IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1800, 12 July 1913, Page 12

IN THE RING.

[Bv "AlEitcijßr."] PUGILISTS' BANK ACCOUNTS. A Few of Them. Last week "Mercury," in commenting on M'Carty's death, quoted a few words by Mr. Naughton upon'the ways that cause the downfall of champions. It must not bo supposed, however, that all the top-fighters '"go tho same way home." As will be seen irom a perusal of the following from au English exchange, which (commenting on a statement that "Battling" Nelson had retired worth i'GO.OOO, and that he mado at least .£3OOO last year lighting third-raters), says:— "The wealthiest of the British boxers is I'red Welsh, whose fortune is conservatively estimated at J220.000. Owen Moran, who had to do most of his boxing in America as a lightweight, comes sccond, with nearly .£15,000 to his credit, most of which has been invested in Worcester. Matt ■ Wells has not had the opportunities afforded Welsh and Moran, but his capital, nevertheless, figures close to .£4OOO, and he is. now negotiating for the purchase of a fine property on Brixton ltoad, to which he will take his bride-to-be shortly after his return from his world tour. Ad Wolgost, another dethroned champion light-weight, who is seeking the seclu-' sion <;f domestic life, has at least .£■lo,ooo to go on with, while Packey M'Farland bids fair to outstrip them all, as ho already has something liko. .£50,000 in store, the major portion of' which is in Chicago realty that hag been judiciously bought and is rapidly rising in value, while M'Farlancl has still a few years of usefulness before him in which to gather more moss." The Chagrin of it. When a champion boxer, who has been relegated to' the "has beens" comes back and, in a contest with the champion of tho day, leads for more than halt of the journey, till, his old-time ruggedness being wanting, he stops one blow that more than evens the tally of his points lead, his feelings of disappointment may well be imagined. But words altogether fail to express his feelings when, on a liko occasion, lie leads his opponent in eighteen out of the twenty rounds (including the last, which looms so large in the official eyo), and then has the decision given against him on points. Such was the position in which one-time crack light-weight Frank Thorn found himself :• t the conclusion of his battle with the English champion Harry Thomas. To tho surpriso of tho crowd Thorn fought in a maimer' reminiscent of the days when ho was the master of Rudolf Unholz, and, except in the eighteenth and nineteenth rounds, was easily the master of the situation. What prompted tho decision in favour of Thomas is the mystery of tho hour in Sydney. Another Scalp for Jerome. At' Brisbane recently BillSouter put up another brilliant battle with Jerry Jerome, and, for fifteen rounds, more than held his own, doing the bulk of the leading, while his ducking and getting away showed that he hail gained some knowledge of the aboriginal's highlyunorthodox methods. Still, lacking the shrewdness of Dave Smith, he was caught at last. In the fifteenth round he sent a sturdy right and left to tho face, but Jerome ducked, and, coining back like a flash, landed his left squarely on the right spot. Down for "eight," he rose and clinched, only to bo dropped again for "eight." - Up again, he was downed immediately for the full count. His plucky and clever showing fully earned tho warm reception which he received from the crowd on his return from Dreamland. Some Now Zealanders Abroad. Our old friend Billy Elliott showed a return to his form a few days later by decisively beating Young Warner at Brisbane, after twenty rounds of clean, fast, boxing. Elliott's showing was so impressive that, in all probability, he will shortly bo matched with Jimmy Hill, the winner to meet Joe Hussell for the Australian feather-weight championship. Another ex-New Zealander, Wenand, went under on points to Teddy Green, who, like Tennyson's "Brook," bids fair to go on for ever. Gus Devitt, lato of these shores, is matched with Tim Land, and our own Bill Kudd is after tho winner. Mortally Injured in the Ring. ' Leon Truffier- (one of the French team out in the Antipodes recently), while fulfilling an engagement with one Constant, at Marseilles, was butted in tho stomach by his opponent's head. The injury occurred in the second round, but