IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1611, 30 November 1912, Page 12

IN THE RING.

[Bi "Meeocet."]

BULLDOGS—M'COY AND KEYS. December i.—L, Porter r, A. Maxwell, Palmerston North. December 11.—L. Porter t. J. Hagerty, Hastings. Something Like Mark Twain's Frog, Lost week' the regrettable withdrawal of "Hock" Keys from his fixture under the auspices of the local association, with J. Hagerty was commented upon in this column, and some surprise was expressed that his defeat by Herbert M'Coy did not leave him free to fill this engagement. Of this battle with M'Coy more anon, but it appears to have added, rather than detracted, from his virtue as a drawingcard in Sydney. Herein is to be found the probable reason for his defection, although the official explanation has'yet to be made public. From the Sydney files by the mail this week it appears that Keys has beon kept in Sydney to fill a gap in the Stadium arrangements caused by an unlooked-for accumulation of avoirdupois on the part of Jean Poesy, the latest of the Trench boxers to land in Sydney. Poesy lefi France as a feather-weight— 'as, the feather-weight champion of Europe,' to be- exact—but, as was the case with Mark Twain's expanding frog, the voyage and the Australian climate have so "built him up" that he cannot now make the weight limit. He has, therefore, been classed as a light-weight, and, accordingly, his opening match, which was to havo been against Jimmy" Hill to-night, had to be cancelled. To fill the date, Keys was called upon to take Hill's place, and, 09 lie is under contract to Mr. ll'lntosh, as also, no doubt, this swing with his own inclinations, it was good-bye to the New Zealand trip.

The Meeting of the Bulldogs. The Sl'Coy-Keys' match for the resident light-weight championship of Australia appears to have been a bout in a thou-, sand—a right royal bulldog bout. And to think that we might have had a similar one in the Town' Hall had things come our way! The public sized the prospects of the clash very correctly, and consequently the crowd that saw it was one of the biggest yet seen in the Stadium. For the whole twenty rounds the interest never ' flagged. Neither boxer achieved sufficient lead until its very final stages for oven the most expert to anticipate the verdict,, and the tide of battle swung from side to side until the eicitemejit grew to fever heat.

Virtue of a Straight Left. ' Surprisingly enough, Mr. M'Coy won by superior boxing skill. To those who have seen Keys this seems strange indeed, and it shows how M'Coy must be coming along, and what a rod is being kept in pickle against "Hughie" Mehegan's return. Says tho "Referee":— The left won the battle, and where clever men of the Mace school are concerted the left must always be the. better weapon. Each principal showed a high-class sinister member, and lie used it as far as he know how to the greatest advantage. It was a revelation to most people to see M'Coy's left bettor on the whole than-Keys' left,-1 though there were rounds in tho earlier period .of the contest when. Keys' leading or coun-tering-punch put the other fellow's in the shade. Soon there came a change. The boot was a good deal on the other foot. Except in flashes here and ' thero. Keys' left played second fiddle, , mainly because he appeared more concerned about being ready to block rights to the ribs than jabs to the face.

A Round to be Remembered. jNearly- all' the' renorts oite three rounds, as being especially nair-raising—the third' and fourth, and twelfth—and, peculiarly :enough, the concensus of opinion is that the man who lost the contest returned to his chair the victor .in these three, fierce exchanges. The twelfth was a torrid period for both, boys—vide the "Referee's" description. . M'Coy forced the game in the 12th, and Keys responded gamely. They stood toe to toe, and Keys had the better of the fighting, sending his man staggering more than once, and this despite that M'Coy punched with both hands at the body when close up. Keys at times fought his man to a standstill, and the house was pandemonium throughout a terribly fierce and remarkably well-sustained rally, during which the fighters , were all over the ring. Such an exhibition'of the bulldog in man:is not "often witnessed. 'I ■ ■ Youth Will, Be Served. Towards the end, as Is only natural, the hard going told on Keys. His younger, adversary had undergone just as parlous a time, but youth will be served—especially as regards recuperative ability—and tho referee's verdict by consensus of press opinion seems to have been the only one possible. To quote the "Eeferee" again:—"ln fighting instinct and 'condition neither lacked anything, but the younger man (M'Coy) was undoubtedly the stronger. . That he landed the goods was not, however, due to that fact alone. M'Coy had it over Keys in skill and persistency."

