IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1842, 30 August 1913, Page 12

IN THE RING.

' 9 —' 1 [Bi "Mehcuet."] HOW MURPHY MADE THE POINTS, Tho Risk ho took In Training. Consider tho classes which Murphj now tops. He is tho accepted middleweight champion, ho clrnims tho welterweight, and lyvs beaten Keys, who recently drow with "Jim" Hagerty, the holder of tho light-weight title. _ It is plain, however, that the light divisioi is not 'his class. Whon seen by "Mercury" in Ihis.dressing-rooni before Wed' nesday'-s battle, ho was obviously far to< "fine" for any prolonged stay at ,thi weight. Ho never carries much flesh and olio is acoustomed to seeing bin look lean even at his full weight. Fo; tho Keys match, however, his prepara tion 'had reduced liim to_ a condition al most bordering oil emaciation. At leas it looked that. TJiis is not to say tha he-felt any th© worse. Ho did not, a-n< lie told tho writer that, as far as h could tell, he was good and strong. _ Since noon, the time of tibo weighing at which both men pulled 9st. 131b., h had been "resting up." and mo doub lie had built up a couple of pounds or s by tho time that, he entered tlio ring Still, us lie himstflf said, tho-only tes as. to whether he had. overtaxed Nat-ur in getting off his 'half-stone of "too, to solid flesh" would bo provided by th contest itself. If ho was feeling stroii; at the tenth round, ho said, ho though lie could win. , A report gained ground last wee. that Murphy had given up trying to gc down to tho required 10st., and_that b intended handing over tho £25 forrci provided for by tho articles, rather tlia sacrifice his chances by "drying out too much. On Saturday, however, h scaled only ono pound over tho lOst and from thence onward he was sati: fled that ho could get under tlnvdim: without undue strain. Ho succeeded fc Wednesday, but would be veoy ill-a( vised to mako a practice of it. H finished very strongly, it is true, bi there was a certain absence of "get u and get" about his work that appearo as though his virility had been in paired. Had Keys But Known. His worst time came in tho sixth a« seventh rounds, 'had Keys but kuowi There was nothing to bo gleaned fro: his expression, for Murphy's class features aro ever Sphinx-like, but h condition at this-stage sadly worrit "Tim" Tracy, who bad ohargo of h ,corner. Ho felt tired' and very sic and, at one time, "Tim" actually co 'sidered throwing in the towel. Insteaho sont -Murphy in to mix it, with tl result that the eighth was one of ( h best rounds, and, thereafter, ho nbv looked back. •The Old Ceneral In Murphy's Corner. Apropos of Tracy, it has to be sa that tho winner owes a good dea] tho veteran's guidance and) advic "Tim" kept his mail very quiet for t opening sessions.- Ho made liim husbai his strength until ho had tested hi thoroughly. Ho cut out practically : tho footwork, a.nd mado Murphy staJ practically flat-footed to the attacks Keys. Consequently "Denny" wast no time and strength in any chasing t will-o'-the-wisp "business. If Keys w closo enough ho tried to hit him (ofte I it must be raid, in vain), but if he w out of range ho let him stay there, ai bided his time. Murphy in the Rolo of Lamp-post. Murphy declined to bo nonplussed any extent by "Hock's" very pret back-moving and sidc-steppin", and 1 mesmeric passes with his gloves. , . "Tim" had previously told Murphy, o cmi side-step, baulk, and feint round lamp-post. It does not hurt tho lam post, but it is apt to prove tiring the other party. So Murphy emuhit tho lamp-post for tho fii\st half of t battle. Why did not Keys Sail In? So much far Murphy. What of K<y Tha "old master" stripped bicger th when wo saw liim against Hngerty some three pounds or so—and ho a pcared to bo really well and strong. 1 reported himself fit and confident annexing tho £100 that constituted t big end of tho purse. He certaii looked good enough for his task'. His appearanco was good, and his br ing was beautiful, but it is questional whether his tactics were altogether su ed to the occasion—that is, of cour: if he had tho faith in his condition th aunearancea Beemod to justify. '

