IN THE RING.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2138, 2 May 1914, Page 12

IN THE RING.

Efi? MERCURT.3

R. L, BAKEft & A BIG PROJECT. May 6 and . 7 —Wellington Provincial Championships, Town Hall. postpone our Tourney? At the timo of writing those notes tho Provincial Championship Tournament-, set down for nest Wednesday and Thursday at the Town Hall, is in rather mi unsettled condition, Tho disturbing factor is the military camp at Takapau. While this is in progress the flower of .Wellington's youth will perforce bo absent from tov.-n, and tho question which tho executive is considering (at time of writing) is whether a postponement will be advisable. The entries are very satisfactory as it is, but it- is possible that likely aspirants for championship honours may have been precluded from nominating so if it is found that this is the ease and that a postponement can be effected without inconveniencing those already entered, it is quite on tho boards that, by the time that this appears in print, the dates may have been set baek -a week or so. Of course-, if such a, stop will affect the present liomiuees, it will not be gone i en with as it is recognised that these boxers, in complying with the conditions, have to be considered first. In any caso a decision wilt have been rcaehiel by the time these notes are publish- [ ed. If, by that time, no announcement has boon mado by the association it will be known that, the original arrangement is being adhered to. ' Their Honours the Judges, A change in the method of adjudicating upon tho bouts is to be made at the. Town Hall tournament on this occasion. Mr, T. W, Sampson, tho association s official referee, has accepted an invitation to officiate at tho IrelandMurphy contest at Hastings on. May S, so will not be available for the local tourney. It lias therefore been ■ decided to take advantage of this fact to try tho two-judgo-and-referee systfiin. ! The experiment is Worth while, inasmuch as other occasions are likely to occur when Mr. Sampson cannot 'act, and it is advisable to ascertain whether suitable Mirleretndiss are available. .Til© .procedure is that each judge, gives, his decision in writing to the official announcer at. tho end of each bout, and, if these agree tho verdict is given without recourse to tho referee.' If, however, tho judges differ tii-6-final decision lies with the referee, who, in addition, has sole charge Of the men in the ring, and adjudicates as to fools, counting-out, etc. In the present instance the principal office will be filled by Mr. W.'Bfran*-ehamp-Platts., (who was- for many years the association's honorary t-roastirort. Messrs. K. Staples and C. S. Bridge will assist as judges.

Dauntless "ncnny" Murphy. Next, Tuesday "Denny" Murphy is to clash again with his "old friend' (ami foe), "Barney" Ireland. Tho meeting takes platto at Hastings, and granted that Murphy's hands stand tho racket, it should provide a solid battle. But in that "granted" lies a whole heap of coHjectm-o, It is not. so many months ago since the damaged members forced "Denny" to cry enough at VTaiigaiiui before half the distance had been covered, and this was Hot tire first timo that ho has had tfea same trouble, It may W. however, that rest and care havo put the trouble right; Mfflrphy himself is cohWnt, after the testing that he lias undergone, that this is the case, and oiie can only hope thai 110 is right in his surmise—'but-—-R. L. Bator's Croat Cqneept- . Mr. R. h. Baker's foreign tour seems likely to "result, in at least- ono "COll- - devoutly to be desired,' 1 i.0., the establishment of a standard set of dinmpi.oiish.ip rules, weights, a&d conditions. Dealing with this alUniportant matter' the New York "World," of March 5 says;— The first concerted move to organise an. uvteriiatio.ii.al boxing federation that will exercise supervision over boxing in America. Europe, and Australia was formulated yesterday, when Reginald I*. Baker, tho boxing promoter of Australia, conferred with the members of the New York State Athletic Commission relative to making all rules uniform and arranging ono scale of Weights for each division <jr class of boscrs. James A. Coif roth, the leading boxing promoter of California, who arrived here yesterday, will confer with the. Commissioners'on the same subject- t<q-d.ay or to-morrow. Mr. Baker sat out- a meeting of the Commission yesterday, and later expressed himself as being impressed by the thoroughness of tho control held by the Commission over all features of the sport and the men who participated in. it, After going over the rules and regulations adopted by the Commission, Mr. Baker took up tho weight finestion, and as a result tho Commission -empowered him to rep-resent New York in a conference .with Victor Br-eycf of the French 'Federation of the Boxing Clubs and with A. P. Beßmson, of the National Sporting Cluh of London, wheti iio visits Europe. The same paper continues:—As the .English, Frcnch, and otiier, European basing clubs have incited the Now York Commission to hold a conference regarding the standardisation of weights," this iaost important part, of tie game -will bo evejitiiatly settled; also a uniform sot of rules, with a reciprocal under- - standing among all -clubs as- to the punishment of boxers who violate ilio rules.

