BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 954, 22 October 1910, Page 12

BOXING.

(By "Mercury.")-. CAREER OF STANLEY KETCHELL.'.', Shot Dead at 24. Undoubtedly the.boxing sensation of tie month was. supplied by the cable news that Stanley Ketehell, aged'only 24, had been shot.dead. Ketehell was, perhaps, the greatest middle-weight (excepting, may be, Sam Langford, with whom it is impossible to draw a fair comparison) since ; the ."days of "Bob" Fitzsimmons, in; that class'.. In his division, in fact, in all his career, he was beaten once only —by "Billy" Papke, .now : in Australia. This was at Los Angeles, on September 17, 1908, when Papke caught.his man nap.ping ! in the, first: round, and sent him down with a swing,. from which he neverrecovered; although, he stayed out twelve rounds-of was'saidat the'time to be "the worst battering a man has sustained in the ring." .' : ■ : .■ ' •■' Shortly after, .he -met' .Papke ;for the third time (having, already beaten him once in the previous June), and squared matters again, by "outing" him decisively. He met the black, Sam Langford, recently in a six-round draw at Philadelphia, but the. affair was not takßn at all seri-' ously, and; despite all endeavours to bring the two together over the ohampionshin, course, no decisive meeting could bear-, ranged... .. '•'.'■.' Saloon "Bouncer," Etc. iKetohell was. born at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September ,14, 1886, and started life in earnest as a cowboy. .Prom this he drifted into a job as'"bouncer' in a. Western saloon, and, here began to make his mark in a small way'as a fighter, —for-boxer .he never, was. His first fight, on record was on:May-2, 1903, when he "outed" one "Kid" Tracy in one round; at Butte. His first, really big performance, and the one that carried him into the front rank, was his-defeat of "Mike" Sullivan, in San Francisco, on February 22, 1908, in lmin. 18sec. This summary proceeding earned him the privilege ■' of meeting the other Sullivan ("Jaok') for ; tho middle-weight championship of Amer-: ica, and, in 20 rounds, he sent the second the way 6f the first. Then he beat Papke, as before' • mentioned, for , the world's title, on June 4, 1908, and arrived at ,the top. .'.-■.'..';■'.....:,' ~ ' : "Lived Out His Crowded Hour." :; However, like many. another,' success was too much for him. -His popularity was immenso, not only on account of his fighting ability, but because of his personal attractiveness. To look at, 'he was anything but. tha "pug."•. of convention, and he possessed a singular charm of manner—attributes which were indireotly responsible for his early finish. Of late it has been freely...said that his rate of living was too rapid to last, and it was with the idea of recuperating his health from the. inroads made on-it by too much dallying on the "broad, white; way," that' he went "out West" again. ' There,, at the'eariy age of 24, as we now know, he got counted out once more, and for good. The ring has lost one of its most picturesque figures, and,; of l'etchell it can only be said that, at all events, he "lived his crowded hour." '..-..;

Summers and Douglas: "Whirlwind Box> ing." • :

