IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1639, 4 January 1913, Page 12

IN THE RING.

-/.;■■'■■•, ; ' : '»'.-. \]y\ ! . [Br "Mbsotot."] '. FURY OP FRENOH FIGHTING. ' Tho Furious Ds Balzab Again, So nvuon haa been, heard during the Inst . j ear or two on' the risfi of th<> JYench star on thefb'oxing horizoni that one is-tempt-ed to wonder, whether tho M'lntosh 6un has flashed its brightest rays to Australia. If it has, tbou.tho Australian luminary .is certainly muoh brighter' than the French. .-'•■ .. ■-' ■-■ ■■ ■ ■-.' ... '•■■ •' ■■■■*■ ■'■•'<'. The-Frenoh constellation oertadnly shed Bomo light,-but only-"wild and woolly" lighters, ! whilo the Australians who-have opposed thorn have shown the address and sang-froid which only skilled-men can command.- ; .... .'- : v -' The 'Frenchmen—Paul Til excepted— ore triers, but they do not seem to have tho sauii?-knowledge'as our own fighting cousins a'cress'the, Tasman.; One and all, with tho exception of Bernstein and Jean Poesy (who after all gained but a doubtful .victory over "Hock" Koy«),'4iavo failed to ruako good. • Still, such is.the publio taste nowadays, the worst of fhe whole."' bunch—Ercplc, with the' historic cognomen of Die' .Balzac- 1 can.'work : u'p more intqrest' than, 'whole, bunch of the clever Australians. Judging by accounts,. Jiis recond battto' with "lies Midwood .was' .tluj' some sort'of crude onslaught as the first.' Says tho' 'Tiefieroe": A more wildly exciting thing has rarely been seen, and it was'no more— , perhaps- not as muah—«o than the previous meeting-between' the' 1 same . two, when Midwood got the vcrdiot on e,foul;' ! ■",.' • '' '■'.' ' : •'•• ■-.>:■• - ■ From beginning to end the battle raged amid tumultuous exoitemont, and yet; it. was - little better than a. "slathor'uhiwhack" affair.'-.".,' Do Balzac \vas always the stronger fighter -j. lio ; bolted iij. and forced and banged. like something' released control and impossible'to stop till three minutes had passed. ' Midwood found'it extremely difficult to withstand the smashing and crashing, and sovoral_ times went down be 1 ■fore the cyclonic'dashes, or" ducked low. and held/ as 'if desirous .of':crowding info or under something in'the' . way <?f shelter, which; for the moment; ■ he thought' his opponent carried' about hinV. Tho.'Australian was certainly -, . the. weaker of the pair, as'far' »s titondnig up and battling with 'it-was concerned,' the "it" being- tho fury of (]io Gallic person, "'' '■:■'"• Thoro were times when Midwood had to fall,'whether he cared"to of not; it was'aoaso of needs tilust when Bnlzao drove, but thoro were other occasions when Midwood dropped for the refuge the boards offered,' particularly onco'in the neutral cornor, which the Stadium' tofereo'' has,' since the bjginning' of "that'. popular resort,' claimed as his -'own between rounds standing nlaee,' and while Do Balfcno was whirling arms a'ld shakiug his , hoad high ■ above, -the Tasraanian ~ crawled on Jinnds and knees, and rose when the heat of,the situation, had ,; passed. A little more of this and dog-fightinj ivouldooino into its own again.

