ATHLETIC SPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1517, 13 August 1912, Page 7

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

AT THE RINGSIDE. ' fciOW LANGFORD BEAT M'VEA A STRANGE MATCH. PART PLAYED BY POLICE, Their, threo previous contests, luiving Kaada him, thoroughly conversant with J M'Vea's methods of attack, Langford in Ipreparing for his fourth contest, with M'Vea devoted special attention to developing a guard' for the latter's left iliook/'rln. all their previous contests this [punch has played an important part, 'being practically tho only punoh with ' iwhich M'Vea gained points. On' the night 'of Saturday, 'August &, however,, ho foiled to l get it past Langford's stiff anm 'guard. This meant that M'Vea was do;prived of.his principal means of offence, innd, being apparently unable to change •his tactics to suit tho improved' tactics of Jiis opponent* ho was for the most part Constrained to action the defensive. L,angiford, on tho other hand, was exceedingly ;vorsatilo in his methods. .His power of 'adapting himself to circumstances was ircmarkable, and it. was. just this power iwhicli gained, him the referee's decision 'at the end" of the twentieth round.

•' Of'the'pair, M'Vea appeared in the (better condition physically. "Never given jto doing, much road work, : but devoting .'tho major portion of his \time to exercise in tho gymnasium, ..M'Vea was not inconvenienced in the slightest 09 regards, •his training by-tho recent rain. It made ino little difference to Langford, who is a ■ -peat believer in road. work. In the matter of condition, Langford is always do-V-eptive. - He always .appears to. carry too much flesh,- and this, tendency was even jmore pronounced than usual when he Btripped on Saturday night. There was a - suspicious-looking bulge above the top of ius trunks, which indicated that ho was (not in the best form. Still, there could 'have been little, if anything, wrong with Jus condition, for' ho boxed throughout the full term at top speed, and finished t up much stronger thaii he has done in his ■ previdus contests at Sydney. Of . course, ■lie has -now becomo acclimatised,- and will ' probably do better tho longer he stays in Sydney. ■The Police—"lf You'Do That Again, I'll Stoo It." -. ' ! i The contest opened in exciting fashion. ■ Immediately tho gong sounded the two men advanced briskly from their corners. They met hear the centre of the ring. M'Vea foitfted, with his left,- and immediately, hooked it to the head—a beautiful punch. Langford merely snorted wearily —the contest.begun in earnest He moved round confidently; always trying to 'draw M'Vea. The. latter wos waT'y, /. and although he was easily out-boxing 'the' Bos? . ton man, he was careful. The next round again saw M'Vea in the lead, his.olevcr , footwork, and lightning left hooks enabling Him .to. keep his smaller opponent at : .hay. , About half-way through, the round .: Langford let go with a half-arm right | body blow, -which glided off M'Vea's ribs. Superintendent Goulder, who was seated at the ringside, jumped up and called out: ."If you do that again,, I'll stop it." Continuing to box brilb'antly, M'Vea increased his lead oil points. It looked at this stage as' if he had made Jip. his inind to baffle Xangford with his spped. The big fellow's cleverness-wis beautiful. ducking, woro;their mark with almost, incredible .rapidity, but how ineffectual were they, 'niera Svas no power 'behind: thorn. . Thoaround Ttnded .with M'Veapn, points.- • ,Police Do! Ston!" r The . third ronnd saw Langford' coniflnence -to . set tho paco. Ho ' never gave „ 'M'Vea..,a .moment's peace. He was after 3iijn always, and always had his measure. Cle was. the master of. tho situation, fle ihad now adopted a high s*-'ff right prm puard, which effectually prevented MTep, from landing his famous left hooks. Tho little man had now settled down steadily into his stride and the tide of tho contest had turned.- , . ; . • In the fourth round a pecnliar .incident rccurred.' The men were pulling opart from a clinch, when-.Langford struck M'Vea in the small of the l-uck with a right swing. Inspector , GouhW' jumped , from his seat and, called out 'That'll do; stop 1" The twoi boxers, dumbfounded, :T'alked to their corners,, and .the referee, lArthnr Scott, 'after.'a; hurried coasullation' with the police "officer; wtilked excitedly _in circles the centre of the ring. Eventually,: after a second consultation between the police officer and the contest'was allowed to continue. The Boxina That Won.

