BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 942, 8 October 1910, Page 12

BOXING.

SUMMERS-MEHEGAN ENCOTmTEB..

(By "Meroury.")

A Graphic Story. : >!, ! ; ~ On September. 28 the! Sydney. Stadium was .'reopened after the: winter's close season by. the long looked- for SummersMehegan. contest, t-^-rhis I '/ is ''■the ; 'second. time-that'the men'''nave''' come together.' On the first occasion the Englishman "outed" tho Victorian in the 19th round, and thus wrested the light-weight championship from him.;,.', The. title -was not involved iin the disturbance under review, as, Summers weighed in at lOst. lib,, lib. over-weight. The Sydney "Daily Telegraph" describes-the contest as follows:—

:''.■ Close'-jipon 10,000 people spread themselves over the spacious v benches of -'. the Stadium,' Rushcutters'. Bay,'; and -saw "Johnny" : Summers,*; 1 of . England,'..; and "Hughie" ...Mehegan,; of Victoria, go 20 rounds' to 'what :,the ; referee, "Snowy": ■Baker, called, si'draw.. .. When- the men entered the ring it was announced . that Summers had declared' his weight at lOst. lib., and that Mehegan said he/pulled- the beam at 9st. 71b. When the official: announcer left '. the . ring, '. one of the Victorian's seconds made a,speech,! in which'-he' stated ; that' Summers was hearer- list. than : :lost., and that: he: claimed "the championship on behalf'of Mehegan. Summers,- he added, had refused to go .to scale. The management should never have tolerated anybody but an official speaking from the ring.. Some day it 'might lead to trouble. As it was, Summers bounded over towards 'Mehegan's corner and cried, - "I'll bet .£IOO I can make lOst at • this moment."

The contest was not a-particularly exciting one, and- apparently everyone held the belief thai Summers would win easily, for he 1 wasa 3 to.l "on" favourite. From, the jump Summers appeared to establish a lead,, and in not one round could ho really have been said to have been behind,, though in about four honours were even. Standing well up, the 'Englishman presented a marked contrast to his opponent, . who crouched - and smothered at every possible .opportunity.'■ Bound after round- the same style' of boxing was indulged in. One or the-other would lead a straights left,-with'an occasional variation by way-of a right swing to the body from , Summers^. A clinch usually, followed' a- lead, and then Summers would stand off and punch away merrily at Mehegan's head buried .in his: gloves. When he ■ tired • or , failed - to find a vulnerable target for his blows, . Summers would go back into the clinch. And then Mehegan would take a turn. Little stabs in': tub'-body, and, with his head on the stocky little Britisher's chest, ho would send the right or-left On a haphazard mission to the head. Both men showed some remarkably ' fine ' defensive work, particularly Summers. ; Frequently -. he caught well-intentioned punches ; on his gloves or turned . them, aside with _ his arms, while the crowd applauded vociferously for Mehegan,- forgetting that it was Summers who should, have;got-the credit; The third round was'at:its height when suddenly the boxers' cut loose. ■ Toe' to toe they, stood,-.and. traded punches.in a : most willing fashion. Round eleven was an extremely tired three minutes for Mehegan, who did not seem; able to. withstand the. onslaught.'of, his\ adversary. Summers', nearly .met trouble in the fourteenth -term, and after Mehegan : had partly been pushed down, Summers was cautioned for. wrenching. Thereafter- Summers was. too careful, and did not box with the vim which characterised his. display in the earlier - rounds.: ■'-' '; ■ - ;; ''-■ The referee; said "a draw, gentlemen." There was no applause, no counter-demon-stration, and the seconds of,both principals seemed to ■ accept the verdict in a most, matter-of-fact style. Elliott deposed. Once again has the title of Australian ■feather-weight .champion: changed hands, and anothor, boxer has bad "ex" prefixed to his proud designation. This time the chango has special interest for us as the loser of the honour is our late examateur champion "Billy" Elliott. The calamity occurred at Brisbane last Saturday (if the i "wireless".'.operator ' of the Uhmaroa is to bo believed),and the other party to the transaction was Queenslander "Joe" Russell. This was the third time of meeting for. .these two, the'ethers being victories for Elliott, and now they are bound .to come together again, as'.Elliott'is ■ surd.'to suo for—in fact,: demand —another match. J..'Read, of New South, Wales, winner, of the Australasian feather-weight championship at the recent tournament' at Auckland, has' followed in the steps of Godfrey, Elliott, and Wenand, his predecessors, and turned professional. "Bill" Squires Redivtous. ... The "Refdreb" says in its Melbourne letter the proposed contest between "Bill" Squires dud .'."Bill"- Turner is hunt! upto the timo being, owing to the Cyelo-