Ths Barneneiii of "the earns" End«d. The ourtain heus rung down at last on tho long-di aim-out ploy of Latigfori v. WVea, tho BmalUr "Sam" ending tho argument by wdmimsftonnp ft knock-out at the end of thntcen rounds on Boxing wh:n t-\o masters euch aa th<me mot ») afbin T?}th points' decisions as tho only result, ft knock-out is hold to bo tho only satisfactory method of deciding Vi hi( h is i&&lly tho hotter man, and now Hut tins has arrived the public w perchance contented. Irish Grit and Frenoh Elan, rriank O'Qrady, by rirtue of hia frreator skill, seouiod tho verdict o\er Ijeon Bornf stein at Sydney c fortnight back, oftor - enduring 'omo rough buffeting dunnff tlie t journey Benistow was much tlie stronger, 3 but OGiady's skill counter-balanced hie - opponent's advantage in this respect. In * tho fourteenth round ho \ias badfj knock- - cd about, but hia pluck pulled him I through, and, after that, he never looked t u loser. What mannrr of tattering ho t 'must havo sustained In that throo min- ■ ulos may bo judged from, the following > account — • While tho count was on high-plteh- ' od, distinctly foreign voices oould be ; heard in solid patches all over the ploco fr-ancUcally yelliiig unintelligible ■ things, (unoiif yhich "Lee-on I" opught the car Woro often than anything else. " And not only the Gallic section wnt l wild, but the lesi excitable people of othor nationalities oantribufed their lot to tho din. A sudden turn had taken place It looked as if tho apparently easy leader of ft moment or tvio fofore *fl« > surely defeated, s Ero the count had reached six, not one poreon in tho great enclosure pxpcoted O'Orady to rise, but ho, did, though badly shaken, and vas hardly up (at "nine") before Bernstein roughed him down again for "won.'' { Yet enothor timo did tho. samo gan.o boy crash against the boards. Bern--5 stem had gone in to cat him up, and 0 punching at tho lwly, dropped his L opponent— -a second knock down; but i O'Grady iras standjng erect at "three," , and'tveathorcd the time out. '. Empty Handed but Plenty to Bay. Mr. W. C. J. Kelly-Mr. Jl'lntosh'a ppei oial agent, who went to America foi the purpose of securing Johnson and Jeanctte jot Australia—has returned empty lutnded so far 03 the chief object of h)s nussion waa concerned, but full of interesting gqs,6ip respecting tho state of tho game in ' 'America, " , Johnßon ho did not bring back because, at the finish, Joh'nson was hot, wajite<t ) anywhere in Australia. Jeanotte was lost ) 'for some reason or other that is not stet- , ed, but, judging from accounts of his re- | cent battles, tho big black is on the down j grade, ond tho sporting world hereabouts will not miss much after all. , Mr. Kelly paints a gloomy picture of j tho state of the gamo m thoso parts, New j York, Los Angeles, And San Vrancisco be--1 ing the only places where, boxcie can make 3 anything, and in several parte of Amcr- , ica, according to his account, boxers are , fighting only for half tho money which they realise through soiling tickets themtelves Porter's Jibe at Now Zealand Referees. "Len" Portor writes thus to the; - fTteforee" .—Just a few lmes to lot you know what sort of referees there are in New ! Zealand I fought Tim B>garty here. Tho bout went tho full fifteen rounds, and tho referco gavo Uegarty the decision Well, i Mr. "Amateur," I havo read six ppers, and they ell givo mo'nino out of tho fifteen rounds, so I can't noo how Ilegariy won. The report forwarded descubes tho contest as a "torrid affair," and says Porter looked more like tho winner than. Kogarty,'' v NW Porter may or may not havo won, but jibe at Mr. Sampson is wholly undeserved; for, without a doubt, Mr. Sampsou is easily one of tho best referees wo have, and, judged by the standard of tho best anywhere, is still! a good referco. The best that.over lived would not; please sorro boxors. ■ Has "Snowy" Baker Bought the Stadium? ' Cabled news that "Snowy*! Bakor has bought tho Sydney Stadium for JBSO.OOO, and that Mr. M'lntosh is retiring makes interesting reading, -but is not very illuminating. Mr. M'lntosh has presumably mado a goodly aum out of tho game, and is seeking boiuo less nerve-racking method of enjoying it than keeping pugilists up to their engagements, but what one would like to know is "Who is behind IlakorP" Maybe, prew accounts next week will throw some light on the subject. The "White Hope" Industry. "White Hope" "Al." Pakar mods ia poor showing against "Tony" Boss recently, and In consequence has been dethroned After three years' trial, the "white hopo" business has resulted in. one food wan being unearthed—Luther f'Carty—but whether ho will have any chance with Langford Co is too much, a matter for speculation to waste space about. ' How hd Looked at It, , Speaking to Mr. W. W. Nauglitoa a few dajs before Ms baltlo with "Willio" Ritchie, "Ad." Wolgaot 6aid respecting his chances:— "ll<ire is tho way I look at it —I'vo been operated on for appendicitis, and tho most of the. smart lollops have paid over and over again that 1 am not anything like tho fighter I ustd to be. All right. Perhaps they')'© nght, and perhaps. tlwy'ro wrong. Between you and I, the cUmces are they ore right, for it is said a man is ne rer tho tximo again after tho surgoons have dealt with him. Well, if I can account for Eitchio after all I've been through it will mean that, slowed up *tad all as I am, I am too good for tho present-day light-heights. I will either navo to move up a class or stop fighting, and I don't want to i 6top just yot awhile I'll bo\ "VlTarland or Gibbons, and let either of them woiga 101b. moro than I do. and you can spread that nous to tho world just as soon as yon like." Tho statement about giving 101b. and a bcatins to "Paoky" M'Farland ia quite tho gen "of lost year's pugilistic literature. Fighting'at oateh-neighte, it is doubttul if Wolgast at his best wonld bo ablo to land ona blow in ten on the clcvorcst boxer tho world has seen since "Joe" Gans was in his prime. 1