/The action of the police in thus, presenting any boxing ;at close range mdo iit appear that M'Vea must win the ccnftest, as his physical conformation naturally gives him a tremendous advantage xiver Ths smaller opponent at long-range ■taxing. Langford, too, seemed all at sea jsit first-'under the altered conditions, end •for a few minutes it looked as if lie was poina.to play into M'Vea's lialith by losing- his head. Then he regained ccutrcj . ,of himself, and, steadying down, i.© aetJcd mainly on. the defensive while No ovolvjtd a freslji plan of campaign. In a couple '<\f rounds he had it perfrotod, tuid was out after M'Vea again. Slipping -ii'side . M'Vea's leads he would let go Tith left and rigltt for the body as ho liioved in. , M'Vea .early evinced a decided inclination to' lead, clinch and hang en, but «wen thesi tactics were of no a.roil against the' forceful boxing of Langford. As the contest progressed Langfc.rd's; superiority fbccame more pronounced, and ' r is had increased. Seeing that. M'Vea, was weakfWng he. never let up in tho f.nce.' ■M'Vea brought all his-cleverness cf dofence to bear, and suriimoned (o hia aid ,<vll : his rinjeraft to canry him t.-'TOUgh, for h« realised that Langford, was slowly i'liut snrely driving Wm further aM fur■jiher along tho way which leads >o summary defeat. ' '• ' During tho last three rounds T.angfard •tried hard for a knock-out, but his opjponent stood to liini grimly, and assisted iny tho fact that J/nngford, too, was tired, managed'to fee the la=t round out only to lose the referee's decision,- which wetoit .to Longford on prints., Tho decision was a most popular one, ns the svmpathios of the large aud'enre pvhich filled the Stadium rare undoubtedly with; Langford from tli<v start to tho finish.—"Sydney Mdtning Herald." JOHNSON FAILING? :• /THE THEORY OF W. W. NAUGHTON. Mr. W. W. Naughton, American correspondent for the "Sydney Referee," has romo observations to. make nil' Johnson's last showing in tho ring. His' account is given for what it may bo worth. .- He states:— No matter what Johnson thinks, or what any of his trainers or admirers think, he is not the man ho was two years ago. His condition failed to-day, and ho .did not punch with tho old-timo force. ( "0o did not even show' the strength which | ho did in the clinches with Jeffries, al- , though ho,was powerful enough to blanket little i Flynn when the lsttej wanted to ! take a fighting chance and give blow for "blow. The result wiU be a boost for :Flynn and a set-back for Johnson. The .glamour has gono from tha black man's 'reputation. He may claim that ho was ,'tildng liis time and protecting hiv cham-1 .Dionship, 'and that hp ra mado tho •victim of foul play by Flittd, but tho fact remains and tho opinion exists that The was "roughed™ to a standstill by ■ a man inferior to himseli in -freight and inches, .anil in most of the things that , go to piaka up jmgilistic excellence.' In the third' round, indeed John*m's goldra toslh bleeding from tha efforts of ous of these Dterhand pimchw. At the same time, Flypn .carried a Elighfiy Imrt cieefc, a tribute .to Johnson's -upper out Jn tho .preceding round. . "A Weary Champion," , It was in the fatirfh rom-3 "that <f«ihnso4 began to hold, and hi* httrry breathing finished the reran d. The excitement and th«'fast clip were tailing on. the and .Ky 1x3:1 inxuils vzi mii-nrl

