IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1557, 28 September 1912, Page 12

IN THE RING.

[BT "MERCCM."} SEVEN DAYS OF WARFARE. October 3.—Welter-weight Championship, Murphy v. Trusc'ott, at Town Hall. October 9.—Hagcrty v. Burns, at Christchurch. November —.—Maxwell v. Hagerty, at j Town Hall. The Week at the Stadium. Much doing in boxing circles all tho world over since the appearance in print of last week's notes. In Australia, to start nearest home, with the overseas advices, the Australasian amateur championships have bec.u decided, the Australian flag , has again triumphed over that of France in the Stadium "international," through tho defeat of Paul Til by Jack llead. The Whirl of Things in America.. In Now York "Eddie" M'Goorty— "Dave" Smith's recent conqueror—has climbed another rung toward_ the summit of the middle-weight championship ladder by knocking out "Jack" Harrison, tho English champion, in that division, in oho round. Also from the Land of the Stars and Stripes, wooden nutmegs, assault-and-bat-tery pugilists, and Olympic champions, conies the news that "Jack" Johnson has absolutely, definitely, for _ once and for all timo retired from the ring. Further, from the same source, comes the news that "Jack" Johnson is ready to sign articles with "Sam" Langford for a bout in Australia on Boxing Day next, and is expected to leave for Australia shortly. The Seven Days in England. From England we learn that Hughle Mehegan, aow the proud possessor of the title of "light-weight champion of the British Empire," by virtue of his recent win over "Matt" Wells, has been matched with "Johnny" Summers, an English ex-champion, and also that ho lias accepted an offer from Mr. John Wren, of Melbourne, of for a return match with Wells. We also , learn that P.O. Curran, Gunner Moir's recent conqueror, has beaten Georgo Rodel, the South African "heavy," on a foul in the 16th round in London-. . And the Week in Canada. From Canada comes word-that "Tommy" Burns has met with a severe reverse, although not' through any human agency. His knock-out came from the hands of an unkind fate, in tho form of a fire which destroyed his business premises in Chancarty. In New Zealand Also—Hannan and Peter

Cook. In the Dominion, too, there has been war and rumors <f war. On Saturday last •—to take the excitements chronologically. Hannan met his compatriot Peter Cook at Westport for a i'so purse beforo a crowded house, and atoned in a measure for his recent defeat by Allen Maxwell by annexing the verdict and tho thick end of tho purse. Private reports received in town on Sunday hinted that Hannan was lucky in getting', the decision, and that a draw—even a win for Cookwould have been nearer the mark. This assumption is not borne out by the local papers. One account which states among its introductory remarks, that "the decision was well received," runs: In the two first opening rounds Hannan had the best of it, and showed somo very smart boxing. The next two rounds were oven, and Cook went down two or three times. In the next few rounds Cook improved, and did a lot of infighting. , Tho remaining rounds were all willing,,and Cook sprang in quickly, and got in several lefts, and dodged a lot of hot re- " turns. In tho 12th Tound both appeared to be tiring, and tho referee had a busy timo separating the men who were continually clinching. In ; the. last three rounds the fight was very even, both giving a good display of scientific boxing. The referee awarded tho fight to Hannan. The referee's points were awarded as follows:—Hannan's rounds: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11, and 14. Cook's rounds:, i, 8, 12, 13. Even, 3, i, 10. Auckland, too, has had its Warfare. : Auckland, too, has had its little excitement during tho week. On Wednesday in that .city "Denny" Murphy, one of the participants in. next Fridoy s contest in the Town Hall, made good his claim to the New Zealand welter-weight title by out* pointing G. Olson over 15 rounds. ' The contest was held in, tho lown Hflll (quite a number of municipalities aro following the lead of the Wellington City Fathers with regard to the use ot town halls as arenas for boxing oontests), before a "gate" of 2000 people, and was for the title and a purse. The bout, according to reports to hand, was fought in the best of spirit on both sides. In the earlier stages the Aucklander's vigorous attack gave him a slight lead, but his impetuosity told its tale as time went on. At times his rushing swings almost carried him off his feet, and more than once it was more good luck than good judgment that got his chin clear of a lifting upper-cut. , After the fifth or sixth round the tide of fortune turned in Murphy's favour. The "VVellingtonian was boxing carefully and well, and was making a point of body blows. In the' clinches he frequently scored a loop-the-loop punch that completely nonplussed Olsen, and generally things began to come his way. As the battle wore on Murphy's margin of merit grew larger and larger. Olsen's attack lost sting as it spent itself fruitlessly against his opponent's smart defensive work, and, without sting, it became wild and futile. Murphy steadily pounded away at his man's ribs, and the constant battering obviously, wore its recipient down. / The end came in the fourteenth. The Wellingtonian had been confining his attentions to his man's ribs, and the letter's hands were- down in consequence, when suddenly Mnrphy "shifted" to the jaw. The blow landed true and Olson reeled. He then staggered into a clinch, and was so obviously "all ill" that Murphy refrained from following up his advantage, seeing which Olson's seconds sent in the towel.

