BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1162, 24 June 1911, Page 12

BOXING.

s THE DAY WHO MEETS JOHNSON. [ (By "Mercury.") ; A Light Lunch for the Champion. ; , Last week "Mercury" made some com- • ment on a cable inessago regarding Jack •, Johnson and "ono Day, a Canadian." '_ The Sydney "Arrow" comments in a f similar strain as under:— '■ And the cablegram states that "Johnson expects to arrange a contest > with Day, a Canadian." Certainly; ■ why not? What matters it that "Day, 1 ' a Canadian," was never heard of before so long as Johnson may be seen at work. The good old British public stand anything. A lot of Day lambs ! will (willingly, no doubt), be served up , for tho slaughter while Johnson is in London. Tho truth of the latter part of the ) "Arrow" writer's paragraph has already been-borne out. We have been informed 1 by cable that Johnson has been matched with Ctirran, in a ten-round match, at Dublin, at the end of July. This will be 11.I 1 . 0. Curran, ono of England's secondrate, "heavies," whose only claim to dis- ■ tinction—if distinction it. In—is a win from "Bill" Lang on a foul, and a vic- ! Tory over old-timer Gunner Moir early i this year. He will be a very light lunch for Johnson. Who Day Really Is. With regard to "Day, the Canadian," referred to, the writer has been informed that, before coming out to Australia to meet "Tommy" Burns, Johnson met an amateur boxer of his name in an exhibition bout in Los Angeles. This particular Day was not a Canadian, but a Californian, being amateur champion of • that State, b.ut in all probability it is the same man. The bout referred to was to have been a six three-minutes' round affair. "Sam" Fitzpatrick, who was Johnson's manager at the time, was referee, and the advertised programme was not carried out. In the first round tho • amateur, a big hustling lighter, simply hurled himself at tho champion-to-be, and harried him to such an extent that Fitzpatrick called "time" in two minutes. The next round was the last. Day. scorning tho conventions of an "exhibition" bout, repeated his "shock tactics," and Johnson, who was not in the condition for such "rough-house" work, was being severely handled when the referee stopped the affair, no doubt out. of consideration for his charge's reputation. Since then overtures have Ixen made to Day to "go over" to (lie professional ranks, but the amateur is (according to "Mer.unry's" informant) a man of substance, and ho has steadily declined to cunsidcr it. This would explain Johnson's alleged expectation to "arrange a match" with him. Likewise, it would explain tho champion's desire to "even up" things. "Sid" Sullivan and Arthur Douglas nut up a great battle at the Gaiety in Sydney on June 13, this resulting in a points' victory, for the latter. How Elliott Succumbed to Thurn. "Billy" Elliott succumbed to ex-Cham-pion Frank Thorn' in Melbourne on the night of Juno 13. The ex-New Zealander had tho worst of the weights, scaling fist. 12Ui. to his opponent's 9st. 31b., and paid the penalty. The "Referee" describes the battle thus:— . There were some exciting situations at times. Smarting blows .were exchanged,' but, on the whole, the vct- ' eran ex ; champion feather-weight had '" the. better,of the deal. The extra 51b. apparently made all the difference. . Thorn, fought with his accustomed dash, but his timing was faulty, while 'Elliott,, who was making his first appearance before a' Melbourne crowd, put in a whole lot of light but ineffective, work. ',-.'. 1 Half-jvay through;, the/contest, when ' Thorn' was warming lip his man, .• there, were frequent .appeals from Elliott's' angle for fouls. Thorn was ' cautioned i'pr palming. Some spirited exchanges took place , from tho 17th to the 20th round. Elliott was so busy that many thought l . ho had equalised the' points. He, . however, was • still behind in scores , when the battle terminated, and Referce' Gray's decision—"Thorn wins" " —was correct. ~..., ~ c o Rather Graphic-"Wclls, the Winner!" ■'

A short account of the recent "WellsHague match for tho English heavyweight championship and tho Lonsdale Belt, has already appeared in this column, but- the following remarks on the contest, in regard' to its bearing' on the winner's prospects of becoming a world's champion, may prdvo "■ of interest'. ■■■ l.'ho articlo is from -. the - London ."Sportsman" :— "'A: lightning-like punch,' which reached rue jaw with a'sound lileo the snap of a pistol-hammer; a sudden crash, as a gigantic form fell heavily to its knees; o. young man, lean of frame, waving his arms aloft, delirious with joy; an announcement, 'Wells, the winner!'almost inaudible amid the din, and tho championship of England had passed iniu. tho keeping of the best heavy-weight England has produced since Mitchell.

