IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1758, 24 May 1913, Page 12

IN THE RING.

IBx "Merodei."! BHOMWICH & THE REFEREE. The Week's Surprise at Hastings. Tho event of the week,.6o far as the Dominion's boxing was concerned, was tho weird and woolly Hegarty-Brorawicli affair at Hastings. The contest ended, as has been reported in the daily press, with a decision of "no fight.'" Fortunately this is a verdict with which New Zealand boxing patrons have but littlo acquaintance—in fact, tho writer cannot recall another instance locally in which a referee has been called upon to adjudicate this way.

In tho case under Teview, it appears that Mr. Sampson was not at all satisfied that Broimvich was a beaten man, and that his "quitting" was premature, and not justified by the amount of punishment he had received. Tho end arrived simultaneously with the gong for tliß commencement of the fourth round, a towel coming in from Bromwioh's corner in token of surrender.

Then Mr. Sampson, after questioning Broimvich, gave his decision, and also declared tho capitulating boxer disqualified, on the ground that he was quite fit to continue the contest. It is stated that Bromwich was quite prepared to "go oil with the game," which bears out tho referee's opinion that ho was fit to do so, and that ho throws the blame of his early surrender on tho over-ofl'iciousness of the second who skied the towel.

How Will it Affect Hegarty? Sinco the affair. "Mercury" hn9 had numerous inquiries as to tho outcome of the decision—more particularly as regards Hegarty's position. As it stands, tho verdict seems rather contradictory in its effect. Usually the disqualification of one party in a match gives lite victory to the other. In the present instance, however, tho matter is considerably complicated by tho "no fight" ruling. The effect of this is that tho contest itself is rendered null and void, that the purso is impounded, and that, in communities where betting is allowed, all wagers would be off. Thus, not only does Bromwich forfeit his loser's end of the purse, but Hegarty is also liable to lose the winner's share. Tho strict application of this rule would seem to bear unfairly on Hegarty. Hy all accounts, he was doing his best tn win. He had taken the aggressive from the start. He had piled up a big points lend, and frequently had Bromwich "going," and there can be but little doubt that, had the contest reached a legitimate issue, ho would have been returned as winner. No doubt, under the circumstances, ho will receive his winning end of the purse, but, if so, it will only be by virtue of an act of grace on tho part of the controlling association. This is an aspect of tho affair that might well bo dealt with by tho New Zealand Council, and an authoritative ruling laid down for future guidance.

The Head Body Must Face the Position. There can bo no doubt that ,Mv. Samp-

son acted in accordance with his convictions, and that, as ho suspected that tho affair was not bona fide, ho was quite justified in protecting the association and tho public by ruling tho contest out. It was an occasion requiring quick thinking and prompt action. There was no time for any weighing of pros and cons, and tho possibility of any hardship accruing to tho unoffending man may not have suggested itself to tbo referee when performing his very unpleasant duty. But, as has been pointed out, it is quito possibloihat tho innocent might suffer with the culpable, and, therefore, it is imperative that our head body should deal with this aspect of such cases. It will have an opportunity of doing so when the disqualification of Bromwich is brought under its notice (as it must be) by tho Hawke's Bay Association. Alas the Poor English! At the Stadium in Sydney another of the imported English boxers has suffered defeat. This time the victory cannot be hailed as an Australian one, as tho winner, "Pat" Bradley, is also a visitor, although not an imported one. As his name indicates, he is Irish, and, sinco his arrival in Australia some fifteen months ago, ho has battled along with much' success among the local men. His chief assets have been toughness, an exceptionally hard punch,, and a 60und, if crude, defence. On the present occasion his opponent was "Sid" Stagg, an English "welter with a record of 170 battles and, up to this contest, not a knock-out decision debited against him. In his training bouts he showed himself to be a splendid boxer, and his performance in the bout under review thoroughly proved his ability in this respect. But, as is too often the case with the latter-day English boxer, ho lacks durability, when taking punishment, and power when dealing it out. In short he is a 6plendid boxer, but a mediocre fighter. Thus it was that Bradley s bulldog persistence and vimful ruggedness wore him down, and, in tine thirteenth round, there camo tho coup de grace. The two had just broken away from a clinch, when Bradley unloosed a mighty left swing. Stagg stopped it—with his jaw—and the rest, for him, was silence.

