BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1198, 5 August 1911, Page 12

BOXING.

(Br "MEr.cunr.")

MUDDLE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS. What Manner of Decisions? As was promised last Saturday, the pieco do resistance of the boxing menu this week is the New Zealand championship tourney held at Invercargiil. It was t.he tenth of the series, and, up to a certain point, was a success. The management was goo,d (chiefly owing to the exertions of Mr. T. D. Pearson, a most hard-working secretary), and public support was up to expectations. The local association pockets £75 after dividing the gross profits with the N.Z.8.A., according to rule. But there is a fly in the honey. In one department—and the most important department at that—matters were not \,p to standard. In fact, they were baa. This was the conduct of tho bouts. The judging and refereeing were faulty beyond measure. The first inkling of. this came to the writer from some of tho boxers and supporters on their various ways home from tho fray. Not a great deal of attention was paid to the complaints at the time, although it was more than evident that there had been grounds for their existence, but the reports are confirmed in full measure by reports in the southern papers. It will be remembered that tho results of the first night's proceedings were not published in the local papers, and that, when the results of the finals camo to hand, tho disappointing . fact was disclosed that not a single member of ths Wellington team had even survived tho preliminary heats. Naturally enough, this wns a bitter pill for local enthusiasts, as at least : two of our representatives— El!is*(feather),"and Tancred- (welter)—were looked upon as, having particularly good chances. And now that the story of the downfall is to hand, the bitterness of defeat is not alleviated by the manner in which it was brought about.

They Broke the Rules ad lib. To deal with this unpleasant matter generally at first, the "Canterbury Times" report is quoted. The competitors broke tho rules without a word of warning from the Teferce. Holding aud hitting was ' quite common, there was too much i "shouldering" under the guise of N "ducking," and holding and hugging / was. far, too frequent to admit of its being referred to as accidental. Had several of the bouts been refereed by Colonel Chafi'ey, Dr. Napier M'l.ean, or Mr. R. Cooke, there would liavo been a disqualification, and a well-de-served one, in each of them. In nioro than ono instanco the bout went to the competitor who by persistent breach of t-lie rules had prevented his opponent from showing his ability. I must confess that I do not at all like writing in this strain, but the circumstnnccs require that the facts should bo stated I will content myself with three eases. In . his bouts Gunn palmed consistently, held and hit, hit with the open glove, and roughed; Ellis, aftor being cau- , tioned for hitting on tho breakaway, thrice subsequently broke the rule; Wurm persistently held Tresize, and 011 numerous occasions hit with th« inside of the. glove. This is trenchant indeed, but bears out the tales tcld by the returned "tourists." Of Ellis's breach (hitting on the break-away after caution), tho writer has received an explanation from an' eye-wit-ness—not, it may be said, Ellis himself. It appears that the referee adopted tiro absurd and totally illegal practice of following his, command "Break!" with the instruction "Box 011!" but nevertheless insisted in a cessation of hostilities in the interval between the two orders. This naturally enough was a "new one" 011 Ellis. As a matter of fact, Ellis was quite right, and should never have been cautioned in the first place. A,boxer, during a bout, can hit as soon as, and as long as, his hands are free, provided that his opponent is on his feet.That is Marquis of Queensberry and common sense. Soiree of the Glaring Cases. _S0 much for the refereeing in general. Now for particular instances as concerning our representatives. Kutncr's unlucky case comes first. Of tho small men the "Canterbury Times" says:— In the, bantam class the best man won Hie final. That was J. Leekie, of Dnnedin. I like him immensely fur his skill, aud ho is especially clean in his methods. 1 wish I could say as much for Gunn, of Timaru. Why such a, clever and smart lad should tarnish his work with such awful blemishes as characterised it at Invercargill is ono of those things which requires explaining. It is beyond all doubt that they will not again be overlooked at a New Zealand championship. The Wellington representative, Kutner, struck nie as being next to Leckio in quality. Ho had the misfortune to moat Gunn first, and that bout 1 shall iiot forget for many a day. The free and easy way that Gunn broko the rules would liavo been amusing if it had not been fcr tho look of sadness on Ivutnor's face when, after being palmed and held, and various other things, he was cautioned for holding. , M'Carthy, our light-weight, was beaten 011 his merits by North, of Otago, who got through the semifinal tci'Tje beaten ill tho deciding bout by Maxwerf; of 'I'aranaki. But again, in the "fealher" decisions, wo find grave cause for complaint. The same authority has tho following about tho doings of Ellis in this division:—

