IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1675, 15 February 1913, Page 12

IN THE RING.

IBt "Mbrcdet."! THE WORLD AND THE WEEK. Midwood, Smith, and the Towel. After "Have" S/nith'6 comparatively poor showing aguiust ue Balzac recently, opinion in byuney was evemy divided us to what would l*> the outcome of his battlo wild "Keg" itidwood. As things turned out, tno ex-New Zealander showed a return lo his old iorni, and, indeed, a little more than that. ,Ho won easily. When a very even iirst round ended, tno crowd sat back in anticipation oil' soiuetiiiug good occurring before the finish, but it was not to bo. Smith cut loose immediately upon tho resumption of hostilities, and his pace and magnificent lootwork did not give tho Tasmaniau a chance of landing a telling blow.

Though sorely battered, Midwood hung out bravely, and it was not till the sixth round, in which the Tasuiauiau was near-' ly "outed," that Smith's superiority stood out, From then on to the finish there was only one in it. and the skying of the towel in tho tonth round saved a knockout. ' ' ■

Smith's only hope now of meeting someone of his own class is for "Snowy Baker to import l'apke, M'Goorty, Klaus, or Carpentier, and, in view; of the Stadium owner's enterprise, this is not at all unlikely. Read and Herbert M'Coy. Tho Eead-M'Coy battle appears to have been a very disappointing affair. The exchampion showed hardly a glimpse of tho form that helped him home against Hock Keys and Co. Eead, on the other hand, showed great improvement, but tho fight was spoiled from a spectacular point of view by tho all-too-frequent clinches. Read, relying on his strength, forced matters at close quarters all through, . and M'Coy, lacking the footwork of Keys, could not get clear, and suffered accordingly. Beg. L. Baker—Purveyor for "The Fans." Among other prominent English' boxers who are expected to appear in Australia within the next 6i'x months aro "Freddie" Welsh, "Jem" Driscoll, Owen Moran, and Petty-Officer Curran—a formidable array of talent indeed, and something better able to teach Australians the fine points of the noble hrt than the Americans and Frenchmen who havo been picnicking in the Commonwealth of lato years, i Eeg. L. Baker is to bo congratulated upon his taste. .-'. '. '

■ Talking of Eeg. L. Baker, the following from the- London "Sportsman" gives a. good indication of the esteem in which he is held at. Homo:— <

■' "'Snowy' Baker should,bo the. very man to run a show like tho Stadium in Sydney. Ho is not only an experienced boxer, but the best all-round athlete in tho colonies, a champion f ewimmer, a champion with tho gloves, a a splendid gymnast, and a' prize-win-ner in all the exercises, such as tho 6abrc, the sword, and the lanco, pertaining'to military work. Ho is. a tactful, affable young fellow, well educated, and a great favourite 'down under' .with all ■ classes. 'Snowy' made armies of friends when he was in England four years ago, and ho will, I am sure, have the best wishes for success in his new line of all 'old friends at 'Home.' . . . Here's good luck to him, for he is ono of the very host."

The Straight Left Still Counts. Mr. Naughton's account of the M'CnrtyPalzer contest makes interesting; reading, and shows that, even' among the heavyweights of to-day, tho,possession of a good straight left is still tho deadly, weapon that the Jacksons and Maces of old'found it. '.'•" - t. ■ From the start M'Carty gave a delightful exhibition of boxing, outclassing his weightier opponent at every>point'of ithe game. ' Palzer has no claims to bo considered a boxer, but his great strength and his great courage, and his overweening confidence produced such an effect that ho entered the ring favourite in the betting. ' Ho tried hard enough, too, hut could do no good. If ho rushed in, M'Carty's left shot out, bringing him up' standing.. If ho tried a left lead, MlCarty landed twice, and got away, leaving Palzer floundering. : If he.got to closo quarters M'Carty's quickness in hitting oveued matters up. , Seldom in the history of heavy-weight boxing has ths bigger man in a battle received such a "pasting."

"Luther": Also Ralzer. . As to this, read the,following excerpts from Mr. Naughton's account . of how Luther M'Carty and Palzer dealt with each other;— . "Prior to tho beginning of hostilities it was tho opinion that Palzer's. ability: to assimiinte punishment 'wasi tho mam thing that O'liourko relied on to bring homo -tho money. Tho l'alzer-Bombar-dicr Wells bout was goue over again and again, it beiugi instanced how Palzt'r, alter biiug brought do\in' with a right-hmid smash, was on his- feet again in an instant, delivering -terrific"body blows' that put the Bombardier out of the 'miming in a. very iz\i rounds. , :

