BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 568, 24 July 1909, Page 12

BOXING.

IB* Mercurt.)

FIXTURES. July 28. ; Tracy v. Boh Turner (Hastings). July 29.—Tourney (Town Hall), Clarke v. Lockio. j . ' August.—-Tracy v. Unholz (Town Hall). ; September.-rHawke's Bay championships. September 25 and 27.—Australasian, cham-" pionships (Sydney)l ■ . ■■■■.'

• Tho local association has all,'matters in connection with next -Thursday's tourney ■ in tho Town Hall well forward and, as far as can be judged, the; evening's entertainment should bo one Of the brightest yet, submitted to a Wellington' gathering.; Both the par-! tioipants in tho -bigmatch' report themsolvos as bein 0 - fit' and ready. Leckie is particularly Well on in his preparation, and seems determined tc leave no stono . unturned to make his maiden appearance as !a professional a. creditable one. ; Clark is, or has been, in Marlborough, and .''Meroury" is assured by Mr. M. Hogan, who is acting as his guido, philosopher, and friend, that he is in fine fettle, and that his . showing will be of the best. ; The, preliminary will be above the standard of the ordinary, curtain-raiser, as the 'majority of the contestants will have their New Zealand 'championship experience and condition thick upon them. !" - ■ ■ ■'. '!' • ■

- The Christchurch Sports Club is to be congratulated on its enterprise in bringing together two such men'as Jim Griffin and Arthur and indeed! it •is running the Wellington Association very close ps a livo and .going concern.;, In fact, on present indications, the'latter body will have to look to its laurels if it wislies to .retain;its present position as the leading and most enterprising of the. r.BSociations. A competition for good professional bouts between these two bodies would be'hailed with delight by tile public, who would greatly .enjoy tho resulting, high standard oi' the exhibitions, but a note of warning! must bo sounded tn this connection. .Thisprofessional business can' bQ overdone,, and whilo a, reasonable, numberof good-, professional bouts is both requisite a-nd necessary from an educative standpoint, it must not bo forgotten what is, or should be, the chief aim of those associations. This aim should cortainly not be the mere putting oh of a good stow for the gratification of'. the public, and the consequent raising, of a corps of leisured gentry living on the game. This feature'of tho sport, is-one,!. that' brings into nJI . those; objectionable is-' sues that unfortunately lie so close under tho surface of things pugilistic, and which must be'kept under if the sport'fc( tp-prosper.-gooJ the associations should be .striving'for .is' the nailifting. and government of bo,\i>og -as a; branch of athletics, so'as to make it an attraotivo and useful pastime for the young a.nd,vigorous, and a scientific) and therefore pleasing, spectacle. for those whoso ; day of active 1 participation is past... 'It is certainly not the exploitation of . the sport for tho benefit of those who would rather do any-, thing, even fight.' (with gloves oti), than work, and .who in the past have been so successful in making a .manly spoi-t smell .in the 'nostrils of, decent people. Boxing associations should aspire to liiglier .tilings than tho acquisition of a \ reputation for successful "fight promoting," and suoli notoriety as surrounds the great American "stoush merchants."

At the time,of writing no word has been rocoLved of the results of the New Zealand championships in Duncdm, .hut as all the. results should have been published by tho time this appoars in priiit, "Mercury" will not commit himself to any anticipations, and will resen-o comment t'hereon uutil details of tho boking aro available,

Recently in this column it woo stated that Bill Squires had girded up Ilia loins again, and wns wanting another m atoll. "Morcury" then remarket! that no news had been rccoived about Bill's missing punch. In this he was premature, iui is demonstrated by tlio following paragraph from a Sydney paper:'— "Bill Squires, wilting to ono of the Porter brothors, asks to havo a battlo 'arranged for him in Molbourno at Cup timo. Ho says he is bigger and stronger and fitter than ho lias been for a long time, and moroover bo has got his punch back. Dill got his. punch back in most of his recent lights—with intcrost. . I Tlio same authority also waxes disrespectful towards a vor.y big person in tho boxing world juot now as under:—"A private word from No\v York tells of an injury, to Jim Jef[ricfl, sustained in a boxing 'bout incidental to his show business. Jim took a clout on tho, chin when droaming of bettor things, and nearly bit his tongue off. This is expected to put the meeting with John Johnson still further into dim distanco.- In Amorica an injury to the tongue incapacitates a.pugilist quicker than anything oleo. For months Jeflrjes has been hurling opprobious opit.hots at Johnson j and ho is now assumoa to bo incnpaMo of following his calling, as it were." , As tlio result of-tlio representations tnado by, tho New Zealand Boxing Council, tho daW of tho Australasian Championships, to bo held in Sydney, liavo been altered to September 25th and 27th.' This will enable tho Now Zealand team to do tho trip in three weokfi, whereas tho . original dates would havo required a month'. \ In connection with theso contests an Australian oxehango has tho. following':— I The Victorian Amateur' Athletic Association's, boxing competitions have drawn well at thelocal Athenaeum, and up to timo of writing hod produced a couple who should mako larjjo black marks in Commonwealth obmpetitioM. Robinson, a bantam, is a Ballarat product, with professional neatneae of execution, and ho hits with the joy of a born pugilist. other is Fullalove, a middle-weight of eighteen, with rcmarkablo dafili, and a pair of good hands. On the third _ night of tho - competition hebeat M'Gmnness, a heavy-weight with a bonus of two stone and a great reputation as • a roughe<r-up of things. The hoavy-weight was out in thantwo rounds; and tien 'Fullalove looked hungrily around to see if there wore any more giants on the horizon. It will . take & man with come zeal and strength and a fair amount of scienoo to stop; him. [Tins latter gentleman's name would appear to bo a ■ misnomer .-—"Mercury."] ' Bob' Rollo, well known' on this side,' vrlw obtained a verdict over Tim Tracy at Palmorston North, last .season by very questionable tactics, is apparently still performing "the tricks . that: are vain,. etc." 'As mentioned last week .lie was matched to fight Queehslander Scan'on at Brisbane, and tl:o result of the 'ol&sh was : extremely - unsatisfactory. . Hollowas sent down. in the third • round and stayed down. : Doubt was thrown .upon the genuineness, of tho knockout; and,'an inquiry followed, tho result of which was that the.match was declared "no fight," and all bets were'declared off.. Monk Ford (Newcastle) and Alf Gault (Now Zealand); have boon matched to fight at the Gaiety, on August 7. ' Tho 'M'Gowan-Grcensliields. match for the light-weight championship of Australia takes place next Wednesday'night at Melbourne. .