Last week it was briefly chronicled here that "Johnny" Summers had beaten Arthur Douglas in their, clash at the Stadium, Sydney, on October 6. No par-: ticulars were then to hand, but "Meroury" ventured to say that the contest between tho' Englishman and _ the South African must have been a bitter affair, with very little to choose either way. Particulars now' to hand bear this suposi-' Hon out. So close was'the battle that opinion seems fairly' divided as to whe- ; ther the right decision was given. The "Referee" eays : "Yes,"' the "Bulletin" says "No," and the latter journal says its say in this strain.:— . ~, "The" 'Bulletin' doesn't very often disagree with a referee's ruling but in the case of the Summers-Artnur Douglas fight conscientious scruples compel the writer to stand'up for truth and justice. ' Not that there, is. any'suggestion of intentional prevarication or '<s«4iberate iujusticeon tho-part-of that fairest of. referees,. Mr. 'Snowy' Baker. As'a mill tho meeting was a booming, success, but as an. affair to judge it was a horror. Both men fought such a splendid scrap, and showed such charming versatility, and proved such a capacity,for punishment, that it was really impossible to separate thorn as far as merit is concerned. - Summers was down once, but it would not be fair to say he was floored. Bather was he assisted to take 'up a ra? cumbent attitude, and the start of the downfall was certainlya slip. Also, the same man sustained a fine healthy one on his left ear. Half-way through the encounter which was as fas? as one could wish and very stark, it seemed absolutely level pegging; but if there was any advantage it apparently rested with Douglas. Then Summers came out of his shell, and put in some of the prettiest work over seen in tho Sydney Stadium. Tho crowd went mad, and kicked up such a storm of applause that the mec couldn't hear the bell, and had to be torn apart by the referee. For a few rounds Summers had somewhat tho better of it; but Douglas pulled himself together, and, altering his atactics, had the redoubtable 'Johnny' quite bewildered. Still he was unable to knock him out, for John put up a good defensive fight instinctively. For the time being, he was, however, quite outgoneralleil; : " The last three rounds, were absolute whirlwinds, and they were all Douglas's'. But tho; referee considered that Douglas had not, worked off the margin, of. points standing to'■the of Summers, and made the Englishman tho winner. Summers'has now gono back to England, but it "is understood that lie will . return shortly, and possibly bring his family with him." Conquered All But the Scales. Ex-amateur champion of New Zealand, "Dave" Smith, lost the middle-weight championship of Australia on the night of October 12 by a very small marginexactly 16oz. That is to say, on that date he defeated the holder of the title, Arthur Cripps, decisively, but was one pound overweight, and so cannot claim the honour in dispute. Albeit, lie captured tho pecuniary emolument pertaining to the battle. Describing the contest, the "Sydney Morning Herald" says: "As li span-ins bout tho contest between Dave "Smith (list. 51b.) and • Arthur Cripps (list.- 21b.)' at • tho ■ Ruahouttera'

Bay Stadium was an excellent one; but as a light ,it was the poorest exhibition 6een at Air. M'lntosh's big enclosure for a long time. For the greater portion of the 20 rounds the men jibbed and baulked and led weak lefts.- Then there would be a clinch, in which Smith would tap Cripps with his right. Smith danced around a good deal, and was much more sprightly than his opponent, who did not seem to do anything with any degree of confidence, albeit on occasions ho displayed some cleverness in blocking and eluding blows. Thero was not a really hard punch all through the contest, though Cripps was down for eight seconds .in the fourteenth round. Smith, from. the outset, did most of the leading, but there was no sting in his blows. Early the crowd advised the men to "shake hands," while a man leaning against the tin fence at the back of the "bleacher" state ouce cried out, "You're hit for chasings," in a sarcastic tone, When they shaped up for the seventeenth round. Cripps suddenly camo to life, and showed some of the form which gained for him the title of middle-weight champion of the continent. Several times he nailed Smith, and in the last three rounds he wiped oft' some of the great many points he was in the rear. Still, when ''Snowy" Baker pointed to Smith as the winner, the ex-amateur had a whole hatful to the good. The Americans,in Sydney. The team of American boxers now in Sydney under H. D. M'lntosh's management ''-'-have"' been accommodated by matches, the chief of which is scheduled for next .Wednesday, when the world's champion middle-weight, "Billy" PapKe, is to meet the Victorian "Ed." Williams. Another fixture is "Roy" Bronson v, "Tommy" Jones to-night at Brisbane.. Later, on November 16, the American bantam willmeet our late visitor, "Sid." Sullivan, at the Stadium, and, at a date to be settled, Jos. Clabby, another of the importations', clashes with. "Bob" Bryant. "Cyclone" Thompson, the other member of the • quartet, is to be pitted against a light-weight (not yet decided upon) early in November.' Meanwhile "Billy" Elliott, late of "Ours," has a challenge out ■for Bronson.' ... A New Zealand Victory. •, At Bundaberg (Queensland) "Gus." Devitt knocked out the local champion, "Ed." Russell, in two rounds. Last Tuesday "Sid." Sullivan and "Dealer" Wells, who recently met at the local Opera House, settled their return matoh at the Gaiety, Sydney. The result will he 4 eagerly looked for here, and details will be {jiven next,week. Since the contest here (in which it will be remembered Wells was defeated) he has beaten "Sailor" Duffy, no mean achievement, ns the Jack Tar was considered a very likely, candidate for championship honours.