"When the heavies stood forth on New Year's Day we had an idea that' Palzer would at once rosort to pile-driving methods, and that M'Carty would utilise his cleverness to tho extent of keeping Well out of range—at least at tho start. To the surprise of-everybody M'Carty stood his ground and traded. -Palzer's superior weight—22o to the other's 203—forced Luther back a pace or two, but he set iinisclf and his gloves ilew rapidly.. "There was one rally in particular, tornirds tho end of the round, and it told tho whole story, in my opinion. It ,was an exchange of lefts and rights, with the balance distinctly in.' M'Carty's 1 favour. I could hear tho crack of his gloves on Palzer; and when they went to tlicir corners I noticed n bruitc alongside Palzer's left eye. the first mark o/' 111-usago that appeared. ' ' . -.

' "In tho fifth "round M'Carty snapped back from Palzer's rib-benders, and while doing so lashed out with rights and le,fts which tilted the Palzer head again and again. Palzer dropped his straight-left methods,, and went back to tho right body punch. But his scores were few and far between, and all tho time his fare was changing under M'Carty's fusillade till tho sight was anything but a pleasant one. - ■

"It was in the seventh round, I think that tho suggestion intruded -'tself that Palzer was not altogether immunefrom knock-out punches. A crack of the right caused him to spread. 'He recovered instantaneously, rnd became a mark for a variety of punches, ns before. "Palzer, ns'ever, tried to work close in the ISth, and M'Carty held him away with smashes. There was a bit of 'a clinch, and they stood off. Palzer. who was anything but firm on his pins, lurched forward, and M'Cnrty's left shot out' like a piston-rod. The blow caught Palzer, and he sagged. Another straight left landed on precisely, the same spot, and was,followed by a short right. Palzer stooped, and his arms dropped. Then before M'Carty could measure him, Eyton stepped between the men, and the fight was at an end. The referee grasped M'Carty's right glove and hoisted it, and then there were the cheers and yells and the exultation which' always marks tho close of a boxing bout, no mutter who' wins or who loses."

The Fight "Fans" Still Doubt "Luther." After this battle, in which ho showed himself a master hand, it is surprising that followers of the sport in America seem still to doubt M'Carty's quality, null they nro making life, anything but pleasant for ham by insisting that ho shall straight away meet ono Jess Willnrd, another cowboy some Cft. fiin. in height, and last. Sib, in weight. Ono wonders what sort of "pony' he used to ride on a round up. He save M'Carty a hot time in Now York in August last. M'Carty wants to meet Bombardier Wells first, but there is a popular clamour in favour of Willnrd,' which only a battle can appease. Should ho defeat both Willard and Wells, M'Carty could undoubtedly lay claim to the lxist win to heavyweight living, but, so long as Johnson and Lnngford are in the game he can hardly call himself champion of tho world. A world's champion is one who can lieat all comers, whatever their colour mav be. And, after all, I.anpford and Co. can hurl this brlok-bat at M'Carty i That, an ho is a quartcr-oaflto Indian, he, too, has some-

.thing of tho coloured gentleman in his make-up. Splendid Affray at Palmorston. The Hegarty-Maxwell "go" at Talmerston North on. Wednesday night was a splendid battle, very evenly contested, but the referee's decision was not -unanimously received, many good judges considering tltat the verdict might, with equal justification, havo gone to Maxwell, who made good use of a straight left nil through, and, in addition, blocked tho majority of Hegarty's leads. In the first couple of rounds Maxwell's left piled up tho points. Tho third was oven, and tho fourth and fifth wero Hegarty's. In tho sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth rounds Maxwell's left was prominent, and, in the eighth, lie drew first blood, cutting Hegarty's left eye. , Tho-tenth was all Hegarty's, Maxwell going down for three, and the gong probably saved him from being knocked out. Maxwell made a splendid recovery in tho eleventh session, • and . held his ■ own in this and the next round, in which an accidental bump from Hegarty's head opened up one of his eves. The thirteenth was fairly even, but Hegarty had a slight lead. Tho fourteenth ended with honours easy. In the last Hegarty hnd the best of things, and secured tho decision.

After the battle, his faco bore eloquent testimony to the frequent visitations •of Maxwell s left, and (as he remarked himself to a prominent member of the Wellington Boxing Association) it was just as well that there wasn't too much force behind. Hegarty's overwhelming superiority in tho tenth round probably turned tno'scnlo in his favour.

The contest excited great interest, over £130 being taken-at the doors, and among the spectatorate were visitors from Tarahakl and Hawko's Bay, who camo specially to see tho fight. ' ! After all, there is the possibility that tho champion will not be seen in action here at Faster, rumour having it thaihe is booked to meet Hod Sfandon at Auckland on Easter Monday night.