BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 657, 6 November 1909, Page 12

BOXING.

■ (By MEEODnt.) •-,■>.. ;>i . The. local, boxing season has now- definitely o.osed. The winding-up reeling of the centre was heldon Thursday last, and everything was put in-, order for tho; close season, ■■■ On Ootober 20, at the.Stadium, Sydney, New! Smith added another to his , unbroken list of wins as a professional by beating; "Jack", Blaokmorein the fifth round.' Smith i did not finish his opponent, ad extremum, Ybut was so obviously.'his\ superior ; that Referee "Snowy" Baker stopped! tho contest.-. ■'• -~-':■'. '■■* :-'■>:■", ../.-'■,"':.■ .'. . . ■ ' '"•■■ ' ■ The following is irW'an .English file, dated •' September 15:—"Johnny, Summers is about to nndortake . a , brolouged and important tour abroad., .We have this on. tho; authority, of the clever and; popular manager, Mr.' Reeves, who, in the course of conversation: yesterday with % a 'Sporting Life' representative, l ' «nid that Johnny had, been offered, and:Jiad) ' accepted.Ua .very lucrative, engagement by ■•Mr.: Hugh M'lritosh, the. well-known Australianpro-' mofcer, who has guaranteed Summer's, three matches.-Tho famous light-weight" will' sail, for 'down under! as soon, as possible after 'his contest with ■ Wolsh at the National.Spotting . Club on October 18, and bis Australian headquarters ,will, of course, be Sydnev, in' which city Mr.: Mlntosh built; the Stadium,which; saw tho Burns-Johnson and other famous contests, 'Summers's- Australian''oustomers' have: not yetr wo believe, been selected, but it is In- ■ terestinei'to'.note'that. Nelson has been-cabled:to,- asking whatrterms he would: be:prepared to acoeptfor a match'with;Sum- ; mers. an:..Australia.'.?l'\Vhatovef. i tha , 'result' of: tho Summers-Welsh-match— ahd:it may at once 1 i be" v stated that; the Londoner is' dent V.indeed of his ability - to stem the tide of'the .Welshmen's;run or suocess—there ban be! no; .doubti that;, the;. Australian., tqurlwill,.be' . a success in '.every, way.". : :, -~: ■ : '~..; The; three matchosi guaraniteedishoulfl be easy <?'■! tt nf^iwUh^phg)j l aud ; Stanley: Ketohell,. to. have been boxed, at the Pairmouht Club; New York, on September 16,; was. abandoned," in consequence of the city sheriff haying, threatened to raid the'club' if the contest was proceeded with. -Until: this information came to hand by the last American ; mail it ■ was generally■•' concluded that; Ketchell had beaten the negro, as ho had subsequently wet Johnson: '"•.-'. .;■-' Discnsslntr tho:JohnsonJeffries position, the "Suni" probably the' safest authority in New York,.- says;—" Even: with'; tentative .■ articles of i agreement signed /by Mack* Johnson and 'Sam' larger, manager for Jeffries, .it is still a hard matter 1 to'.convince experienced sporting, men that, these :rival! heavy-weights will ever.meet in tho'-,prize; sing:. .: There, are several- points, arising from- the.conference-between Johnson and .Bergfer 'in : Chicago that are not regarded' with; particular .favour by men: who have been ■ in.close touch;with'pUgilistio affairs for years. Furthermore, may■',object to ..the selection of a referee, or he can deliberately evade the match, as he did in the case of Longford: la':-England.;;last ;May:;■ So.' far "as Jeffries is concerned,'if-he has: rednc/d his weight to 2881b., as he. says he'has, why: does hewant to put off'a-raeeting" with: the black man,until next spring? Wouldn't it look better if Jeffries insisted on meeting him at an l : earlier date? Why doesn't Johnson insist upon December as the time for action? .The answer • is easy. /Both' mehare' gojng' to , soft money by. .filling vaudeville engagements in the autumn and, a'greAterpart-.of'the winter., they,, wore■"anxious. to settle their; differences ' in tho .ring they'would ;begin training -at once. 1 It is unsafe to'.wager that they,;will, actually* meet until tljey' are sowed up.:with forfeits '■■ and have'agreed upon every minute.detail." \ .Says the. "Australasian"'on ft recent disturb- : ande. of some, importance:—"Great things:are '•; expected from tho meeting between Squires and ' Lang, for tho boxing, ohampionship -of Austray ' lia, and tho Cycloramtv was crowded to its ut- x : . most holding-, capacity- oh - Monday night to 1 see tho match.- -As 'ft championship; boxing 1 contest'' it was most disappointing, though- the 1 struggle:between the two men, which;was:pro, longed into the twentieth round,-was. exciting ; enough in its -way. - .Whatever•■; points there ■ were: in : , ; the fight went .to.; Squires "until the ' eighteenth round. .'lf "he"had,been able to > stall Lang off for the remaining' two rounds ' he '.would'"inevitably....have .been- declared the '. winner,' but he. ; .wasv too.'.weary to do this, >\ and one minute after the twentieth round had I started Lang had him'beaten,"-' ; . ~.,-. :■-■:■,- i .According , to; tho . telegraphed account) .the I present champion simply out-lasted his. op. Sonout, and the blow that ended the contest oes not appear to have carried much vis viva. i' The last -contest between: the men at N .the : Stadium ; ended in ■•tie Bamo : manner.—only 'a [ few'rounds' ~, : : ": : :• : ..." i A curious eontretpirips■.' occurred in; the : nino- ;, teenth. round; Squkes' had made a ridstako in . tho count of the rounds, and'when:tho gong t wont'to recommence hostilities 'walked up to | Lang and extended: his gloves for this convenI tional "shake." Laiig misunderstood tho posil Hon. and replied with a hard double-hander j to the-face', which naturally considerably ratj tied the mystified "Bill," who, though .leading j on points, wa3 considerably used up at this . stage. Even.; at the' conclusion of the round y he was unaware', of having made a mistake— that faot did not dawn upon : him till his [ „secoi\ds' enlightened him in his comer. This information; would: appear to have settled ' Squires altogether,, as we aro told ho went, to mid-ring for the final tilt, "greatly,; dismayed" i and a "badly used up man." The shock to '■ the loser when, after winning (as he thought); | to bo told that there was still another round l to go, must- havo been severe indeed,, and, ' in "his then very disgruntled condition, probably proved a moro effective blow than any landed by Lang.. . : ' The "Australasian"' account says: "Although Lang; had previously beaten Squires in Syd- " noy, and was favourito for this second con- ' test with him, Squires was the more popular |- man of the two,, and tho sympathies of tho [ majority of the audience wero plainly with E hin\ when the two nieii entered the ring last 1 night; Squires scaled 12st. 51b., while Lang's ' weight was announced as 13st." Burns,, who 3 has beaten both men, was principal second 1 and advisor-in-chief-'to' Squires.:• As; the fight progressed, it seemed that.Squires: was more J hampered than .'helped by the, implioif reliance 1 he placed in the ox-champion of the.worid, t His eye was alwnys' roving to-the corner, to ' see what'signals and advice Burns was giving - him,' when, it would. have boon • better occ'u- ; pled in watching for Lang's next.move. In ] addition 1 to' Burns, there was a large cylnder ' of oxygen, in Squire's; cornor, witha mask, f and an operator, to revivify Squires when i weariness began'to.attack'him. Thish'apponod - in the seventeenth round, and it'appeared then N that .tho oxygon wag. of: ho moro service than ) the advice of Burns. Squires has: altered his - ring tactics considerably,'. He', has adopted tho - dancing, methods of: Burns, but liis.foohrork bovo only tho,faintest similarity to'that of tho t Canadian... Lahgvwas j'ust the sniiio slow, ~ honvy-footedt cautious. Lang who lias, been so t often in the ,ring. One ;thiug lio has learnt r from: JOhhson-the' art of: stopping', blows "by

