IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1836, 23 August 1913, Page 12

IN THE RING.

[Bi "Mekcgrt."] THE MELEE OF MEHEGAN & WELLS. August 27.—Hock Keys v. Diunv Murphv. Town Hall. 1 / Eighteen Thousand Look On, The Australian mails "during the week brought the eagerly-looked-for details of the defeat of Hughie Mehegan in Sydney by Matt Wells. It was certainly a'great battle and a great occasion altogether. It seems that tho "gate" was actually larger than that which packed the big arena in that sorry Boxing Day when Jack Johnson wrested the world's championship from the white races as represented by Tommy Burns. In cold figures, no fewer than 18,000 people paid lor admission to the Stadium, and this despite the fact that the prices ranged from £2 to ss. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon the "queues" started to form, at 5.45 o'clock, the gates wero opened, and at 6.30 the sale of tho os. and 10s. seat tickets was stopped. Thence onward the orowd waited with more or less patienco until 8.30 o'clock. Pen Picture of the Two Men. The competitors weighed in tho afternoon, the respective poundages being given as: Wells, 9st. 71b. lOoz.; Mehegan, 9st. 71b. Boz.—an excellent indication of the evenness of the contestants. In the Sydney "Sun" Mr. W. F. Corbett publishes a pen picture of the boxers, which runs: Though identical in weight, the two great boxers' are very different in build, and their appearance was a contrast. Wells is sturdy, stocky; he has tho torso of a Hercules, with the hairy adornmeilt of an Esau; and his head is round and flattened. Mehegan is more slender in type, powerful though' he is, and his smooth white . skin glistened against the duller colour of the Englishman's. But it wa9 Wells who showed the greater perfection of muscular action when tho two were in motion. His speed and accuracy of movement were dazzling, , and often left Mehengan at a loss how to find so elusive a body and how to avoid so swift a blow. A Graphic Story, But Who Was Who? The story, of the battle is well described in tho leading Australian papers, but the "Bulletin" writer is frankly ait a loss concerning the correctness of the verdict, as witness the following graphic but contradictory narrative:— "The long-looked for contest was a disappointment, and distinctly devoid of excitement. It was really a duel between a Hebrew racehorse and an Australian land-crab of equal size. If the crab could only get the horse where ho wanted the steed, the rest would be silence, save for the voico of the referee counting 10. But tho crab was too slow, and when tho horse wasn't galloping wildly backwards or sideways for safety, it was hugging the crab with its forelegs and hanging on. From the very start it was obvious that Mehegan was the stronger man and the harder hitter, and the question was not who could win, but how Mehegan could catch the other fellow and get. a chance. He was the aggressive party to the disturbance all the time, and so much the superior pugilist (not boxer) that in a bang to a finish he must surely triumph. No one realised it better than Wells, and he adapted his tactics accordingly. Only three times did he appear as the 1 offensive partner—once when ho was rushing for a clinch.-and smote Mehegan as he caino in, crashed into tho Australian and Lore him to the floor —but with innato courtesy dragged him to his feet again immediately; once, in the seventh round, when, after landing on Mehegan with a most remarkable riglit overhand, he sought to follow up the blow; and finally in tho 14th, when he astonished Mehegan and the house by charging the Australian into a corner, and raining a shower of lefts and rights with bewildering speed. Most of 'the blows landed on Mehegan's forearms and gloves. Several, dropped on his face, but they made no impression and left no mark. At last the slow, deliberate Mehegan put one first into action and punched Wells off. But for the rest of the affray Mehegan wandered round the ring, vainly trying to get within rango, and shooting blows that misled by about a yard owing to the way the elusive Londoner tip-toed gracefully away into safety. N

" 'Who won ?' has been the question universally inquired. Honestly, this writer doesn't know. His impression is they both lost it—one because he was too slow and the other because he was too quick. The speed that Wells showed in his backward galloping was described by Baker as marvellous ring-generalship. It may liavo been, but it wasn't fighting; and most people went there to see a match, and not a race. Wells's mad passion for a safe distanco reduced 'things to a scrambling business, in which the only hitting took place • in and immediately before the clinohes; and that sort of affair is a dreary proposition. "At in-fighting Wells had no show, although he showed wonderful skill in blocking the vicious uppercu'ts that Mehegan jerked in quickly and ferociously. I'But.his performance was absolutely defensive; and apparently, because Mehegan made all the attack and failed to mako a success of his attack, and because W"lls, by rear-galloping and quick clinching, made a success of avoiding a knock-out. and therefore made good his defence, Wells won. Which means that the only hope Jlehegan had of beating Wells was to knock him out, while Wells wasn't required to knock Jlehegan out. As boxers, there is no comparison _ between them/ Wells is the finished article. Mehegan isn't a boxer at all—he's a smiter, and, apparently, ia smiter can only beat a boxer by outing him. _ This writer does not dispute Baker's decision. He was referee, and tho refeTeo must adopt some ideal of how the match should bo fought before it begins. And, anyhow, the referee is fate.- Had the writer been referee he would have given Jlehegan tho verdict. Jlehegan was never in danger, and Wells was never out of i't. Wells received the more punishment, and simply dared not stand up. to his opponent, who begged of him to como up and have a real struggle. The most exasperating thing in the scrimmage was the amazing slowness of Mehegan. If he could have put on a spurt and kept up with Wolls, history had told another tale."