Why ttva Ring Meeds it. It- is la he hopsct that, if stick a world's Federation is formed, "it will take upon itself (as ow of it's first duties) the tiisk of' naming the champions of tJio day tn the various classes. Consider tha position as it stands at present. la not efte class, with the osccptioa of the ''heavy," has tlio <■> oafel champion a clear-cut- title. In fact, m the middle and welter classes tlio titles fere admittedly in abeyance. In the light division "Willio" Ritchie can rightly bo oalkd tlio American champion only, aiiitil lie has defeated "Freddy" Welsh, wjtilo the feather and bantam clnunpiMisliiff have been Ariie-H* can institutions, and thai only, for years. Tin? middlcwciglit complication is in a hopelessly mixed stato. .It is hail enough with the men at present in Australia —"Jolt" Smith, M'Ooorty. and dabby, tho last-named of whom arrived oil Wednesday .last, if his boat was 011. tiise- l.nt it has rcfiefved a ft.tr-th-er twist by recivist happwiSugs in Aw- rku. , Tost before .lie Mfc . ottp •"t'ishtins Hillv" Murray stepped into the liindiahi by basing a draw with Clabby, .Since i 1 ion OeMgo Chip, who had put i» a strong -slaiui by twice bcat« ilia "Frank" Ke.ins (the conqueror -nf (Joorjtes Carj.v>nti«r) was in turn knocked out ;'i fortnight ago by another new claimant, one A 1 M'Coy. And so it Keen if Clubby settles the accounts of M'Goorty and "Jeff" Smith in Australia, he will still have M'Coy and Murray stnwlins in his path at Home, and, jwss?M,v. by that tfmp. some iw lwriinlary "'ill have appeared on the Imriaon with a victofv ovwono of thrtrfs gladiator?. A I'd a en in tjrero is the cliques of "Jeff" Smith beating Gabby,

and of Clubby beating M'Goorty, or vice-versa, in Australia. 'Then M'Goorty lias a decision, albeit a very questionable one. over "Jeff" Smith already, an-d anyhow, it is very unlikely thai M'G-oorty will agree to make list. 41b. (tho American and present championship liwit), ringside, as Glabby and Smith are hound to want time to do. So, in all, it is a very pretty tangle indeed. The first of the tiliminating contests referred to above occurs on May 23, when Clabby and "Jeff" Smith como together. "Ketsholl" as a Stage Name. Travelling in tho same boat to Sydney with t'iabby were two other goodclass boxers, "Steve" Ketchell, and "Joe" Welling. Tho former must not be confused with the late Stanley Ketchetl, to whom he is no relation at all. Tho late middle champion's name svus properly Kiecal, while the present Kotchell's right cognomen is Lester Qiikes—the Iteteliell being only an adopted stage name—a noni-de-gueiTo, so to speak. Ritchie Still Champion. . On April 18 at San tfrane-i-sco "Willie" Ritchie was awarded a- points victory over "Tommy" Murphy iij a 20round contest, billed as being for iiie world's light-weight championship. The cabled reports show that Ritchie displayed splendid ring generalship aiid groat- punching power, aiid, though his challenger fought back gamely to tho finish, the champion's victory Was cloa.i cut and unquestionable. Now comes tho match which tho bos- ; ing world, has been waiting for—that between Ritchie and ""Freddy" Wolsh. : The champion made a definite promise ■ that, should he beat Murphy, lie would meet the English champion without; fail. His exact ivo-fds, as reported, were:— "If I .get through with Murphy I'll figi.it Welsh on Labour' Day. I'm sure I can whip liirn. He is the one mail I wnnt to beat." This is definite and, although Ritchie's abilities, as. a side-stepper when ho does not want to box, are proverbial, even his" ingenuity hi this direction will bo taxed to "dodge Welsh now—that is, nf course, if lie wants to dodge him. If be keeps his premise, and meets the Englishman, there will he fought what will be tlio first absolutely legitimate light-weight championship in the history of boxing. Bad News—And Good. The Sydney papers to hand this week bring tidings t-liat will b& read with regret on. this side. This is to tho effect that "Billy" Elliott, well known here both as. an amateur aiid a professional has completely lost the sight of one eye, and has consequently fallen upon evil times in Sydney. Another item, this time of a more cheerful tone, states that "Dave" Smith whose- serious illness was reported in this column last week, is showing great improvement, and is convalescent at Katoomba.