BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 288, 29 August 1908, Page 9

BOXING.

: . CBy MEnCCBT.) -v. COMING. EVENTS.... .:. . ; September I.—Gault-Irclarid Contest''(Opera House). Setember 2.—Burns-Lang. match (Sydney); Septembor.—Otago Boxing'Association,Tournoy. ; - ;;; It cannotibe said that, the result of the big fight last-Monday occasioned much surprise in the city. The general opinion. appeared to be that Squires had cot through a big contract with credit to;,himself and his State, for though his successjvas ardontly hoped for, it is doubtful if any pne of his followers, here ■really believed in his 'hirart of : hearts that Bill" was going to lift the title. Tho first opinions as to tho manner, of. .fight, iput up by the Australian have since been 'moro than confirmed by the cabled reports, and more than that the descriptions to hajid haveTbeeii such as to absolutely 'preclude-any hint .of. the presence of that 1 bugbear "of' pugilism, technically, known as'a' "cross;"- .The grim details, as given in all their: realistic nakedness by tho cablegrams, show the struggle to have been a bitter, punishing "ordeal'foi* both men, and one from which the Canadian emerged victorious by. virtue of his long ring experience, backed by-His : almost superhuman capacity for taking punishment. Squires fought a good fight—Burns fought a better— and there you have it.y-... . Tho Sydney " Herald -' -is- quoted as saying, inter alia, that ""'the" 1 Australian; prevailed during nearly "the- whole of yesterday's fight, l and at every stage was an undoubted winner .on points." 3ow, if, this is so in point.of fact, and not merely charitable and patriotic .balm for-'the'-wounded Australian pride, it must tend'to'discount Burns-much-vaunted cleverness;,.- and ring craft. Squires never had any being' moro than moderately, -clever, : in .the ringrather the contrary, in fact—and it is hardly likely that a short year! s'experience on tour would make such a treniendous, difference. Yet we are, told that-he-outpointed Burns, who is held up. as being the king-pin. of ring subtlety and guile. Therefore, either Squires is an infinitely cloverer man "" than he : is credited with being, or-else : Burns is proportionately less- cleverer, else, again; the Australian reporter ir unduly charitable to Squires. ..... .... . . . On September 2, .Hill -Lang, tlie -resident heavy-weight _ champion of vice Bill.Squires, is to'meet Tommy Burns'in the now Stadium in Sydney.- . y It is hardly necessary to ;remind the-local sporting public of tho excellent'bill of-fare provided at the .Opera ." House" on . Tuesday " night. The is, of course,' the Gault-Ireland match;-which I ospect- to see. turn out to be much'the-same class of contest as tho Godfroy-Gdsling contest' .of last season. Gault is'a- bftxer/of; the'forcing order, whilo Ireland relies-on-pace and cleverness, qualities which : '.'slidul£"win him.-th'e battle if he can stay the 'distance—which..l think he will do.

The contest- between • H'Kibbin and "Doss" Burns.should; prove a. good introduction to the big- matclr. Wo havo never seen H'Kibbin -properly extended- yet, but I anticipate that^Burns, (a good'name just at present) will-prove, too, energetic, and pushful-for him. ■ ™ • Two' of 'tho original selections; in the -ftew Zealand team for the' Australasian championships in Brisbane on September 7 and 9, have been unable to make the trip,, and their places .were .filled by_ Metcalf, '. of 'Auckland, and Leckie,; of Wellington'.L'TKei team-that' sailed '.last week was i—Feather; W. Elliott; welter' and light, T. Metcalf; . miidle,' A. Leckie; ■heavy, 31. P. Ryan. • ' : Dick Arnst, cyclist.- and .-sculler,' •' has. according to the Sydney. ''Daily Telegraph, an eye on tie prize .ring, :Says that paper's sporting'scribe:—A conversation with Arnst yesterday turned on the fight for the world's championship between:. Squires "and"'Buhls. " I'm sorry I cannot' wait to . see it," remarked: the cyclist-sculler;-and lie added with a knowing wink, Don\t. you be'surprised ,if I tako to tho heavy-weight boxing gams myself after the. race mth'Wbb."' 'Arrist' Has certainly the weight, grit, and stamina necessary to'become a'charapion of the-fistic arena. •He has indulged in boxing in his training for cycling aud sculling, and already knows a littlo about the game.' '

