despite her surname, she has no blood relationsnip with the famous French pugilist, sue explains that before she took lessons m boxing she could never venture into a crowd alone, because she was nervous, irritable and timid. Today she has none of these embarrassments, and looks what she is, a thoroughly healthy, business-like girl. In the morning she helps in her mother’s grocery shop, and in the afternoon she tries to punch her instructor. Sne has challenged any woman of her own weight in the world, and a stocky-built Swiss girl, Miss Cleveland, of Geneva, has offered to meet her in a match of 10 or 15 rounds.

Among the many humorous stories which Sam Langford can reel off when in a story-telling vein is the following amusing anecdote: — A few years ago Sam was in Indianapolis and looked after a coloured lad in a contest with an Irish boy before one of the local boxing clubs. Before the fight the black boy was extremely confident, not to say cocky, and would have staked every cent he had in the world on himself, so sure did he feel of making Irish stew out of the opposition. “How do you feel, Joe?” asked Sam before the fight. “Fine,” he replied: “you have a bet on me, Sam; I’m goin’ to win to-

night. You know my brother. He’s teen dead ten years. Well, I’ll fight uxii ae comes back.”

ane ceil cinxied, and in the first round me Irish coy knocked the coloured one down nineteen times, the oeii saving Joe from being counted out. They picked up the battered niLie warrior and put him in his chair, an rnuised and bleeding. ■‘now ao you feel now, Joe?” asked Sam.

“All right,” he replied, in a weak, faraway voice, “I think I see my brother coming.”

The welterweights are clamouring for a match with Johnny Summers, even with Johnny still in Australia witn another contest before him (says the English boxing paper, “Mirror of Life”). Gus Platts, Fred Dyer, and Pte. Basham are running a neck and neck race, but there should not be any hurry, as it may be three months or more before Summers gets back. Basham has already been selected as Summers’ opponent, it has been stated, but some elimination bouts wouiu be more satisfactory to his rivals. Basham has deposited £25 and hurled a deft at Summers, but though he has been boxing very well recently, having held Tom McCormick to a draw, his record hardly justifies him in claiming precedence over Platts and Dyer. Basham was knocked out in seven rounds by Matt Wells twelve months ago, was knocked out in five rounds by Young Nipper last spring at Liverpool, was outpointed during the summer by Joe Hirst, a lightweight who was afterwards defeated by Sapper O’Neill, and has lost a decision to Platts. The “Sheffield Blade” has beaten most of them, including Tom McCormick, and can be backed by Mr. Widdison for £2OO or £5OO against the welter champion.

Harry Stone, the clever American lightweight, has left Australia for London in company with Terry Kellar and Colin Bell, and their visit to the Old Country will be watched with considerable interest. Stone’s Australian campaign has been a highly successful one, and among the scalps he gathered in was that of Johnny Summers, whom he defeated in Brisbane on May 17 last, and again defeated the then British welterweight champion on points in Sydney on November 8. Other meritorious victories registered by Stone were his defeat on points of Hock Keyes, Joe Russell, Alf. Morey, and, greatest of all, his memorable defeat of the clever British lightweight Matt Wells. Pal Brown was his next victim, but later he sustained his only defeat in Australia, when he went under to the Victorian boxer Herb. McCoy in a twenty round battle. During the ten years he has devoted to boxing, Harry Stone, who is only 24 years of age, has met some, of the best lightweights in the world, including Jack Britton, Abe Attell, Leach Cross and Kid Sullivan, and claims to have participated in 360 battles. Stone will assuredly do well in Great Britain, but is looking forward to his return to America, where he is anxious to meet the world’s lightweight champion, Willie Ritchie, whom he considers he will deprive of his title. Before leaving the Commonwealth he announced

his intention of returning to Sydney in seven or eight months’ time.

“There’s one man who is and will always remain a credit to the fighting game, and that is Joe Choynski, the best heavyweight that ever escaped being a champion (writes Sam Austin in the New York “Police Gazette”). Joe used to be Strong for his native city of San Francisco, but is now head and shoulders in love with Pittsburgh. He is the boxing instructor at the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, a 1,000,000d01, organisation, which has one of the finest buildings in Pittsburgh. The people are all of an athletic turn of mind, says Joe, and some day Pittsburg athletes will lead the world. A. R. Hamilton, vice-president of the club, is an old-time sprint runner, and takes his daily exercise with as much enthusiasm as a schoolboy. He is an ideal type of the Pittsburgh business man, and it is C'hoynski’s opinion that few men will be able to keep up in modern times who do not take their daily exercise. Joe’s card bears his full name, and reads as follows: —‘Mr. Joseph Bartlett Choynski. Pittsburg Promotes Progress.’ The business organisations in Pittsburg have a good word for Joe and the boxing game because they feel that he does a great deal to advertise their city. Of late years Joe has become a man of settled habits, and he goes to the bank regularly with his little bunch of coin, and is well fixed for a rainy day. Although well along in the forties, Choynski looks as young as he did fifteen years ago, when he was about the best light-heavyweight in the world.”

Harlem Tommy Murphy has announced that his match with world’s lightweight champion Willie Ritchie has again been postponed. The battle has now been definitely fixed for April 17, the decision being arrived at after a conference of the managers and promoters.

A New York cable conveys the news that the famous American boxer Packy iMacFariand has entered into a contract with Mr. R. L. Baker to fight three battles in Australia. MacFarland, who is recognised as one of the speediest and cleverest boxers that ever donned a glove, will doubtless prove one of the greatest attractions ever engaged for an Australian tour. His great battles with Freddie Welsh will ever be remembered by English boxing enthusiasts, and it is generally acknowledged by fistic authorities that Packy MacFarland would, only for his inability to get within the lightweight notch by two or three pounds, be the lightweight champion of the world. Packy has always, had the misfortune of being just over the required poundage, and the leading lightweights have as a result found this an excellent excuse for side-stepping him. Still, MacFarland has not wanted for matches, and during his ten years’ connection with the boxing game he has accumulated a fortune of about £60,000. He is only 25 years of age, and it is unlikely that after completing his Australian visit he will participate in many more contests, as only lately he announced that he intended quitting the ring.