must have known tliat his opponent had been hard, set to get tho weight, and one would have thought that ho would have hustled and harried Mm from tho start in tho hope of breaking up his condition. • ' Instead (as against Hagerty), lie opened up very slowly. At times he would flash out in a brilliant display and solid punches in from all angles and all directions .in most bewildering fas!hion, hut these onslaughts wero not sustained enough. Just ns Dlicv seemed to bo making somo effect on their impassive target, Keys would draw off and settlo down again. This was typical of his display throughout. It was tho champagne of boxing—but only the froth and sparklo of'tlio champagne. It was pretty to ■seo and dcciaedly exhilarating, but, ns a steady draught, it was lacking iyi body —which is apparently why it failed to satisfy the referee. "If the Mountain will not Como to Mahomet " Towards tho middle of th'o fray Keys was well worth watching. He gavo a far more showy display at this stage than lie did against Hagerty in his endeavours to draw Murphy. He feinted, ho baulked, ho danced just in. and out of range in tfho most enticing maimer, and, had Murphy only forgotten his instructions and gono after liini, there have been another talo to tell of tho finish. Hero it was, in "Mercury s opinion, that Keys made 'his mistake. If tho mountain will not come to Mahomet (as tho Arabs sa.y), Mahomet lmist go to tho mountain. When Koys saiv that Murphy wo\ild not como to _hrm, no should have carried the business to Murpliv, and lie should have kept it there. Ho had tho better of what breast-to-breast work there was, although ' in this as all through, tliero was a lack of sting in his hitting. Nono of his blows seemed hurtful. Strange Feature of the Keys Punch. This is a strange, thing about the Koys punch. When it, lands it seems innocuous enough, but when it misses it scenis to have plenty of steam, behind it, as witness various right swings and upper-outs' 011 Wednesday. Somo of tlliem looked very vimful, but these were tho oiles that,got past. Nono of those which Murphy stopped—and lie stopped a few—seemed to bother him much. A Smack that Tojd, As for the bout itself, its character has been pretty well described in tho foregoing paragraphs. ■ If it lacked thrill and was wanting in hair-raising equations and sessions, it moro than made up for the absence of these features by its virtuo as a boxing contest. Not that it was void of exciting moments. One of these came along in tho fifth round, when a sharp clip under tho chin caught Murphy off his balance, and deposited him on tho floor for a moment. In the fourteenth round thore really was excitement and to' sparo. With something less than a minute to go, an overhand right cbnnected with Keys s jaw and ho wilted perceptibly. It was just too high up' to get the best results, but it made itself felt. With a less clever man it might easily have been t'lio beginning of the end. As it was 1 — even, with Keys—things looked nasty. However, oxperienco told, and-lip, man-, aged to out-manoeuvre Murphy s attempts to send the until t'lio clang of tho gong. A Noto on the Referee's Award. When the gong sounded for the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Sampson hoisted Murphy's hand above his head, and the signal of victory was received with cheers. There was 110 adverse demonstration from tho Keys faction, but all [ tho same "Mercury" cannot but think , that-Murphy was just «■ bit lucky to , get tho decision. Ho certainly piled up [ tho points in the lattor rounds, but he started so slowly that there must havo been a big debit balance to wipe on at ] half time. Hajl "Mercury" been referee » tho best ho could havo given Murphy is , a draw. 1 Howover, that, is Mr. Sampson's der partmeut, and, in truth, any shock -. which tho writer sustained at hearing - his decision was of a pleasant nature, as t it will bo remembered that he has «dvot cated this match and statccUiis opinion 1 that ■ Murphy would giyo keys a very 2 good run ever since tho latter arrived hero. 3 Flnanco— Anticipation and Reality. As for tho association's part in the 3 affair, it is to be feared that it will be • out of'pocket. Why it is hard to say. From all indications, tho match shoulc 0 havo been as good a draw aa ivo hav< s had.- The reputations of tho moil, anc 6 the fact that Murphy is a local boxer ? the size of tho purso involved, and t u general circumstances portaining to th< 1 contest should havo aroused at least at + much interest as tho recent HagertyKeyß contest. , ? Unfortunately this was far from be ~ in<r the case. The takings fell sometlnnf '• short of half tho amount netted on thai n occasion, about 2000 being present, llii: in itself is not a bad "gate," but tin ■1 £150 purso and tho heavy expenses 111 \ curred will leave a balancc ou tho wroiij side, as a reward to t ; ho association foi L its enterprise, £ Koys and Party Leave. • P Keys left for Sydney yesterday. Hi d was accompanied by our "feathor. I- Frank Ellis, and Alf. Bromwich, _ -tin light-weight, both of whom .are desiroui of trying 'their luck among tho Sydne; boxers. Of "Ellis, Keys has ( a very liigl d opinion, and'ho tips him already as t-hi 1. next Australian champion "feather, m Moro unlikely things havo happened, ai ic Ellis has all the natural attributes t< is success. Ho is strong and rugged, and )d moreqver, is a brainy boy m tho ring is and with somo polishiug up.of his lv Ic, small boxing ability will make a fomucl II- able "feather" proposition, even ainoiii :1, tho "Joe" Russclls, "Jimmy Hills ic and "Charley" Simpsons of Australia, is 3r Tho Publican arid tho Navy Man. After twenty rounds! of uninterestin boxing at Mr. Baker's Stadium in Syd neyv "Bill" Lang duplicated his pel Z foriiance of last May by defeating th English "heavy," ex-letty Officer-Cui c ' ran, on points. Tho contest fell fa 1 1 short of public expectation, and ai pears to have been a weary circun stance altogether. Lang is now a pul lican by profession, and Curan is an e: Navy, man, and, as usual, when a saiio; man clashes with a publican, the soil ( [ 10 tho sea camo to grief. Stadium Doings. as Last Saturday's Stadium fixture wc id a welter-weight contest between Artlu Evoniden, of England, and Frank lie; to, of tho U.S.A. To-night's excitemei is to be supplied by "llorb" M'Coy (Vn to toria) and Waldemar Ilolberg (Dei t-y mark), and this latter should bo a gre; lis clash indeed.. Vs « ne a Talk with Hannan. p! On- Wednesday, at tho Keys-Murpli to match, "Mercury" had a few words wit od "Billy" Hannan concerning his la! lie Saturday's conflict with "Jim" liagert on "the coast." llannan had just ri turned from "tins coast," and expressc himself as well satisfied with the vcrdii —a draw. He states that it was * ■ good even clash all through, with llfli ei'ty slightly in tho lead in tho ear! rounds, and a corresponding improv ?" incut in liis own scoring in tho latt< 0 f stages.