BOXING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1210, 19 August 1911, Page 12

BOXING.

' THEHANNAN WE ABE TO SEE. (Br "Mebccbt.") .„„„,,(- 00-Kcllv v. Hanunn (Town Hall). September' Championships Sopffi« v. Ganlt (WnngaOctober'- .-Tracy v. D. Murphy (RivcrOctobor' 2-Jacfc Johnson v. Wells (London). Where Hannan Fought and When. Hone, gentlemoii-at last! After hitches and contretemps ns imnnncrablo as the sand grains at Lyall Bay, the AVellingtoa B.A. lias Couud an opponent far Arthur Kelly for its big night lit the Town Hall next Tuesday. 'lho jind i= "Billy" Hannan, of West Maitland, N S.W.,' a young light-weight, who lias been coming to the front "over the Tasman," and who is endorsed by Mr. W. F. Corbctt ("The Amateur, of Hie Referee") as being "the goods." Our visitor if, of course, not so prominent in his profession as is the delinquent "Sid Sullivan, whose shady repudiation of Ins contract with the W.13.A. caused the gap. But what's in a name after all—even in the suggestive name of Sullivan? Hannan also traces his ancestry to the Green Isle, where boxers "just grow" on every hit of the "ould sod," and his record, it not very lons, is at least pretty good. Tho majority of his bouts have been contested in West Maitland and thereabouts—some distance from Sydney—and for this reason lie has not loomed so large in tho public eye as some Sydney boxers of less ability. In point of fact, ho has only appeared in Sydney three times, but, on each occasion, ho scored wins. Once he handed on a knock-out to J. Fumey on ine round. Against "Joe" Conroy he passed the same material over tho counter in four rounds, and, on Tuesday week, ho boat Raff in eight rounds. Hhnnan is 24 years of age, started his ring career in December, 1908, and has ntily been beaten twice, the first time being on his second appearance, when lie lost on points after a hot 20 rounds to l>. Cook. This latter gladiator, by the way, has a 20-round draw with "Tommy" Jones to his credit, and so it must have been a pretty severe test for the youngster. His other check was at tho hands of ojio J. Evans, a welter, to whom he was conceding over a stone weight, and who exacted the usual penalty for such rashness. This bout was stopped by tho police in the ninth round. Apropos of his first defeat, Hannan told "Mercury* 'that it nearly finished his ring career. His "losing end," he said, amounted to £2 cash, and "a good hiding," and he really considered seriously as to whether tho game was worth the powder. On second thoughts ho decided to try again, and, since thon, has never had occasion to recret that decision. His next bout was with the same P. Cook, and he won in three rounds, His record since then ruus as follows:— Ten rounds with M'Gowan (no decision), won from J. Conlon in 1} rounds. Won from M. Harris in 5 rounds. Won from P. Cook again in 18 rounds. Won from ,T. Furney in 1 round. Lost to J. Evans (stopped), 9 rounds, won from AV. liichardson, 3 rounds. Draw with Dave Meekin in 20 rounds, won from P. Cook in 8 rounds. Won from J. Conroy in 4 rounds. Won from C. Ihff in 1 round, non from Harry Raff in 8 rounds. These last two battles against the Raff brothers were fought within a fortnight of his leaving Sydney, and, of tho latter, which served to determine whether ho or his opponent were, to come over to meet Kolly, the. "Referee" says:— There was a fair house at the Gaiety last night, when Harry Had (Osf. ■Hb.), of North Sydney, and Billy Hannan (Ost. 61b.), of West Maitland', met. For the first four rounds Raff's ■ superior science enabled him to take 1 a'.slight lend, but tho up-co.untrjvjnd's,.,, condition and greater strength wero apparent, especially in the sixth and seventh rounds, of. which Hannan had «, lot the bettor, nnd looketl a sure winner. He landed with both hands everywhere, hitting his man all round the ring. Hnimaii rushed from tho moment the gong rang, and gave his opponent no peace. He swung damaging blow's to head nnd body, and was winning beyond all doubt, when Huff secured, a grip with both hands round the neck and forced nailnan heavily against a corner post. Previously ItafT side-stepped ns Hannan rushed, and the latter foil to his knees. "Jim" Barren immediately disqualified Kaff, who then made a wild rush at Haunan, but was stopped by his seconds. Hβ soon cooled down, and shook hands with his conqueror. Had Raff won from Hannan his next mtilch was to have been with "Jack" Read, who was scheduled to have met "Sid" Sullivan on August 15, and, Inter, k down for a meeting with Hugh Jleliegan for the light-weight championship. A lino through all this shows our present visitor in a good light. Hannan. whose quiet appearance, by the way, quito belies the hard battling propensities attributed to him in the "Referee's" report, is in tho punching gamo in a double sense, as (when not boxing), ho spends his time in (to use his own expression) "punching cows." Hannan's Opponent—Arthur Kelly. | Arthur Kelly needs no such long introduction. His standing in tho ring has been commented upon before, and his association with "Dave" Smith, ns sparring partner, has familiarised him with our boxing public. Ho is 25 years of age, will strip at about Ost. Gib., and, as his ring engagements date from his boyhood, hie record is a formidable ono in length. Hβ has fought over 70 contests, and has lost only eight of these, of which tho most outstanding is a bout with Hugh Mekegan, with whom ho stayed 11 rounds. His present ambition, if ho wins on Tuesday, is to wrest the light-weight championship title of th« Dominion from "Tim". Tracy, so that ho will bo in a position to demand another meeting with Mchegan, whom ho accuses of side-step-ping him since _ their last engagement. It is the intention of the local associa-. tion to stage this Tracy-Kelly contest if tho latter boats Hannan, and such a bout would be very welcome, as it is uioro than time that. "Tim" was given a battle on his native heath. Tracy will bo in harness again next month. He has thoroughly tested his mended arm, and has found it as good as of yore. He already has two engagements en hand—one with Alf Gault at Wanganui on September 2!), nnd ono wilh "Denny" Murphy at Rivcrton some timo in October. The "Great Ones" Now Converging on Sydney. To-night the Sydney Stadium is to he reopened with the Griffin-itehegan bang for the Australian light-weight chainI pionship. This should bs a battle worthy of the occasion if the New Zcalander lives up to tho reputation which ho lm-% brought back from America. Just prior to his departure for England and tho States, Griffin was defeated bv Meheg.in (who had not then acquired his championship crown) over a hardly-contested 20 rounds. This was three years ago, and it remains to be seen which of tho two has improved tho most—tho homofitaying, hard-fighting Australian, with his brilliant local record, or the wandering Mnovilander with his nioro chequered list of engagements in foreign clime.s. Last Tuesday tho now catering "combine" for Sydney's pugilistic public—tho "Sydney Self Defence and Sporls, Ltd.," whoso arena is the Sydney Sports Ground —presented their first bill of fare. It consisted of a heavy-weight contest between "Bill" Turner and ".lack" Howard. The object is to decide which of the twain tho new promoters will pit against "Bill" Lang. Tho Australian champion has demanded, • and has been guaranteed, .£2OO (irrespective of gate receipts), for (his match. So, evidently, the syndicate, intends doing handsomely by its boxers. Another battle, advertised under this management, is that between "Dave" Smith and "Hanji" Burns at catch-weights. It is to happen tonio lime in October. "Dave" Smith Pines for Worlds to Conquer. Apropos of Dave Smith: Tho New Zcalandcr is back in Sydney to gather in his share of the spoils. Of his intentions the "Sun" says: Smith expects to have a busy season, but ns yet he docs not know who bis opponents will be. As au opener ho

