IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1497, 20 July 1912, Page 12

IN THE RING.

[Br "Mebcobi."] THE FIRST FLIGHTERS-1912. Three Nights at the Town Hall. Such full reports, both in the way of description and of criticism, have already appeared concerning the New Zealand championships that but little remains to bo said. Whatever remains must be prefaced by a few worda of praiso for the officials conducting tho meeting. The secretary (Mr. Talbot) and tho committee left no stone unturned, and their organisation was well nigh perfect, all tho events going off without a hitch'. The judgea and the referee hod tho usual "thankless task," but they emerged triumphantly, giving as near to satisfaction as it is humanly possible for ring arbitrators to give. Tho unsatisfactory features of the gathering were tho poor attendances on the first two nights—due partly to tho fact that many people were holding off for the final night, but mostly to the atrocious the number of disqualifications—five in all—brought about by the hitting-in-holds habit. It is noteworthy that four of the five occurrences that earned the referee's displeasure occurred on tho first night, and this points to the supposition that competitors from other parts have been trolled at home by a too indulgent set of referees. . When they understood clearly what they were not to do there was little further trouble. It would be a good thing if the New Zealoid Boxing Council wore to circularise affiliated associations with a demand for a nittch stricter interpretation of the rule~ia this respect.

The "Cleverness" prizes—a Peculiarity. A peculiar feature of the allocation of prizes for the cloverest exhibitions of the art is that two of the three went to men who were beaten on their first and only appearance at the meeting, but this is not to say that those two—Leary and "Young not deserve their honours. Leary's defeat was merely a stroke of fortune. In. the one Tound of boxing that occurred ho simply played with his man who, at .the opening of the second round, rushed in and landed tho deciding blow, quite fairly, but before Leary had quite realised that the round hnd started. It was a. case of over-confidence meeting with a salutary check. Ag to "Young Owens" he had the hard luck to meet the ultimate winner in,the first round. He was beaten, but his form, considered in the light of subsequent bouts in the bantam class, was easily next best to Gunn's. As to Gunn there ie no doubt that ho is one of the best (if not actually the best) amateur bantam these islands have produced. Clever with his feet, clever with his ducking, possessing a straight left and knowing full well tho proper manner in which to use his right, he is the making of an Australasian champion, while his present knowledge of tho art is a tribute to his. instructor, whoever he may be. •

The Feather-weights. In. tho feathers Thompson, by winning right through to the final before meeting defeat, proved'his quality and, incidentally, tho undoubted superiority of Leaxy over all other competitors in this class. Thompson's disqualification was ' well earned, but his Wbit of holding is in all. probability not bo much his own fault as that of the referees in Southland Who have tolerated it. Barr, the winner, though lacking the finished cleverness of Leary, is undoubtedly clover himself, and game to the oore, with "the punch" as well. He is still on the improve.

A Leaven of Comody, The light-weights and the welters produced good bouts right through, with a leaveii of comedy that did not detract from the enjoyment of the meeting one whit. The , semi-final of the light-weight, championship was not altogether satastao. Tory, Stewart undoubtedly was secoud' host, but was not altogether in a posi-' tion to do himself justice. His right arm—his favourite weapon of offence—was so injured, during his earlier bouts as to be practically useless, and it was a hopeless task to battle with one arm against the husky Timaru lad M'Grath, However, when all reasonable excuse has been made for our local champion, there is no gainsaying the fact that, in. any case, Ji'Grath might well have won. Though not what one might call an estraordinvery clover boxer, hia dashing attack would take no end of stopping. It was exceedingly unfortunate that Simpson was not able to turn out in the final, for a rousing battle must have resulted. . Watohorn is too .well known' to render necessary any comment on his win in the welter division. He earned it, and is as defer and forceful as ever, ...■ ; .

Boxing a . Whirlwind, Monaghan won the middle-weight final against a human whirlwind—or should it be whirligig—in Cade, of Gisborno, whose novel and wholly unorthodox tactics probably carried him through. Certainly, he won against Borehain by simply overwhelming him in a mad shower of chops and swings. The Otago man—worse luck—was not in a position to respond, for both his feet had been badly cut by a broken bottlp which eome person or other had left in a bath. But for this the title' might have gone south instead of north, for, if Borehara's skill in any degree matches his pluck, he must have stood a good ohance with Monaghan. Still, Monaghen's win was deserved, and it should do-.wonders for the sport along the Main Trunk line. He tracked the whirlwind, so to speak, to its home.

"Heavies" Better , Than Usual. It is not of ten.that amateur heavy displays in Now Zealand produce much in the way of cleverness, but, on this occathere was enough boxing in this division, as distinct from slogging, to warrant the belief that the bad old days are well on the way to the limbo of forgotten things. Fitzsimmons, the winner, has a. delightful straight left, and, for that alone, ho is worthy of all praise. But, for ali that, one is inclined to think that bad advice from Ids 6orner lost Caldwell the battlo. The Wanganui lad's display in the third ronnd of tho final bont was so far away ahead of his showing in the first two rounds as to strengthen this belief. However, he is' young, and his defeat at thin stage will probably be a more enlightening experience than a win. Game and forceful, and possessed of the material oi a clever boxer, his turn is sure to come—perhap3 next year.

The Vaudeville at Las Vegas. The full account of the affair cabled to th<s Sydney papers makes it clear that the Flynn-Johnson bout was, as surmised, not worthy the name of contest, for it takes two to make any sort of contest, and in mis there might just as well have been no one at all in the ring against Johnson, for all the damage he suffered from Flynn's visitations.

Another and Sterner Affair. In direct contrast to this was the other world's championship event on the same day—that between YVolgast and Rivers, for the light-woighfc title. It appears that WolgaSt, who ie nick-named the "Cadillac Wild Cat," met a cat of even more savage breed than himself, and suffered accordingly through tho whole 13 rounds tho fight lasted. From first to last it was rip and tear, With the Spaniard doing most of both. The serious damage started in tho second round, a right swing by Rivers reviving an old trouble in Wolgasfs neck. With lefts to the jaw, the man from Mexico drove tho champion back. Still on the attack, Rivers swept through the third round, but Wolgast did some execution with his upporcuts. Matters went oh merrily in the fourth and fifth rounds, but in "the sixth Wolgast suffered tho indignity of being knocked down. This put him on his mettle, and, for tho next four rounds lie hold the advantage. The end camo in the thirteenth, Wohfdst felling Rivers with a loft stab, and falling on top of him. Both men claimed a foul, Wolgtist., with the true instinct of a rinsfslor, rising up and floundering around the ring to such purpose that the referee gave the verdict ia his favour nwl Uisn <!<*'. Tlva universal opinion was ,iheA U w foul occurred- \Vnkeet *tu

the offender. The prophecy in this column- lest week that tho nffair might be a ring tragedy is seemingly correct. A Good Man With a Poor Name. Packey M'Farland—it is not a very musical name—made trouble for Boy Branson at Indianopolie on May 30, and as one writer puts it, Bronson received an artistic lacing, which, one is reminded is the portion of most who confront this modern wizard of the ring. MTarland is about to make another trip to England, and, in addition, will go to Franco, where his cleverness will, without douU, create something of a furore.

Luring Johnson to Sydney. The pugilistic Mecca referred to in Inst week's notes turns out to be ho further from the heart of Australia than Rushcutter's Bay. Mr. M'lntosh has apparently landed Johnson this tiino, for wo read that the champion, in consideration of the sum of £9000--even "Mercury" would take all sorts of lickings for that'-has contracted to meet Langford and M'Voa in Australia, and his retirement is evidently not to be just yet awhile.