IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1605, 23 November 1912, Page 12

IN THE RING.

[BT "UEEOnET."! November 26.;— Amateur Tourney, Pahiatua. November 27.—8. Ireland v. B. Lowe, Waipawa, November 29.—D. Murphy v. L, Truscott, Gisborne. "The Best Laid Schemes," etc. That the best laid schemes of mioe and men gang aft agley is a) precept that is continually and foroibly brought under tho notice of those that deal with boxing and boxers. The truth of tie adage was again impressed upon the local iioxing Association by a cable received on Wednesday last from Mr. J. Bun-, its Australian representative, advising that "Hock" Keys had turned down the match with Hagerty. The why and wherel'or have yet to be learnt, but the disappointment was all the keeuer from the fact-that it was generally anticipated that Key 6's defeat by M'Coyon Saturday ■ last in their match for tho title of resident light-weight champion. of Australia would practically ensure his coming over,'; Had ho beaten M'Coy his refusal to make the trip would have been quite to understand. He would then have been in great demand in Sydney, and the Stadium management would have made tho most of the boom by putting h'im oil as often as possible, ■with corresponding pecuniary accumulations for Keys. But as it is, the two .£IOO purses" offered seemed good money, and it is hard to understand what motive has actuated-the Australian crock, especially as the terms offered were tho6« set forward by Keys himself. Hagerty, too, .will be disappointed. Ho was to have received <£30, win, lose, or draw, as his "cut," in addition to an opportunity of jumping into the top flight of Australasian lignt-weights at a bound, ill this is done with now, and the public, the association, and' Hagerty are left lamenting. What of Hagerty7 The blow' might possibly be softened to some extent by matching Hagerty with Len Porter for the vacant date. This would be a good card, although his draw with "Billy- ■ Hannan on Wednesday night-will not have sent Porter's stock up much. The objection to this move is that Hagerty had a tentative agreement with , the Hastings Association for December 11, and -he will probably be- called upon to fill this now that Keys's withdrawal leaves him free. It rather looks as though the Wellington Association has closed down for the season after a most discouraging run of misfortune. Hagerty, by the way, is making good his promise to shine as brilliantly in the light division as he did as a "feather." Last month he created a stir by beating Allen Maxwell, and on Wednesday he put the seal on his claim to be considered a light-weight of Tepute by knocking out Peter Cook in eight rounds at Timaru. A Delicate Question. Bv the way, before leaving the subjeot of lCcys, "Mercury" finds that it is up to him" to apologise to the Australian in regard to tho-delicate question of his age. On this point the "Referee" has the following:—"The boxing 6cribe of the Wellington (N.Z.) 'Dominion' says: *By the way, "The ' Amateur" makes a. strange mistake for so welUinformed an authority over Keys's age. He refers to him as the "old,master" of the Australian ring, but states that he is not yet 33 years of age. Now, Keys must be 37, if he is a day. "Mercury" remembers him saying when he was over here at the contest with "Tim" Tracy that he was "rising' SO." Moreover, hzs reoord shows his first win to have been in September, 1895, when -he knocked out one Foster in two rounds— hardly a likely performance for a boy of fifteen.' Why not at 15 ? Boys have done, and aie doing, greater things than that at the same age. We have a copy of Keys's birth certificate." In the face of this documentary evidence there is nothing for the writer 'to do but to' withdraw as gracefully as possible—which, he does accordingly. - . ' ~;j0 ' s Mehegan's "Arrival." Hugh Mehegan has surely arrived, in England. His looked-for match with "Freddy" Welsh is now apparently a oertainty, although tho news as to its date and its management is rather contradictory. During the week we were briefly informed that it was scheduled for December 16, • but right on the heels • of this message came another informing us that G. Macdonald deposited with "Sporting Life" ,£IOOO as a first instalment for a Surse of .£ISOO for a match of ' 20 rounds on 'ecember 11, between , Welsh and Mehegan. "The winner," stated the message, "will meet. Wolgast foT the world's light-, weight championship in January." We axe not informed in whose interests ' Mr. Macdoriald is acting, but the ,£IOOO deposit looks like • serious business, and the purse named is a big one for an English promoter. At the same time it does not follow that this will clench tho match. As both Mehegan and Welsh will treat their contest as a "test" match for a subsequent bout with Wolgast for the world's title, it is'probable that they will want the vcrdict to carry with it the English championship, and as tilings are in England, all premiership contests are controlled by the National Sporting Club, and not by private promoters. The Subtle Wolgast. The W.S.C. is bound to make a bid for such a "draw" as a Mehegan-Welsh affair would be, and' its inducement, with the title as an additional lure, will make a tempting bait for both boxers. "Hughie," by the way, in a Tecent letter to a Sydney ■ paper, subscribes himself "Hugh Mehegan, light-weight champion of the British Empire." As regards the second portion of the cable, anent a forthcoming Wolgast clash for the winder, of course that is anticipation pure and simple. No such arangement can have been made so far ahead, especially with a slippery gentleman like Wolgast. The redoubtable "Ad." of late has shown a faculty for side-stepping any Serious attacks on his title-that almost amounts to .genius, and Welsh is a man whom he has assiduously avoided for years. Before he would hitcli up with the Englishman, and especially with anyone holding a verdict over him, there would be much preliminary discussion and negotiation to be gone through. There will be ample time to think about considering the wily Wolgast after the Welsh-Mehegan nfla'.r, but tip result of the meeting, whichever way it gees, will place the . winner in a position to speak to the champion with some weight. And tile sooner - Master "Ad." .Wolgast js asked to give an account of his, stewardship in a peremptory manner, and forced to give n satisfactory reply, the sooner will everyone interested be satisfied. • Even the American public is expressing itself as "fed up" with his coyness in toeing the mark, and when the American public begins to make rude remarks about an American champion, things must be getting very tired indeed. "Dave". Smith of Ours. The American mail brings news that "Dave" Smith, of ours, has to a certain degreo got some of his own back after his recent summary defeat, by "Eddie" M'Goorty,.in New York. Since that day of sad memory he had up to the time tho mail left met three other American "middles," nil in eleven days, and had trimmed them all in good order. This was in Boston, and ho also had another inatch fixed up in Scranion, but his opponent thought better 1 of it at the last moment, and left Smith lamenting. The three men 1 he b?at were Williams, Eshe, and Hicks, tho first-named of whom had recently made a gowl contest with M'Goorty, in.a "no decision" bout. His Debut in Boston, Smith made a good impression in tho Hicks affair. Commenting on his showing an American critic of note, one J. Conway, enthused in these terms:— "'Dave' Smith, tho Australian middleweight champion, is some boxer. And, this goi'6, oven -though Eddie M'Goorty, middle-weight-extraordinary. who hails from Oskkosli. knocked him out in a single round in New York recently. Smith nmde his debut in a Boston ring at the Pilgrim Club last night (October 3), and he made good with a vengeance. .The Australian champion was pitted against 'Freddie' Hicks, from Detroit. . . . Smith hnd tho best of the goinc: at everfv slagc. ITo boxed rings around his opponent, and defended himself Admirably. In the entire twelve rounds Hicks landed about twelve solid punches. Smith showed wonderful ability as <1 boxer. He was fast on his feet, and experienced little difficulty in avoiding Hicks's-rushes. The Australian kept his left hand working overtime. The lad from the Antipodes eave a masterly exhibition of blocking. Ho would stand in the i oontre ot the ring and knock aaida his