Allowing that Goodman, of Otago, ' is capable of holding his own in a mix-up, I am afc a loss to see how ho beat Ellis on tho first night and Chapman, of Auckland, on the second. 111 liis first round against Ellis he had a slight advantage, but in the second lie was beaten out of sight;all along' the line, and Ellis had a tremendous lead. In tlio third round Ellis (evidently under the impression that ho had the bout won) was content to hold llis own. If ever there was a wrong decision it- was in this boul, for it was not a question of anything approaching closeness. Wurm (Timaru) got into the final, but he had no right

I to bo there. Tlio bout was ail excellent illustration of how a shortarmed man cau avert defeat by a long-armed man if allowed to transgress the rules. The best men in (his class, without a shadow o( doubt, wcro Ellis and Chapman, and going by Chapman's display against Goodman I think if he lmd met Ellis that the Wellington lad would have won. 'L'ho same writer continues-.—Taken all round, the welter class was well above tho average. I certainly do not think the best man won, as I regard Tailored, of Wellington, the pick of the bunch, and in my opinion hn won his boat against Withey, of Dunediii. In my notes I gave him the best of every round, and I cannot help thinking that the decision wasono of the .sentimental kind that are frequently given when the smaller man puts up a plucky tight against odds. Tancred never got right away from Withey, but he had a. bit in hand at. the conclusion of each round.

Thus it would appear, on the authority of an absolutely disinterested observer, that, out of the four Wellington men, 110 fewer than three were victims of bad decisions. This is bad from our point of view, which may or may not matter much. It is also bad for tho welfare of the sport, which matters ;i great deal. Moreover/ the governing body should take every care that the recurrence of this kind of thing is made impossible in future, and, ns a step in this direction, it should make itself responsible for the rcfereeing by itself appointing 'a man whom it knows to be competent, even if it lias to import one. The Pleasanter Side of Things, But thero is a pleasanter side of the tournament. This is the high standard shown in the ring. Even the heavies— usually a poor lot—appear to have given good exhibitions. Poolcy, of Auckland (last year's champion in this class) was absent through illness, but tlio'three who competed—P. Ritson, of Otago, S. Fitzsiinmons, a nephew of the redoubtable "Bob," and P. M[Quarrie, of Southlandwould appear to have been right up to his standard. Of the last-named—the wimiei— the papers all speak well, and Mr. Staples, the manager of the Wellington team, also .brings glowing reports of his prowess. Mr. Staples also thinks very well of Maxwell, of Taranaki (the light-weight winner), a'nd Olsen, of Auckland. In the championship scoring, Otago got an easy first with three wins—the bantam, feather, and welter. Canterbury won the "middles," Southland the "heavies," and Taranaki tho light-weight. Maxwell (Taranaki) was awarded' the medal for tho most scientific boxer. Jinxwell, by the way, has a genuine 'punch." He got away with both his opponents with a knock-out in the first round. The Promoters of Johnson v. Wells. In speaking of the reported battleJack Johnson v. "Bombnrdier" AVells, scheduled for September 30 in London, for a purso of XBooo—"Mercury" recently expressed tho opinion that the making of tho match was not a matter upon which Mr. H. D. M'lntosli was to bo congratulated. This, ■ however, was unjust to the Australian promoter, as it now appears that the match is not his "funeral" at all. Tho venturesome financiers are Mr. Horatius Bottomley, M.P., iund editor of "John Bull," and Mr. Ernest Terah .Hooley, who was very prominently before the public some few years ago. As regards the business sido of the proposition, "Mercury" is supported in his pessimism by "The Amateur" of the,"Referee," who writes:— "That Johnson has deteriorated physically I have little doubt, but he could go off a substantial some aiul still look a better fighter than Wells, who, though clever and quick as heavy-weights go in these decadent boxing times, lacks the brawn and the thew and tho hardened condition necessary towards successfully coping with him of the massive shoulder . knobs and attendant great strength of. the upper structure. "It seems to mo that ,£BOOO for such a match is a losing speculation, sure as fate." A Queer Time for Devitt. "Gus" - Devitt, "lately !bfWellington, was a participant in a peculiar ring occurrence at Broken Hill recently. Ho was engaged in ti bout with "Ted" Whiting—an important fixture, for "Gus"—and was doing well whon the end camo in a manner that shows that it is not only in Invercargiil that they have incompet T tent referees. The incident is described thusly in tho "Referee":—