raina having dosed its doors against box--ing. There is, however, a chance of the men being brought together by the Melbourne Athletic Club. It is quite on the cards that the ovont to decide the resident heavy-weight championship between Turner and Squires will bo decided there. Squires is already indulging in a littlo light work on his farm at Ascot, in anticipation of the match, but if arrangements aro not concluded quickly ho will probably hold back for a crack at Hugh M'lntosli's latest importations, "Billy" Papke. Tho ex-champion intends comiug to Melbourne, fight or no fight, for tho Cup. carnival. Recent Visitors Hera. "Dealer" Wells and "Sid" Sullivan, our late visitors, have signed on for a. return match at tho Gaiety, Sydney, on Tuesday, Ootober 18. To-night the "Dealer" is to meet "Sailor" Duffy on the same convincing ground. . Duffy, by the way, who, as his nick-name indicates, is a "son of the sea," will be in Wellington for tho greater part of November and has written that, if a match can be arranged for him during that time, his services will be available. It is to bo regretted that we have no one in the Dominion now with whom' he could be matched— that is no ono in his class, as the sailorman is considered to be.in the first flight "on the. other side." It may be worth whilo considering matching nim_ with a heavier.man—"Tim" Trace'y, for instance; It is unlikely" that Duffy; would object if the inducement was big enough. Such a match ■'would'prove a good draw. Our New Sports Club, ..The Wellington Boxing Association has still, room for members for the Sports Club in course of formation, and it behoves those wishing to join to send along their names to tie secretary smartly,, unless they : wish, to be crowded.out, as the muster' roll is strictly limited to 250. '. Moreover/ after 1 November 1' an entrance lee of .one guinea: is to be imposed, whicE .is an additional reason for celerity. Search for an English Champion.

Says a recent London; "Sportsman":— Mr; Hugh D.,M'lntosh's eliminating series for the purpose of developing a real champion ol Great Britain will commence at King's Hall, London Koad, on Thursday evening, September 15. Bonibadier Wells, for whom much is claimed, will be opposed on that night by Sergt. Sunshine, and' if .Wells wins he will be ,asked'.to meet in- turn all. the aspirants for the heavy-weight title. Sunshine and Wejls will contest, tho best of ; twenty threeminute founds with six-ounce gloves, and Mr. Eugene Corri will officiate as reieree. Recently Sunshine sent on a contract to "Jimniy" Britt, who acts as Mf.'M'lntosh's representative, agreeing to the terms, and, f usther, has consented to go into immediate training. He will : train at the Wellington Barracks, Dublin, and arrive in London about September 12. Sunshine's last contest' was with lan Hague, at Liverpool, when the sergeant won after twenty, rounds. Wells is already in training at Westcliff-on-Sea, and it being the ambition of his life to gain the English championship, he is certain to leave, nothing undone'to bring himself into proper condition. Success means everything to.him. Tho'samo.applies to his opponent."',' . ..... '. ', ,; • It is rumoured that, despite the enormous "gate" at the, Sullivan-Wells contest at the Opera House last month, the Wellington B.A. lost money, over the venture.. '.-,

