BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 645, 23 October 1909, Page 12

BOXING.

(Bt MnnconY.)

FIXTURES. '■'-.. : N<>T A™Hh l>, ~ Cl . a . r^ o ' v * . UiU(! > Palmerstbn 1 - 0 Md B;A; lilfft 1 ? 00 }^* 3 -- 1 !? P llb i''o will learn with.regret that .Iggulden, the young Kaiwarra bantam, who has made some very croditablo and skilful appearances' under tho aegis of the r W.13.A.; Aiis loit New Zealand for Melbourne. Iggulden is a boxer, of the stamp that wo can-ill spare, i„ [t il sa{ ,°, to "ssert that ho will bo heard or on. the other side." ■ N6w .that['.Rudolph ynholz has returned'.td Australia, the title of light-weight champion of Kmv Zealand, which be wrested frbm Tracy in. the, Town .Hall, apparently reverts to, its former possessor.'-. At: nnyrate, , the contest botween the Wcllingtoman and. A. Gault in Auckland on .Monday last, was billed as carrying the title-with the decision. As in 1 tho majority of his battles,, Tracy won on .condition, and his knack of finishing strongly. Also,, As on the majority of these occasions, "Tim' ! lost ground ■m the earlier stages,-and it vas only when his opponent had tired that ho'began, to really assert himself, ■ Once ho had wiped.off his deficiohcy,':however,' lib never looked book, and had his man'in serioMs trouble in tho closing rounds-so much so;' in fact, ■ that it was only, tho gong that saved the Auok-' lnmlcr froto a knock-out ih tho: fourteenth round.* lracy reports that Gault,' who • made his bow a Wellington audience by taockinj- ■ it « k «°sl">g a couple of seasons back, in thp : Opera House; as being, vastly improved asnMsult'offhis oxporituccs in. tlio Sydhcv ring., ' '.-. •■ •. , .' • :-■■• J ThO report that Mif.-.W. Coffey W resigned his offico as lion, secretary of the Wellington Boxing Association was 'premature.'' It appears that. Mr. Goffey. was* contemplating'this-step,, butjoWins-.'toFiifepr.esbntfttidnsi liiade-'tb 1 .him.-he has decided 'to- complete his*'term,,,and Will therefore carry, out: his duties until-'tho". close of the present season. .-..'; . :.; , ■~.

f- Tlbby .Watson, hn Australian. bantam, at present in America, has been' working his way rapidly, to tho.front. Ho is now directly in lino for the world's championship in his class; and nt.latest advices from the States is ! 'W ported as being likely to meet J. Conlon, the present champion, at ho distant.date. Tho two A'littlo. follows,' have, met before (shortly after Watson's arrival in America), on which, oeca6ion tho was ''outed" in tho t*n,th round. Now-that ho is wiser his to tho intricacies of American ring-craft, his chances - of turning tho tables are looked upon as being very.rosy,.l. .'•;■■•'•;-,--V 1:.... ■■ .„■*.;..,.-...,.. ~.•. The pugilistic,topic of the week hasten the Jphnson-Ketchel battle in San Francisco, \decided ' Inst Saturday. Somo . disappointment, but no, great astonishment, was expressed when the result came through, Personally'tho writer was surprised that Ketone!/, stayed' with the black as long aslte did;-.but several outside in-'' flucnecs may have .accounted :for this. One of these influences, of course, is the question— a big one nowadays—of "the "pictures." /. The longer, tho contest the more interesting tho. picture show. And the mora interesting tho picture show the gfoatcr the boxers' receipts. Again, thero aro the negro's well-known tendencies to "grandstand play," and what is technically known as "stalling." Both these characteristic's wore niiMh to the front in Johnson's display against I '' : Kaiifman' on: September 9,' 'and are ■: summed up" on Hint occasion •by W. W. '■ NaUghtOri as :: under-.- " There wasn't a chance of tin argument-as to who had; tho better,-.of the bout. Johnson dominated tho, ox-farricr' from first to last, arid, the only question ,which arose hinged on Johnson's earnestness, hi tho: matter or', trying to bring' his man down, More than One-naif of the spectators, came uWay: thinking Johnson had operated under wraps. I am amOng those who thought otherwise. ,1 aniwilling to admit that lie.' stalled ' In some of the rounds, but just.what motives impelled him I wouldn't venture to say. A poke ili • the ribs might have steadied him as it has' done in' former fights, or it may havo been his uativo flashncss. He ; likes to show; what a- grand ring artist ho is, and a favourite method of dclineaI tion With him Is to act On tho defensive "and give a superb exhibition of blocking." . • : • Whether • these tactics, of Johnson's affected the Ketche!.affair or not does not really matter. The result appears to be fairly satisfactory all round, except-to those who backed the ox-middlo weight (if there were any so foolish). It shows that Kotchel is a.good man at his height, it provided' ft big "gate for the promoters and,, lastly- and. most satisfactory of all, it eioses'a loopholo of escape for Jefv fries (if tho big fellow is looking for loopholes). The publio apparently wants Johnsoh to bo whipped, but most particularly doe 9 it appear to want him whipped,by Jeflries. No others need apply.' •' ''■>■'•' The Contest also provided another advertising medium for " Tommy ". Burns, whose challongo was-as'bound to follow as the night tho day. Ono wonders whether there would'be a more surprised man living that Burns' if Johnson accepted his challenge. Oho doubts it...-, ' Perhaps, indeed, the-shock for. Burns; referred to above, may, happen after all if the champion was in earnest in the following burst, reported as having been Confided to a representative of tho 'Frisco..." Chronicle of August 27. Johnson unbosomed himself as follows;—" I'm going to be the real champion of tho world," ho declared, "and no ono will be able to question my right to title after I get' through. I'm going, to box. every, man in the-world Who .wants a crack at the heavyweight championship. I will box every ono I have-a chance to meet in California. ■ Then.l will go all-comers. -After that I will go.to Franco and fight M'VWand "Joe' JoMincttc, and, if tho National Sporting Club offers enough motley, I will meet Sam LangfOrd in London.- Jeffries, of courso, has always first Chance, but any man who thinks he has k ohohc6 Can get a whack at me. Not one of them Witt be missed, if I have anything to.say about it."'. ■ ' ' i -" ,: ■ v Jeffries has returned to Amenea after his sojourn in Carlsbad, and is reported to be scaling lflst. lllb., jUst about ft stono above hie 'old fighting weight. "Sam" Borger. liiß manager,, reports- that he is 3ust bubbling over with enthusiasm," and that he has gone to Harbin Springs—the' resort in the' mountains of California,, where ho trained for all his old battles—to spend tho noxt fivo months in assidtious preparation. So now, unless this is more,of tho "talk" that the American sporting press so dearly loves to glvo wont to,' tho long-lookcd-for contest may fairly be considered as being within tho Sphere of> practical politics. ' ■ . ' ':. '■' . The following appears in a San Francisco paper and apparently sounds the knoll to.ltlio career of the most brilliant boxer which Australia has. over turned out:—"Chicago, Sep-temhoi'D-—Albert Gfiffo, former light-weight champion' prize-fighter of tho .world,. was adjudged insane, nnd, ordered to ,be committed to the asylum for the, insane at Dunning when he was,given a hearing before Judge Williams .to-day.". ; - :.v- :'„