' "Tho contest was good for a while. Whiting boxed beautifully for tho first six rounds and it was only Devitt's good condition that saved him. Ho took his punishment manfully, replying vigorously at times. Both men fought a stern battle. Devitt commenced to attack in tho seventh round, and the "go" became a vicious one. Tho men closed repeatedly, and exchanged severe body blows and upper jabs. Devitt piled on points until the 12th round, but then weakened. The 13th round was exciting, and both men shotted signs of a strenuous fight. The 14th round was tho final, and left the issue in doubt. , "Devitt, who has a peculiar habit of rising off his toes when attacking, was 011 to Whiting. Tho latter's blow, unfortunately, landed below belt, and left Devitt in momentary" agony. Tho foul was accidental, but undisputable, and under the rules Referee Reynolds at once proclaimed Devitt the winner. ' Devitt, lioweviir (according to doctors) exaggerated his injury, and tho crowd rushed the riug.' Reynolds then declared the contest 'no fight.' As Reynolds had first given tho award to Devitt, his altered decision was unwise. A foul blow, accidentally. had been landed. Had Devitt not.'fooled' 110 dispute would liavo arisen; he was leading on points at the start of tho 1-ftil round and was doing well. Ho would not have knocked out Whiting, but he might liavo outpointed him at tho finish of the 'twenty.'" Wenand Hits Trouble. Another ex-Wellingtonian is referred to in this week's Australian mail as having struck . trouble. This time it is "Billy" Wenand, late Wellington, New Zealand, and Australasian- champion "feather." At Boulder, Western Australia, ho met. "Tommy" Jones, of Victoria, for the State feather-weight championship, and was so damaged by the time the 11th round was called, that the referee called a halt, and gave the verdict to Jones. .Both men failed to weigh-in at tlio required limit, so, apparently, .Jones does not get the title. Sullivan and Kelly—Match Falls Through. It is disappointing to have to report that the long-looked-for meeting between "Sid" .Sullivan and Arthur Kelly, set down for August 22, at tlio Town Hall, is not to take place, after all. On Wednesday last Mr. M'Villy received a. cable from Mr. W. F. C'orbett, tile association's representative in Sydney, that Sullivan .had declined the match, and suggesting that the winner of the Kaff-Hannan contest (to have been decided this week in Sydney) be substituted. This naturally ciime as a shock to the association executive, a.> articles were reported to have been signed, and, at the time of writing, tho matter was still in abeyance. Mr. Corbett's cable gave no reason for Sulli- i van's withdrawal, but it becomes apparent from the Sydney files.to hand by tl.o mail, which state that lie has signed on to meet ".Tack" Read, the Tasmanian, on August 15.

The ancient ceremony of riding tho bounds at Newbeggin, Northumberland, was followed by tho "dunlins:" of two now freeholders at tho historical "dunting" stono on the moor. For the first time in living memory one of the recruits was a lady. They were seized by the stalwart men and carried face uppermost to the stone, nnd "dunled"—gently struck against tho stone—three twines. The ordeal is peculiar, and not dignified. Subsequently the recruits, according to custom, scattered their bounty among an interested and cheering crowd of onlookers.

The.prompt action of a London schoolboy named James Alfred Liming was commended by the deputy-coroner at Cambonvoll. The clothe; of a little girl named Violet T'almcr were ignited by flames from n lire kindled by some boys in the slrcof. The lad Laming immediately nulled off iiis coat and wrapped it around her, but was unable en I i rely to extinguish the flames. The child died from her burns. Four little pages at the wedding of Lord Arthur Hay and Miss Mcnda Raili at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on May 27, were dressed in costumes after Gainsborough's celebrated "Blue Boy" picture.