opponcnfs well-meant punches with scarcely an effort. The management will probably sign Smith for another bout in the near future, and will get 'Jack' Dillon or some other leading 158-poundcr to oppose him." However, subsequent matches could not h.ivo come quickly enough for "Dave's" ideas of business, as latest advices show, that ho is expected back in Sydney on December 9, by the same boat as "Joe" Jeannctte, who is coming out for his M'lntosh engagements. Monsieur de Balzac has a Win. Tho French boxers in Sydney will be kopt busy until the end of this month. To-night Paul Til meets "Jack" Head, on Wednesday Leon Bernstein and "Herb" M'Coy setlo their argument, atid next Saturday Jean Poesy will make hig Australian debut, his vis-a-vis being "Jimmy" Hill. It is worthy of note that the first viotory on Australian soil to the French camp happened on Wednesday night last, when Ercole do Balzac defeated the American middle, "Ernie" Zanders, in tho eighth round, the contest being stopped by the referee at this stage. J. Penrose, ex-light-weight amateur champion of the Dominion, at present resident in Sydney, has gone over to the professional ranks. He was billed to havo met C. Young, ex-New South Wales amateur light-weight champion, at the Gaiety on the 15th instant. This would be one of the last fixtures at this aTena, as the hall, an old land mark in the Australian pugilistic world, is to be rebuilt and used for other purposes in future.