to sandwich Testing spells between his spasms of upper-cutting, but Flynn wouldn't liavo it that) way.. Tlio fireman was trained to tho minute, and wanted to fight'from bell to bell. Ho put in a "sly butt" by way of .protest against tho way ho tens being:held. By the time tho sixth found was reach.ed Johnson was a weary champion, anil Flynn nil active but liighly-incensed challenger. In tho liroman's philosophy there was nothing left for him to do out' to butt, and butt again when Johnson hold to him as a drowning man holds to si plank. And, tho, whole business ended as- described. . ■ Johnson took the nigM train for Cm--cago. I had a talk witlji him beioite ho went', and ho took issui) with me, owsr jny contention that ho flas a very' tifed c,liampion, and in danger of being worn cl\iwn if tho contest had l>ecn alio ired to proceed. '"You're wrong!" ho cried, vehei aenlily, "I was trained just right, and was not fluiried or wearied in tho slight Est. I wanited to lick him completely, iliid at tho same time give the. orowd an J idea as to his fp'ul style of fighting. I could have gone 20 rounds more ait top spee.tl, Jind I'm sure tho tight woul-li not have -lasted that long." And, as I have already there were critics who viewed tho tilling as the champion viewed itv Tho Writers opinion was shared by nf'cn. who ha|va sat side by side with him in tiie press benches for years, so that it is one of theset eases in which critics disagree. Tho only: thing to do is to keep a closo . watch em Air. Johnson when he fights again. Johnson and Austtalia. Johnson, told me he ma.r goi 'to Australia in response to an in.vutatipn from promoter M'lntosh, who, JMi sa J' s ' « aa promised matches with Lwngford and M'Vea in Svdnev. He said, IVowevor, that ' he would want 30,000 dollars i,br each fight he engaged in, and, in additi ion f< fl._ liberal amount for travelling and. training expenses. He had quite a talk m ith-.nl Clain, manager of M'Vea, at Las Ve pas, but did not divulge what, was the na, hire of it, ' "I may fight Al. l'alzer tei t rounds in New York," said Johnson. ' 'If I <M., I will give some of you follows ,>who to,ink I am on the down-grade a clia nee to-'win a "ood bet. I will wager 10,000. dollal.-s of my own money- that I stop PalKC.r iri ten rounds." The fight at las V. Sgas draw but 28,000 dollars, so that if promoter Curley kept all his engagements, ho lost heavily.' Johnson was to .recei vo 30,000 dollars, and Flynn wos to take u .chance on what- was left. And, of cour eel, there was nothing left, It maybe, thou g!a, that tho pictures will enable Curley to'. recoup. In my experience, pictures do not; always settle points in dispute, but in t pis case there will be curiosity to see wh ether it was Johnson's persistent holding tlint aroused Flyim's fighting l.nstuutts ami caused him to employ his head as a bat-tering-ram." BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP. JEANETTE HEADY TO MEET BUIRNS. By' Teleirraph—Pi-ess Association—Con fright, New York, Au»ust, 11. , Dan M'Ketrick, manager for Joe .Jeannette, the hegro boxer, and a claimant for the world's heavy-weight championship,' has refused 25,000 dollars offered by Hugh. M'lntosh for a fight in Australia. ' Jgannctte states lie is fighting | Langford at Los Angeles. " He ddes no,t want to be absent from the States. Jeannette. expresses. himself as ready to meet' Tommy Burns, or any "white* hope." 1 ' CURRAN DEFEATS MARTHUIN.' ■ London, August 11. Petty-Officer Curran, a prominent English heavy-weight, beat Marthuin,. the Frenchman, in London, in tho, eighth. ■ round. . 1 •