Rudd's Claim to "Heavy" Honours, .•;' "Bill" Rudd's letter re the New Zealand heavy-weight championship, which appeared in Wednesday's issue, and in which, with a. good ;deal of' reason, he claims the title by virtue of his victoryat Napier over Mitchell, the then champion, is commended .to the;,attention of associations on the U>ok-out for. fixtures. To the writer the whole point as to whether tho title was involved in the contest seems to be in' whether the Napier Association, who handled the: affair, ad-, vertised it as being for thL' championship. If so, there; can be no doubt that Ruud can fairly claim tho title. /If not,-.then: ho should get'tho matter settled by ..making formal application to the N.Z.B.A. for the honour, thus throwing the onus of deciding''the dispute on the head body.; : ■ -~ "Gilt-edged Bunco-steering.";, - After Al. Kaufmann's defeat of'-'Aus-, tralian "Bill" : Lang he' was: matched (up with "Saw" ' Langford in New York, over the six rounds prescribed there by law.: This bout; was looked to :by American critics to provide an index'as to tho championship qualities of each, man,'in view of forthcoming 'matches- with' ''Jack" Johnson.: However, the clash fell' through under circumstances caustically described as; utoder , by tho London "SportsniauV American correspondent,: under' tho heading "Another Fiasco,"..:' '•(,.' ■•'"As I anticipated in the 'Sportsman' the 'great 6ix-round., championship. between AT Kaufman, of. California, and Sam. Langford, the Boston'negro, has failed to materialise, and the sport has been given another blow, while. it is only' natural, to -add(that- the .sporting■'.publioh'a's once more been fooled. The con-, test; was, to have taken place on August • 10, but on; account of ( a shower.. of rain was postponed until last night, when' Langford, declaring that the twenty-four, hours' delay had (affected him, demanded a further postponement or a guarantee of

:luUO to go on at dnoe instead of a percentage. I heard this morning that one reason of the fiasco was due to a break in a "frame-up" arrangement. As a.matter of fact, the t negro played his cards badly, and;.' it was evident. to everyone but the press, agent and the:hopeful, pro.'moter that the fight was, like the-ma-jority of those promoted for the past year or-.two,-'purely a bunco game. Up to last Saturday night Langford was performing a boxing act, twice a day,,on the stage, and when not, thus engaged he was enjoying 'himself challenging. Johnson for fabulous amounts; He altogether bo to blame for last night's proceedings, or his lack of genuine, training for the contest, but he will get all the credit of ,it, and -will probably find England or the Continent his Mecoa , in' future. Paris seems to fancy these people, and the Gay Gity, can have-, them, as, indirectly, even, when- they, are. of championship calibre they and their white managers .have helped kill the game here. I.heard that (he advance.sales for last night's affair amounted .to ..£4OOO, and, special trains were run from hero last night and the* night before. Coming baok from Quakertown on Wednesday I. asked, a former light-weight what he thought about the boxing situation, and he! promptly replied: 'The fellows who are running boxers and boxing nowadays are gilt-edged bancosteerers. ■'. We ■ all' know it;.- but we: let them . get away with the bunk.' A bit expressive, but .absolutely true." The same authority, says:—"As usual, when attendance at boxing shows and purses are small here, plenty of reports are to hand regarding fabulous offers of purses, for our, near-champions to appear in England, or elsewhere. . The latest is that Mr. Hugh M'Tntosh, of Australia, wants Packy M'Farland. to.-. go to t Australia and fight Johnny Summers and Hudolf Unholz, the guarantee being something near £5000. Tho stock of the Londoner and the little Boer must have gone up considerably since they performed here—Summers with Keys and TTnholz with Tommy Murphy. They would not draw a hundred dollars, here at present.". ',:. •;. . ,-'" ' ''-.■■'.

Tho. Death"of "Owen Higgins,

To those who were unaware of "Oney" Higgins's illness, the.news of his death on Wednesday came' as a great shock. Up till quite recently he has been about the town as hale and hearty as ever, which is saying a good deal, as "Oney" was ever a genial soul, and his jovial prcsenoe will be much-, missed wherever' ; two: or three are gathered together at any; sporting contest. In the days of- Pcttingell, Sam Hill, Charlie Eiohardson, the !Mahoneys, etc., etc., "Oney" 'was a sparror of merit. Latterly, however, ho has not. been so prominent in' boxing circles, being. better known as a general canier, a good citizen, and. a champion barracker from the stand at tho Athletic! Park.