IRELAND (SYDNEY) V. CAULT (N.Z.) WHO WILL WIN.?.?.' ; A large crowd assembled on the Queen's Wharf yesterday afternoon to witness the departure of the team.which will represent New Zealand at tho Australasian championships at Brisbane. There is every prospcct of. a record attendance at the boxing tourney under"'.the auspices of the Wellingtonßoxing : Association at tho Opera House on Tuesday evening. As on previous occasions, the.. association has been successful in. securing 'the'; services of exponents of no mean :prder.. That the public fully recogniso this .is evident from the-large number of soats already booked. - The-initial item on "the programme will be a contest between Morgan and Thornton, both of whom belong/to tne Physical Training School. This event is bc-ing looked forward to by many, as» the lads gave , clever displays at the anniial'competitions in connection with the schcjl. . 1

"Doss" Burns and M'Gibbon will then meet in a six-round professional 'contest;'" Both have taken part in a number of. important matches outside the Dominion,' and "during their stay here have demonstrated their undoubted • ability. Among "a'large section of patrons of the sport, "almost' as much interest is being manifested:'.iii,:this .event as in the chief 'v:. > Opinion seems to bo-equally divided-'with reference to the probable result of the "star", contest, in which tho'rprincipals are Harry Ireland, of Sydney, and Alf. Gault, of Auckland. Ireland, who arrived in Wellington some days ago, is reputed.to;b'e a clever per-' former. Compared .with Hanley,. who-put up, such a good fight with Godfrey in Wellington last year, he is slightly, more aggressive.. During his stay here'he has practised assiduously, and, in- * * consequence, • has attained tip-top form., -Gault" will be remembered as the;" 'lad • who ; accounted for. Gosling in sensational style ,in . Wellington a.few weeks ago;-- On, that occasion the contest did not last sufficiently Along, to-en-able local devotees to gainlan..insight into his methods. Ho demonstrated, in an unmistakable manner, however;- that if hi 3 opponent is at all careless, ho will quickly place him in soro straits. As Ireland is a very careful boxer, the encounter should be an interesting one. !

INVITATION TO "TOMMY" BURNS. Tho decision of the Wellington Boring Association ,to _ institute' inquiries with " a view to ascertaining the terms • which " Tommy " Burns, champion boxer of the world, would rcquiro to come here for the purpose of giving au exhibition has met with general approval. " . v. • Writing to Mr. W. F. • CorbetiT: (the Association's representative in Australia) on: the subject, the committee stated that jit fully recognised''that it would'-bo impossible to arrange anything in the nature of. a, first-class contest, in which the champion would act as a principal, but it was thought that arrangements might be made whereby ho could call at Wellington on his way .to Amorica- arid give a display either with .his trainer or .with a boxer- to be. selected. It must bo borne in mind, continued tho committee, that the association was a young • one, with limited funds nnd possibilities, and that the sport in New Zealand was in its infancy. Further that the association had no halls or public places whoro any largo crowd oo'uld meet together, and consequently tho . payment ■of a high feo for anything" approaching contest was quito out of tho . question.; In conclusion, tho committee said:—"Wo do not for one moment-imagiuo'that Burns is boxing for tho sake'-of tbharity,- and. it- is not proposed to ask him to do'so, but the committee believes that-rf hei or tho. syndicate' controlling his movements wero diplomatically approachod it might : bo'possible to arrango terms which wotdd be acceptable to both.parties. Would you" therefore do us the favour to make this suggestion to Burns or his managers, and advise us at:your earliest convenience of the rosult ? There can be no doubt that a visit from the'champion, if only to give au exhibition,' would', be of immense value to tho Eport''in New Zea-land-'-i -• - - - •