RUGBY FOOTBALL

WEEK'S MATCHES. r - THE DRAW ;ANjk THB ; : GEQ.UJTOS,.i... On Wednesday. Wellington tires play Southland at Athletic .Parfc, A, match—Wednesday Representatives v. Junior Representatives—precedes this game; beginning at 1.30 p.m. Arrangements in regard to club fixtures .for Saturday are as follow Senior Grade. . Athletic v. Oriental, at Athletic Park No'. 1; Mr. T. H. Jones. St, James v. Wellington, at. Athletic Park No. 2; Mr. L. Simpson. Victoria Colle.se v. Petono, at Petone; No. 1; Mr; E. Evenson. Southern v. Melrose, at Polo No. 1; Mr. A. Kean.' Junior Grade. 1 Junior Representatives v. Horowhenua, at Levin.'. J. Third' Class. Oriental v. Wellington College, at Athletic Paxk, at 1.30 j. Mr. A. E. Neilson. Fourth Class. • Potono v. Southern,, at Petone No. 2; Mr. W. J. Meredith. , Johnsonville v. Old-Boys, at Johnson- I villa j Mr. F.'Taplin. - Waiwetu v. Oriental, at Sharpe'e No. 1;* Mr. E. Tregear. . ~j ' . Wellington and Athletic, a bye. ■ I Kftn Class. Melrose v. Athletic, at Newtown Park; I at 1.30; Mr. E. Wilkinson. St. James v. Southern, at Anderson Park, at 1.30 j Mr. H. Clinkard. Wellington College B v. Oriental, atCollege, at 1.30; Mr. A. 'Anton. , ' ' Wellington College A v. St. Patrick's College, at College, at 3; Mr. C. Ingram, Wtiiwetu, a bye. ■/ ■ Sixth Class. Petone A v. Southern, at Petone No. 2, at 2; Mr. J. Lynch. . Poneke. v. St. Patrick's College A, at Athletic Park, at 1.30; Mr. W. Welch. Southern v. St. Patrick's College B, r.t Kelburne Park, at 1.30; Mr. J. Moffitt. Wellington College v. Petone B, at College, at 3; Mr. J. Slines. Fourth Representatives. The following team has been selected ■ to represent the Wellington fourth-class teams against Manawatu third-class, at Palmerston, on August I:—Parker, Staco, ,(01d Boys), London, Angel (Johnsonville), Hickson, Thompson (Oriental), France, Barnett (Waiwetu), Larking, Thomson (Athletic), Cunningham, Miller (Wellington), Abraliall, Pilcher. (Petone), White, Nelson (Southern). CHRIST'S COLLEGE AND RIVALS. ' !Br Telegraph.—Press Association.) . Christchurch, August 12. The annual match between Christ's College and Otflgo Boys' High School was played this aiternoon in the presence ei a large number of spectators. The ground was in first-clas3'order, but a stroug south-westerly wind proved rather disconcerting. Christ's College held the upper hand throughout, the visitors J rear division being lamentably weak, although their forwards showed up well in the loose. The local backs, although not too suro flt timos, were much superior to their opponents, and as they were willing to take plenty of risks, a last open game resulted. The match ended—College, 22 points; Otago, 3 points. THE SOUTHLAND MATCH., ; The Rugby Union's offioial note states: i The annual interprovincial Rugby match between. Southland and Wellington is be- . ing played at the Athletic Park on Wed- ■ nesday next. After a period of four yeare ; in the Rugby world the Southland district i has shown som6 improvement recently and ■ j the present team is one which should give ■ the local representatives an opportunity i of showing just what the strength of Weli lington is when opposed to a strong fori ward combination as will bo met in tho • north. As a curtain raiser the annual > fixtures between the juniors and Wwines- > day representatives will be played, com- ; mencing at 1.30. A notice to junior playj ora appears in our advertising columns. [ GONE OVER TO LEAGUE. I (By Tolesraph.—Press Association.: ' . . Napior, August 12. 3lnjrning, who oaptaihed tho North Is- ' larnl Rugby Country team which toured the scuth, has gone over to tho Northern Union, and played under League rules on Saturday. ■ HEST-CLASS CLUB "GATE." t ' - Dunedin, August 12. 3 Orer JE2OO was taken at the gates at 1 Safecriar'B match, between Unlraniti audi

S puthern to decide the premiership. This si tows that over ten thousand persons were £ resent. 'MEW SOUTH WALES LEAGUE TOUR. Br Telesrraph—Press Association— Coryrieit Sydney August 12. Noblo does not accompany (lie Kew South Wales League team to Kew Zealand. Williams replaces him. O'Mal.ey and Dcane are tho additional selections. REFHREG TO EXPLAIN. The Wellington Referees' Association met last night. It was decided to ask Mr. E. Tregear to explain why he had not fulfilled his appointment to referee in tho third-claw match, Souther# v. Waiwetu, at Sharp's ground, Petone, last Saturday. It was stated that tho teams had gone to tho ground appointed, but had nut played as a referee was not found. It was also said tlmt Mr. 'iVegear had attended the Petone-Oriental senior match at tho Petone Recreation. Ground. CONDUCT OF TOUR. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Dunedin, August 12. Tho Otago Rugby Union held an inriuiry to-night into a complaint made by Mr, Buchanan, proprietor of the Railway Hotel, Invercargill, against members of the Otago team that met Southland at Invercargill on August 7. Mr. Buchanan alleged that come members of i the team disarranged tho beds in certain rooms and soaked the bedding and mattresses with water, and as compensation ho claimed .£5 from the Otago Union. i Thirteen members of tho team weTe j present. Evidence was given by them and a statement made by tho manager of the team (Mr. Nelson). These statements were in the direction of showing that the mischief had not been dono by any members of the team. ■ The inquiry was adjourned for a week to hear-evidence of Childs and Ongley, two players who were not present to-night.

J ASSOCIATION.

