HANNAN AND GAULT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1299, 30 November 1911, Page 7

HANNAN AND GAULT.

FORMER WINS. KNOCK-OUT INJjEVENTH ROUND ■ THE OTHER BOUTS POOR. So long as the knock-out qualifies for a .win under Queensbcrry rules will there be unlooked-for and sudden endings to boxing matches, and the Hannaii-Uault match in the Town Hall Inst night was nil' instance of how they may happen. tn tin , seventh round Gault, with a movement of cat-liko swiftness, shot out u;left which landed surely on Haunan's face; but. the Australian countered sharply, uLso with his left, and Oiiult took tho bloiv heavily on the chin. Both men won't'down; Hannan was up again in an iii'stimt, but Gault lay prone on his back. Ht rose on tho count of seven only to be mercilessly, pursued round the ring and punished. The blows, which ho could scarcely fend, shook him \ii(Uy, and he went down agaiu for two or tluee seconds. Ho rose weak and dazed only'to be sent down/and out by a carefully-measured heivy, blow which caught him fairly. .'Lvdn after tho count out he could not riso',' and his seconds carried him to his corner.' Hannan had won in tho seventh Tound and woa in a way which no public or referee or anybody could dispute. . • . . 'Although the ending was so decisive, the. contest was very even throughout. •1 Hβ -weights of both men were declared at 9st. 121b., but Hannan looked tho heavier, and, ho was certainly tho finer physical specimen. Tho Auckland man buttered- in appearance by comparison. _lof all thiSfj difference in" physique, Hannan took no. liberties with his opponent, ."who has established his reputation in'this country as a fast boxer, who can nit, heavily with oither hand. Gault likewise treated his opponent with some reEpect, and thero wus very little difference between tho two wen when the end came suddenly. Gault did moro than his share nf tho leading, but Hannan scored by his defence. Some of his ducking and b'lockltiK with glovo, forearm, ana elbow won him frequent applause. •Two things might have happened to Bave-Gault that final blow. Tho referee might havo intervened, but he probably had in mind that tho gong might sound in a moment and give the distressed Gault nine to recover. The gong did not ring. The.beaten man's seconds might also have sent the towel in, but they did not. α-hero was probably more luck than skill about that first blow which destroyed'all Gault's chances on the instant, but the probabilities seemed to bo that ™.° stronger lad would win in any case. His defence was well nigh impenetrable, and no punishment Gault could hand out appeared to trouble him in the loast degree. In fifteen rounds his . strength and perfect condition must have told its tale. ■ -. Tho amatour bout.3 turned out to bo about the poorest matches the association have evor arranged. Two wero stopped in tue: first ronnd—one to save a.knock-out, and one because of a foul. Another was toi'tmnatcd in' the .third round becauso it was farcical, and the fourth in the second vound because one of the "contestants simply v;ould pay no heed to warnings from tho referee to observo tho rule 3. 'Mr. T.. Sampson acted as Tcfereo for air the bouts. THE AMATEURS ■ A FIRST-ROUND WIN. .Stewart, of Petone, accounted for Wilson;' of Wellington, in one' strenuous ro'und. Tho ringside weights were:—Stewart; Bst. lUb., Wilson. Bail.. 21b, Stewart began first by landing a lively left. Honours, were in his favour in a mix-up of clinching and infighting which followed, until Stawart dropped over a right which just reached the point. .A similar blow sent Wilson down, but ha'rose again at ones, apparently not too sure of himself. In vain he tried to cover up against Stewart's onslaught, and the referee then etopped the match. .-'' Not Serious, • Finnie, list. 31b., an , Otago boxer, was ■niatchedwithßain,list. 101b;,' of' Wellington. Fiunia has arms almost long enough to reach across a street, and he swung them promiscuously and incessantly. Several tinies-.'ho-reached .Bain's, head and three times "te'k'nocked liinidown;' 1 When tho ' bout was in the third round Mr. Sampson intervened, and declared Finnie the winner. ' Neither man was hurt, both were much amused, and the audience was lost in'laughter at Time's queer but effectvie uiethods. 1 ."-'-;- A Foul. M'Cnrthy, 9st. 61b., was lucky to win from Valentino (of Petoue), lOst. Tho Petone maa was stronger and bigger, and it appeared as if ho must give the Wellington boy no end of a beating. How-ever;-ho wns so anxious to do it that he forgot to leave his opponent olone when he fell unexpectedly. Tho.blow was a harm loss one on the shoulder, but an unmistakable foul. • :• : : Disregarding the Rules. The fourth-bout, that between Barr, tho. Wairanvpa bantam, and Kutner, a Wellington boy of some repute, was expected to provide a good contest, but again the spectators were disappointed. It'-vfaa a most unfair bout for the two rounds that' it lasted. Barr .frequently laid his gloyo on with his hand open— "palming,' it is called—and three times in tho first round he was coutioued for hitting ami holding. ' Kutner boxed ami Barr, fottsjM, but for some- unexplained reason Kutner would not break in the second round, persisting in leaning on his ■opponent, and sometimes holding. Several times it occurred, and then Barr was declared winner. ; Angry words wore spoken.at the meeting of the City Council last evening in a discussion . which arose when Councillor Fuller moved: "That the tramways maintain tho Sunday time-tablo service on Christmas Day at ordinary fares." Councillor Puller declared that the proposal to cut down tho service on Christmas Day was scandalous. It was a case of tho public of Wellington against the men's picnic, and ho hoped that the "great democrats" on the council would assert themselves. In the discussion which followed it was pointed out that under the agreement between the tramway employees and the council no alteration could bo mado in tho existing arrangement, without tho consent of the employees. Councillor Fuller persisted, and after some passages with the Mayor the motion lapstjd for want of a , seconder, councillors plainly being out of sympathy with tho mover. Who's to blame if your baggaso gets | lost? Yourself, decidedly, if you ha.ven't taken precaution to check it. Avoid loss and trouble by Retting us to check it. Our system is the only complete one. Wo ! collect, clirck on by rail or sea, deliver at | other end. Cost is trifling. The N.Z. Express Company, Ltd.—Advt. At its meeting last evening the City Council was a-sked by tho Post and Tal'grnpl) Department to givo an opinion aa to which of the two telephone bureaus: ! at Island Bay should be shifted to Corn- S wall Street. Tho council decided to recommend that, tho telephone at the tram-' way waiting rooms should be retained as being moro central and sun-ing more people.