A Voice In the Wilderness, One critic, however, ho of the "Bulletin," begs to differ, and as he differs very graphically, his objection is appended in full; but it is declared lost on the voices: There was never a more stirring ■boxing match in the world than the one between' Herbert M'Coy and Hock ICeys, at the Stadium, on Saturday night. As long as Mr. M'lntosh caii . stage "fights" like that, men will call i him blessed, and when he has gone they will engrave tablets of brass to his memory. Tho feature was the series of wild rallies in which Keys cut loose, and with amazing energy slapped and banged and upper-cut ana jabbed M'Coy, till that distracted person's face became a ma si: of dazed and frightened humanity. ■ It was terrific; nothing approaching it has ever- been seen in the Stadium before. M'Coy fought back desperately, but was out-punched and bewildered, and would havo been outed but for Keys's' inability to land' a. really heavy blow. On the other hand, the plucky, clever Melbourne boxer over and over again disconcerted Keys's splendid attacks. He paid much attention to the Sydney boxer's body, but had no hope of making any impression there—Keys covered ' it with his glove, forearms, and elbows. His jowl was also invulnerable—he guarded, it beautifully, although in doing so ho left, his chseck undefended, ■ and M'Coy managed to get' to it. If Keys could have jambed liis work home with the same steam as M'Coy, then M'Coy had gone to ribbons. Keys's attack failed for shoor laok of hitting powor; but he was the attacking party all the time; and although : his attack failed to out M'Coy, or even mark him, he scored the points all the same. In this case this writer is a voice crying in the wilderness; but the truth is might)', and must get out. In his opinion, Keys won the fight, though M'Coy got the verdict. Of course, it all depends on how one judges points in a boxing match. It is, howovcr, obvious that a man can be only certain of winning at the Stadium by ' knocking the other fellow right out. Keys couldn't do it because lio hadn't the strength, and M'Coy couldn't do it because he hadn't tho skill. Yet M'Coy got the verdict. The scribe relieves his feelings by remarking "Rabbits!" Mehegan's Wars 011 the British. Mehogan is still keeping himself beforo the British public. The latest intelligence concerning him is .that he beat "Jack" Ward over 20 rounds, and that tho decision gavo rise to so much dissatisfaction that tho referee was mobbed by indignant spectators. This does not look too well for Mehegan's chances against | Freddy Welsh 011 December, 16—that is unless ho wqs boxing much below his propor form or \lllles3 tho "gate" was moro than ordinarily "one-eyed." Ward is not looked upon as one of England's first-flight light-weights—that is, as a serious claimant for championship honours liko Welsh or Wells, for example. One of his latttt exploits, in Ootobor Iml,

was his defeat by a knock-out at the hands of Waldemar Holberg, the Danish "light" ohampion., in London, and as the Dane had, shortly before, been beaten by one "Dick" Lee, also a second-rater, Ward should have been comparatively "easy" for the Australian. The English papers show that Mehegan has been appearing with muoh. success at the music-halls, so it is more than possible that ho had not been training too seriously for Ward. However, he can be depended upon not to resort to half-mea-sures in his preparation for Welsh next month, and this is the match that really matters. Now Zealand News. Two Dominion championship clashes have occurred during the week. At Waipukurau on Wednesday, night "Barney" Ireland beat Bert Lowe, the holder, by a knock-oat in the ninth round in the "heavy" oontest, and last night at Gisborne there eventuated the Murphy-Trus-cott battle (No. 3 of tho 6eries). Porter In Hot Water. On December 11 Len. Porter is scheduled to meet Jos. Hegarty at Hastings Tho final settlement of this fixture saw our light-weight champion involved in trouble with the Manawatu Association in this wise.. There has been considerable demand for Porter's services of late, and, ■in the largeness of .his heart, he undertook to .meet Allen Maxwell at Palmerston on December 4, and Hegarty, as stated above, on December 11 at Hastings. This was taking decided chances with nis title —the more so as he could do no better than draw with Billy Hannan at Blenheim last week. He was hampered in this engagement by a damaged'right hand, and subsequently evidently some hard thinking. The result was that ho turned down the Maxwell fixture, much to the indignation of the country association. The Manawatu executive made an effort to foroe him into line by an appeal to the N.Z.8.A., but as he had not signed articles nothing could be done. Porter, if unfaithful, was but wise in his generation, for he can afford to take no chances with Hegarty, and Alien Maxwell is not a man to stack up against and expect to escape scathless, even if victorious. Mr. Sanjpson in Demand. The Hastings Association has asked Mr. T. W. Sampson, tho local referee, to officiate on December 11, which in view of the fact that the Manawatu Association also-.put in a request for his services for the abandoned Porter-Maxwell clash,, speaks well for the general satisfaction! at the powers of adjudication of the Wellington official.