. 'REPRESENTATIVE TEAM. The Association football representative team to play Hawke's Bay at Napier next Saturday, August 17, is as follows:—Goal, Walls (St. John's): backs, Elavell (St John's), Duignan (Roverts); halves, Dick (St. John's), Roots (Hospital), Brownlee (Thistle); forwards, Loadsman (Hospital), Beavia (Y.M.C.A.), Hughes (Hospital), Barnett and Gibson (Thistle).

HOCKEY.

WEDNESDAY ASSOCIATION. The following are the hockey fixtures and .grounds for to-morrow:— Karori v. Hereawa, at Karon. Petono v. Hui Mai, at Karori. Pakelia v. Mental Hospital, at Porirua.

GOLF.

_ The MiTamar Golf Club's medal competition was played on Saturday afternoon. The'best scores were as follow:—E. H. Liddle, 87—12—75; H. R. Balneavis, 81—4— 80; M..Burnett, 99-1 -83;' D. Kidston, 87 —3—81; B. L. Taylor, 88-1-81; P. WhiteParsons, 100—16— - 'ROWING. EIGHT-OAR WORLD'S RECORD. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright New York, August 11. At the National Association of Oarsmen's- Regatta at Newport, the Duluth Boat Club's eight-oar crew has put up a world's record over a straight mile and a quarter, covering the distance in 6min. lGsec.

'■ -LAWN TENNIS.

SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIPS. ■By Telegraph—Press Association—Conyriirht London, August 11. -i The .Scottish tennis championship singles were won by Parke, who had a walk-over, Doust scratching. In the doubles Doust and Parke beat Pritchett and MacGregor, 6—2, 6—2. AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS. . • New York, August 11. Maurice M'Loughlin retained the singles tennis championship by defeating R. N. Williams, 6—2, 6—2, 5—7, 4—o, 6—4. SCULLING CHAMPIONSHIP. PEARCE SECURES BACKING. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. August 12, 8.55 p.m.) Sydney, August 12. PeaTce has secured ,£3OO of the ,£SOO backing required to meet Barry. It is expected that the'balance will be forthcoming in a few days, when he will cable challenging the Englishman to row him for the sculling championship of the world.

MASTERTON NOTES.

— 4 !3y Telegraph.—Bpuclol, CorresconflanU , Masterton, August 12. The. question of whether a ploughing match should be instituted in connection with the Masterton A. and P. Association was briefly discussed at Saturday's meeting of the General Committee. The president and other members expressed the opinion that one match in the district was sufficient, anil farmers in tho North Wairnrapa were urged, in the meantime, to support the efforts of the southern society. A motion that, tho matter be referred to a sub-committee for a report was negatived. * Masterton has been visited with another bitterly cold snap. Palls of snow occurred last night and early this morning. _ It ,is fortunate for settlers that lambing is not yet in full progress. Thr,ee matches were fucd on Saturday in connection with the Masterton Ciun Club. A feature of the shooting was the splendid performance of ; J. Whittaker, who registered'thirty-four "kills" out of thJrty. five. A golf match between teams representing the Masterton and Featlierston Golf Clubs was played on the Lansdowne links 1 on Saturday last, and resulted in a win ' for the former. The annual meeting of the Masterton Co-operative Dairy Company was 'held on Saturdayiast, Mr. J. C. Ewington presiding over a good attendance .of shareholders. The chairman expressed pleasure at the result of the, year's working, and stated that even better results might have been gained had the company consigned its output instead of selling it. Indications for the coming year pointed to a good market for butter. Messrs. W. H. Buick, J. E. liiistrup, C. A- Wall, and C. Harper were elected directors for the ensuing year. At a subsequent meeting of directors, Mr. J. C. Ewington was re- ' elected chairman. Settlers in tho Mangapakeha district intend meeting the directors of the Masterton Dairy Company this week, to disouss tho question of commencing dairy operations in that district. The Nikau factory, which was closed last season, is to be re-opened in the coming season. During his visit to Australia this month, Mr. William Perry, of Penrose, intends visiting the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, to glean information concerning the methods adopted for imparting agricultural instruction in Australia. The whole of the creamcries of tho Masterton Co-opeTativo Dairy Company will have commenced operations by tho .first week in September. Sister M'C'osh, Smith of the nursing staff of the Masterton Hospital, was tho recipient of a presentation prior to her departure for Timtrni, where she Ims received ft hospital appointment.