Murphy's disnlny appears to have been verv pleasing. He kept as cool as the proverbial cucumber, and boxed throughout ■in good stylo, varying his work occasionwith some hard, clever in-fighting, so showed that when occasion demanded' lie could take care of his own in "tho Tough Stuff." The Coming Battle ip Wellington. Not only is his wMn a matter of congratulation for himself—it is decidedly good business for the local association. Much interest has been evinced os to how Murphy will shaue against an old Ting soldier like "Lyn" Truscott, and now that Murphy has made good in Auckland this interest will bo strengthened'-to the association's profit on Friday next. Truscott is going well in his preparation, and his condition is giving every satisfaction to his "stable." For this afternoon a six-round bout with amateur champion "Jim" Murphy has been arranged as part of the Australian's training operations. No Australasian Honours for NewZeaZealand. New Zealand has no Australasian amateur champions. This fact was rather suspected when the team left here, so tho knowledge has come upon us without providing much of a shock. In "Mercury's" opinion, the only member of the team with any clnim to the big honours" was J. Gunn, the Southland bantam, with perhaps. Fitzsimmons, of Timnru, as an outside chance in the "heavy" division. Mr. Atack Waxes Wroth. Both these chances wero disposed of on the first night, as the result of which the (cam's ninimsor, Mr. W. 0. 'Atflck, designates the verdicts as "disgraceful" decisions. This may or may not be so. Unfortunately, previous experience of Mr. A tack's judgment in these mutters does not encourage one to take his opinion os conclusive. Jlo has oilicintod in a similar capacity before, and made similar qomplnints be fore, and has shown that his judgment, where a member of his te;im U concerned, may possibly be influenced by his zeal tor'-his team's racuw- ~ f ~ Wn will await rnrvohnriiUnn rf Mr. Atack'a shsrgca against th« reforeems bfc

fore dealing with that aspect of tho uhampionships. "Save Mo from My Friends!" Perhaps the biggest surprise of the meeting to Australians would bo tho defeat of Fitzsimmons by Coghill, of New .South Wales. To those who saw tho l'imaruvian in action at tho Town Hull at the time of tho recent New Zealand championships, tho fuss made over him in connection witn this Sydney trip has seemed unaccountable. Ho left New Zealand about a month ago, so as t/o get some experience with the "heavies" in Sydney, his obvious intention being, should his form warrant it, to turn professional. His arrival in Sydney was made tho occasion for the appearand in the papers of some "pull" paragraphs that must have mado the young New Zealander blush for himself and his friends. As a sample, "Mercury" quotes one or two extracts:—"Ho is like a bantam, and as swift and sure, with a punch in either hand hard enough to put 6ther 'and bigger rock to sleep." Again: "The boy simply/can't help hitting hard, and, although ho may not make a world's champion, you may take it that he is going to „ * Verily, it is a caso of "save me from my friends!" The Fitzsimmons Whom We Saw Hero, Those of us who saw Fitzsimmons in the Town Hall out-boxed by Mntthewson, of Dunedin, and just gel tho decision by a narrow margin, and in the final saw him hopelessly out-fought in the last round of his bout' with nineteen-year-old Caldwell, of Wanganui, can only presume that he ha& been made the target of all this nonsense simply because he is his uncle's nephow. There is not a vestige' of-re semblance about tho fighting qualities of young and old "Bob" Fitzsimmons, unless it is the colour of their hair. _ One can quite imagine the delight ot tho Sydney crowd -at the win of their representative over this newspaper paragon of all the pugilistic virtues-Jlr. Atack's "disgraceful" decision notwithstanding. Australian-Lightweights. We have yet to learn details of Paul Til's unsuccessful second venture in Australia. The clash occurred last Saturday night and tho cable message merely advised us that he had succumbed to Jack Read. , , This latter gladiator is an ex-amateur champion,and recently he fought Hock Keys for the honour of being Australia s second string against the Irenchman. Read was given tho verdict over Keys, but the decision was an extremely unpopular one, both with press and public, so much so as to show that there is practically no margin of difference between the two. , . , This, in consideration of the fact that "Hughio" Mehegan—easily the pick ot the Australian light-weight basket—is at present, in London,'seems to put the present form in this division on the other side at a pretty high standard. _ However, there is a boxer just arrived in Sydney, under a M'lntosh contract, who will put a searching test on this standard. This is one Grover Hayes, one of the foremost of America's formidable array of light-wciglits.

—And An American Invader. Hayes is 25 years of age, weighs 9st. 71b., and has a record of battles that totals nearly 200. In 1911 he figured ill 22 contests, of which he lost one—to "Frankie" Burns, on points over 20 rounds —and in tho present year, for three months of which he was "rushing up" he lias fought nine times and has been undefeated. His last two' contests were with "Freddie" Welsh, the well-known English boxer and wero "no-decision" Ijouts, as of course were many of his other contests, but the fact that deemed worthy of a match with Welsh speaks well for his "class." Among his opponents there appear tho names of "Knock-out" Brown, Leah Cross, "Harlem Tommy" Murphy, "Pal" Moore, "Abe" Attell, and nearly all the present day top-lines, so Mr.,Grover Hayes must be—to use one. of : his nation's expressions—"some fighter." He is to be 'given a chance to make good 'his reputation on October 9, his opponent for this occasion being "Jack" Read.