dropping his' glove 'on the other man's bicepfc .;;:.:; Again . and .again in the earlier '.'part' of £h« y-.'. ■■;• nglit- he stopped, Squires: in this way " v. ; : '.;,. Tho "Referee" 'does not agree with this ao. ';; count as regards the ; services !of .-•■ Burns v,to '■:';. ' : Squires. It states that the latter was , "m«ii : y ; ! ■ ■ terially assisted'.' by the'ex-chanipion. On th 9'>'■.'>■: ;■'. point: of the inhalation of the' oxygon,.: how.';';;.■;■'•'■ ever, both papers agree,:; It appears to; havqy y,been of-very little, if any, use. ■• '--, '. : -, iv.-.X Two "younger sons" aro to bo putinto thV.yy Australian ring Bh6rtly, by their big brothers. . • : , "Tommy" Bums' is launching his. brother. ',•: "Eddie Burns into the whirlpool, as swna» ■.•.•,,;■ a suitable opponent can bo found, and Ru.' .V dolph Unhofz is.:following suit with littl» -':;vy brother Goorgo, .'■ :'■'/■ ;' ..;■' Can it be jthat America's President is com.' . ; ing out in a now role? ■We already have yy hcard'of his prowess as a golfer.and a base-:',': bailer,-and now we learn that ho has'taken ,: to the "fistic ■ art." Perhaps, even ' failing "Jim" Jeffries, all hope for tho white man if'■'.'■'?!•■'• not yet lost. Perhaps ■■ Mr. Taft will piclfnj :.'■.: the,"white man's burden," and 6ettlo. "Jaok •:;>. Johnson. If- so, his next term of office''ii':•> \<\] assured. , Those remarks are occasioned. by > ; ; the following, which appoars in an Americai ■',& exchange, in an articje on, tho President!:-•''. '■:■ "Ho has set up a gymnasium at his summer 'w, home in Beverley. Ho weights nearly; 22st(' r . still, but Dr. Barker, his adviser,-says he hai; ; no superfluous flesh. Ho is naturally a , big ; man, all bono.ahd muscle, and: can wrestle' E«mely. Boxing is Mr. Tnftls latest diversion,, \ with Dr. Barker for his sparring 'partner.:' i'i i P° una sach other," says Dr. Barker, "on ■:■! > tho lungs for the most part, and do not try ''• ; • • much for other parts of the. body,'- but they ' i are no light taps, and'l mttjievery effort •-.' to get a good, punch over on'the President. :- whenever, Icon. :He docs tho same with me. '■ and there is,, never any -doubt .in\■ ray mind :r , when we have finished that he has been'pounding me. His punch is a corker.'" Mr. Taft • ■"..' apparently has the "punch," he certainly has •' ■:':.-. the weight-let us hopo that the rest will-.-follow.-'. : ■ ',' '■-■■' : , . .:;... '.