All of which, summed up, amounts to this: That the "Bulletin" expert honestly does not know -who won; that in his oniuion Mehegan cannot be compared to Wells as a boxer. and lastly, that if hd had been referee ho would have given the verdict to Jlehegan. Whati the Principals Thought. In conclusion the opinions of the men most immediately concerned are appended. Said Wells:— "I told you my speed would beat him, and that the 20ft. ring would bo more in my favour than either of tho other two we boxed in in London, The ring in which I was beaten on a foul was 13ft., and that at tho National Sporting Club was 16ft. I improved out of sight on my first bout. It came out to-night as I planned it. But it was different to the last one in London. Either Jlehegan fought worse or I was a lot better." Said the loser:—

"I won 13 rounds out of that match, or I don't know anything about it," said Mehegan. "Go in and look at him, and you will sob where my punches landed.- It looks as if a man lias to hop round like a kangaroo and hug like a hear to win. Why, in England thoy let me do moro punching than they did to-night. Thirteen of those rounds were won by me, and nobody can toll mo otherwise. Look at my face. I have not a single mark; now go and have a look at his. I never had to retreat once, while I had liim on tlio go all the time. Still, opinions cannot always agree. I hope wo meet again. Good luck to him." Coming Clash of Keys and Murphy. Wednesday next at the Town Hall will see the third appearance of Hock Keys before a Wellington "house." His first, which was some years ago, and his second, which was on July 3, are red-letter days in our local ring history. This time ho moots Murphy. Keys Very Fit. • Since ws saw him last, he has had two engagements—the first against "Billy" H.nnnan at Eastings, which ha won comfortably, and too second, against

"Johnny" Summers in Auckland, which ho lost on points. His showing on that occasion, however, enabled him to leave the ring with, honour. Summers, of course, is a boxer of world-wide renown. He is younger, stronger, and huskier, perhaps than tho Australian has even been. Also he Iras had oven more actual boxing experience than has the "old master," and, what is more, lie is the fortunate possessor of the one attribute to boxing success—'he holds a knock-out punch in either hand. Yet our Australian, visitor not only travelled the whole distance, but he emerged from the contest seathless, and with a very fair proportion of points in his favour. Keys is now in even tetter fettlo than he was on that occasion, so tlio public can rely on it that he will strip on Wednesday night thoroughly capable, fit, and well. What of Murphy? Now for "Denny" Murphy, the other party to the contract. _ What has he to stack against the abilities of his redoubtable opponent? In the first place he 'is the middle-weight champion of the Dominion—no mean honour for a boxer of his poundage to hold. In the contest in which he won this title—against "Barney" Ireland, at Waipawa, a month ago—lie conceded over half a stone, and he proved conclusively that 'lie is boxing better at the present time than he lias ever done, lie is sparring daily at Tracy's with "Tommy" Thomson and ono Burns, an Adelaide light-weight now resident here. Who will be Who on Wednesday? In endeavouring to calculate Murphy's chances, there is a natural tendency to take a line through his and Hagerty's performances. These two have never met, but each has clashed with our late visitor, "Lyn" Truscott. Murphy boxed him herd and lost the decision after a very close contest indeed. In a return meeting at Auckland, Murphy beat Truscott, and just subsequently Truscott met and defeated Hagerty. Of course in boxing, as in most athletio sports, collateral form is a rather undependable quantity to work upon, but in this case it certainly goes to indicate but a small margin of difference between Murphy and Hagerty—the advantage, if any, being on, Murphy's side as far as results go. Against this there is the fact that Murphy met Truscott at welter-weights, whereas on the present occasion he is boxing Keys at the "liffht" limit of 10st., which may possibly tell against him. to a slight degree, although ho is confident himself that it will make mo differenceat all.