The Englishman's Conqueror. Bradley is by no manner of means a boxer, being a wild and woolly slogger. In the present instance Stagg drove in left after left, and flashed in an uppercut, reported as being "beautiful to see, while the same authority describes his fending, ducking, and side-stepping as almost perfect. Yet Bradley's glovo was generally there to stop the lefts and the upper-cuts, while all the- duckin", and side-stepfisc. of the Englishman could not keep him out of trouble. In the eighth round lie was sent, down twicOj in the twelfth 1m was floored for "nine, and, in the thirteenth, he went down and stayed down. Wherefore it is apparent that there is more to Bradley than just "biff. certainly lacks polish in defence, but he knows enough of smothering and blocking to protect his own vulnerable parts when not placing his punch where it will do most good. Also it is sure that lie will fierce again at the Stadium, and it is likely that his nest opponent will be "Jim" Sullivan.

Career of one Spenceley. Last Saturday's Stadium "card" _ was another English-Australian international. The participants wero Herbert M Cir (who is, during' Mehegan's absence, resident light-weiglit champion of Australia) and "Alf" Spenceley, about whom an Australian authority recently wrote:— Spenceley, as an amateur, was the most distinguished boxer in tho world, lie put up a unique record by winning the world's amateur championship 111 two successive years. This title is obtained at a special amateur tournament held in the United States. To ■ obtain it Spenceley had to defeat the champion of France and the champion of America. He held the English championship himself and the worlds title, too, until ho went into tho professional ranks. In ail 110 has fought tea professional, battles, and has won nine. The other was a draw. Spenceley came to Australia with Mehegan, whom lie met in -romantic circumstances in Paris, when Jfehegan, not knowing Spenceley, but finding him alone in a French ring, peeled off his coat an<l took his place in the Englishman's corner.

"Don't Hit Him Hard, Bill!" Two Nw Zealanders, once well-known rinfr performers in Wellington, figured lately ,at the Stadium in the afternoon programme staged t weekly in the big arena. The gladiators were tho two Williams—Rndd and AYenand-and of their "turns" the Sydney "Sun" says:— The affair that Rudd ornl Donnelly figured in had hardly began before it ended. "Don't hit him hard, Bill, he s new at the gamo," cried a voico pleadingly as Tiudd ran along tho 'tween chairs passa-se to tho ring.- Leavo that to me, I'm not going to,' said Kudd. But he did hit hard. A coimle nf heavy jolts rattled Donnelly badly. Tho referee interfered, and Rudd was back in the dressing-room when Donnelly started to look for him again. Evidently Rudd has no rein on his punch; Billy Wenand and Pat Lebres supplied tho star turn —the 10 rounds bout for that "tenner" which Mr. Baker gives'every week. It was not a bad event, taougn hardly a good one. Wenand did his best, and won tho points of ono round, but each of tho others saw him second best. Nothing out of the way occurred. English Boxer in New Zealand.

Among the "human freight" discharged by s.s. Athenic in her recent visit at this port was a personage of somo note m tho English boxing world. This was one "Mick" Tansy, whose claim to fame lies in the fact that ho was amateur featherweight champion of the North of England for the years 1910-1011 and 1012. Tho now arrival has gone on to relatives in Timaru, but while in town made himself known to somo of tho local enthusiasts, and produced his championship medals to substantiate his claims. Ho is a likely-looking lad, not at all of tho "pug" type in appearance, and is anxious to get into the gamo in New Zealand, so, no doubt, we will hear of his doings in tho south when ho gets his footing. He expects to weigh in at Bst. 71b. Among his performances in England he numbers some preliminaries at tho National Sporting Club, London, one in particular being at the "Packv" M'Farland"Freddy" Walsh contest in 1910. So it would appear that he was well thought of at ITomo.

"Tommy" Burns Meets Luther M'Carty To-day. To-day at Calgary, Alberta, Canada, "Tommy" Burns enters upon his first serious encounter in his "come-back' career. This is, of course, provided that events come off as scheduled in the latest American advices. His opponent is no lo=s than Luther M'Carty, tho present claimant of the world's championship, vice "Jack" Johnson, retired. If Burns can win out in this endeavour ho will be well launched on the road to the attainment of his avowed ambition of recovering his lost title. Also, if he does win, it will be a striking commentary on the decadence of tho world's "heavies."