_ 'It was the greyhound against the terrier, and the greyhound won out because he had sufficient sense to use the gifts with which Providence had endowed him, and refused to bo enticed into playing the terrier at his own game. Franxly, speaking, bitter pill though it was 'for poor Hague to swallow, things were better as they were; nor would it'be for the benefit of English pugilism to alter them were it possiblo so to do. Wells is our only hope. By him wo must stand or tali, for only himself is his own parallel, so far as this country is concerned. Nor have we any youngsters coming on to take his place, or, if we have, they are concealing themselves, with a skill worthy of Peter the Painter himself. So that upon Billy Wells depends any hope that England may have of supplying tho man destined to win back the world's title for 'the Caucasian race.'"

"At that I am not asserting for a moment that Wells will ever win tho world's title. He has a good many hurdles to jump before he even gets on to the flat which ultimately leads to the winningpost; and whether lie will negotiate them or fall is at present known only to tho gods. In any case, at least four years must elapse ero Wells can hope to be a physical match for any one of tho four negroes who at present rule the roost among the world's heavy-weights. Though twice the man ho was when ho met Moir, Wells is still altogether too lathy to hope to contend on anything liko even terms with such men as Johnson, Langford, M'Voa, and Jcannotte, and it is to be devoutly hoped that Maloney possesses sufficient horse-senso. to refrain from steering him up against any of the hard stuff during the days of his cubhood. "Mere bo.\iiig skill is not mtflicicnt to make a man a world's champion, and maintain him at the top of the tree, as Jim Corbett found by bitter experience. It is conceivable that at his host Jim Corbett was tho cleverest heavy-weight who over pulled on a glove, but his cleverness availed him nothing against such men as Fitzsinnuons, Sharkey, and Jeffries. Cleverness is a desideratum to any pugilist at any weight, but if he is to cut any swath among the 'heavies,' a man must possess stamina, and, above all other things, what tho 'Battler' was wont to call 'do punch.' "Now, it is just his punch that Wells lacks at present, and it looks to me as though it will take a matter of a couple of years or so to develop it. When he does develop it,, he will Ik one of tho most dangerous men in the world, for with his reach he ought to bo practically ungctatablc when he has gathered more experience. Let him only develop a punch mid all will bo well. Even world's chamoionship honours may not be without his grasp. There is no hurry, for Wells has lu's life before him, and can afford to take his time. I'itzsimmcns did not annex the world's title unlit he was a decade older than 'Billy' is at present. "Haguo Was avDoomod Man." ''If Monday night showed us nothing else, it demnnstniiod-even more fully, than ever before what a tremendous advantage Wells's reach gives him. When he stuck nut his left to its full length, it was impossible for Hague to get near enough even In attempt to score.. All he could do was to prance around outside looking tor an opening that was not, like a Dervish trying to find a way into a thornbuilt zareba, and with about as much success. Bight in the opening round it was obvious that Wells meant to play lh« safo game. "Jab! ia'o! jab! went Wells's long straight left to nose and mouth, till

Iron was reduced .to. a condition, of fury us liot as it was impoient. In Iho fifth it must have dawned even upon Hogue, as it had upon the spectators, that, barring the wildest possible fluke, his star us a pugilist hud set forever. Hague was a doomed man when he came up for tho sixth, and well ho knew it. Not for him the Lonsdale belt, the gold, and the glory. Tor him the lees of the cup of fame, for him to tread the gloomy pathway of defeat. Hut he faced it* Irks a man, with that dogged courage which will be remembered when all his little faults and foibles have been forgotten, and in his defeat he was far more popular than ever he was in victory. No craven soul is his, no dressing-room for hiiii while he has eyes to see and his head can compel his limbs to do their duty, and even when all hope of victory had gone for ever tho big heart of the man would not let him quit."