expects to face tho winner of the Arthur-Cripps-Ted Whiting fight in Sydney. "There's plenty of money to be collected here," ho said, "and I'm after some of it. I hopo to be kept going all the time. When Mr. M'lntosli arrives hero I'm going to havo a chat, with him about my going to England and Franco under his direction. I'd like to make the trip, and if thero is sufficient money in it for me I'll go. lint I'm not going to leave Australia unless (ho inducement is good." On September 7 the Australasian Amateur championships are to bo decided in Brisbane. The Now Zealand team—the personnel of which has already been published —leaves "for the front" next Friday. It is interesting to note from Australian papers that, in tho Victorian team, appears tho name of W. A. Iggulden, tho stylish little bantam from Kaiwarra, who figured so prominently in local tourneys three, seasons ago. Mr, M'lntosh and tho Emperors of the Game. On September 2 "Bill" Lang and "Jack" Lester meet to decide tho question left so open by the singular ending (o their first bout. Save for Lans's defeat of Squires at Brisbane, recently—quite valueless as an indication of form—neither of tho men has appeared in public, for which reason there is no more data upon which to work out tho probabilities now than there was then. The result must mean a good deal to the Australian, as it is tho present intention of 7.1 r. M'lntosh to give him a "return" with "Sam" Langford. but it must bo that this is contingent upon his boating Lester. Another oxpressed intention of the big promoters is to have another world's championship decided in Sydney at Easter time, and, apparently, the finding of an opponent for Johnson will depend upon the results of the previous fixtures. We have been promised Langford v. M'Vea, and Langford v. Lang. So, probably, if Langford wins this double, he will be the favoured one. But—if Langford bests M'Vca, or vico versa, and if Lang bents Langford— the position becomes complicated. Johnson versus Langford would draw in Sydney liko tho proverbial hoiiso on fire, but would Johnson versus Lang or Johnson versus M'Vca? Not to tho extent of the ,£6OOO that the champion car-lnarks as hi? share of the piiTso. The dafo of the Jack Johnson-Bombar-dier Wells contest has been altered to October 2. Tho cable informed us that the arena in London, now building for the affair, is to accommodate 100.000 spectators. This is a bie order. It would mean tho, whole population of Auckliiul, and none knows better than we of ~VI- - what an "immense city" Auckland is. This report sadly needs confirmation.