Truffier battled along gamely to the end of the journey—ten rounds—to lose on poiuts. Taking ill after the battle, he was operated on, but unsuccessfully, and lie died a week later. Tho news to hand does not make it clear whether tho butt was accidental or otherwise, but, in any case, the mau who did it should be barred in future,. "A Rousing Three Minutes." Hill, who, since tho days when lie first earned something of fame by Ms victories over young Hanley, has made steady progress in tho noble art, and of late has reached the front rank in Australian feather-weight circles. His greatest victory was gained at the expense of Englishman Harry Thomas a few weeks ago, and his latest over Victorian, Charley Simpson, was clearly cut, his opponent having tho lead in only one round-the fifth-which, judging by the following account, must indeed have been a rousing three minutes: After opening this round with four lefts and away, Hill was stung by a nicely-executed left upper-cut that sent Ills head back. Then, like an infuriated bull-ant, he rained lefts and rights with pace and force to beat the baud. Simpson backed the last brace that come to his head, but his attempt to lay back in kind—left and right swing to the head, was beaten by Hill's clever ducking, and, ere his opponent had time to adopt a defensive attitude, "Jimmy's" left swung twice in rapid succession. His straight left was well countered by Simpson's left swing. . Hill got even in a similar manner, and notched more points to his already big score by ducking a right and'swinging that member hard to the head. Simpson's right caught Hill squarely and sent him back a good 1 yard or so, and had tho Melbourne boy's right and left swings, that soon followed, landed on the same spot, ho might have won by a knock-ont. ; Hill just here completely lost control of himself, and swung wildly ' with both hands, and was paid for his > recklessness by bumping into a ] weighty upper-cut. Then a right ' took a lot of steam out of the byd- I ney boy, and brought him to his ' senses, 'with the result that his un- I erring left was again in action, and 1 although it had momentarily lost ] much of its sting, it was so nicely timed as to get home before his 1 shorter opponent's swings, while either or both weapons were more than half- 1 way Oil their road to destruction. i Langford Packs His Trunk. J Jjaugfoi'd has at last concluded his Aus- i tralian picnic. He left for America the i other day ou the look-out for serious .( business once more. Whether that Ijusi- ( liess will appear on the horizon depends t of course, on how quickly the American ( public will forget about "Jack" Johnson, j One thing is certain, however, that Lang- 1 ford's American battles will be with those ' of" his own colour. Among those who departed with Lang- t ford was "Jack" Read, who, under the ] guidance of the black champion, has come on wonderfully." If he is well (and that j means not too highly) placed at the out- ( set, he should win both lame and gold t before his return to these parts. • ! Real "Fourth of July." Tho battle between "Willie" Ritchie and "Joe" .Hivers appears to have been a real "Fourth of July" affair—all fireworks r and bang from start to finish. The noor f public opinion of Ritchie fostered, no v doubt, by the fact that his victory in the A championship battle was gained on a foul, c koked sure to be materialised iu the n fourth round, when tho champion was 1; very shaky from the effects of the Me.\i- (. can's attentions, but his subsequent re- v <"iv«rv a-nd win tho eleventh session i

is proof that, at least, he is as good as over Wolgast was, for the latter had to stoop to all sorts'of doubtful tactics to dispose of Rivers. Fought on Though Badly Hurt. Last month Bombardier Wells refused tho National Sporting Club's offer of a .£■loo purse for a battle with "Packey" Jtahoney, the Irish heavy-weight champion, but a few days' reflection (forced upon his by his inglorious essays of late) evidently caused a reconsideration of this refusal, for, the cable message informs us that the two met l'or tho Lonsdale Belt on Juno 30, Wells winning in the thirteenth round the loser proved himself a rugged, plucky fighter. Though his jaw was broken in the fourth round, the fact was not announced till after his defeat which wa? due to a staggering right cross followed by three quick upper-cuts.