RING NOTES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 33, 8 February 1913, Page 14

RING NOTES

ITEMS FROM ABROAD HOW PtEAD BEAT M'COY. A great crowd at the Stadium last night rose on its feet and cheered vigorously Referee Arthur Scott's docision in favour of "Jack" Read, opposed to "Herb." M'Coy, who till that moment was the recognised light-weight champion of Australia in the absence of Mehegan, writes W. P. Corb'ett in the Sun under date 30th January. To-day there is a new holder of the honours that were M'Coy's, and many think he will successfully dispute tho claim of our Well-j -roved very best ten* atoner to the light-weight crown when he returns to Australia. It was a vastly-improved "Jack" Read who effected the set-back hU opponent suffered, and the hand of "Sam" Langford, one of the greatest boxers and fighters the world knows anything about just now, could be seen ih mostly every*ni «g the conquerer of M'Coy did that told. Read's work on the body, which proved such a potent 'actor in lifting him to the high postion as a boxer he occupies at the pr'eseht moment, was, if not wholly Langford, remindful of mm. Those left jolts to the midriff, those right drives to the ribs, and the maiiner in which several left and right hooks to the jaw, v/ere placed, discovered £j boxing "Jack" Read I iiad not known before. His recent great bout with brank Picato was one of ,the few Sta* dium events 1 have missed. Somt, spectators, competent to form an opinion, asserted that during the weeks that had elapsed since that contest Read had improved still more. That being the caso, it seems reasonable to infer that he may be expected to do even better when next he' strips for a battle. All this wwats t brought about through Kead placing himself unreservedly under the tutorship of "Sam" Langford, who, now that he is testing for a while be* fore going back to America, has been able to give special attention to the ambitious young boxer. As I saw the contest, and after carefully scrutinising my RoJ,es, I am satisfied that not only did Read never once lose the ibid, but the position of the scores was neve» at any £l^ge Read's advantage was certainly reduced at times, and, through the surplu 3 points gathered by M'Coy in the 13th, 14th, and 15th rouhds, might have been wiped out h?d. lsead'noi come again. While giving 1 the winner all the credit due to him, and he unquestionably deserves a- great deal, I must say that fli Coy s display was disappointing, com* pared with much that v/e have seen him do. He did not appear altogether himself ai times. "FREDDIE" WELSH ON MEHE« GAN. "I" have coen great crowd? and not« able personages at the N.S.C. before, the n -Shta I fought Gummei's, 'M'Farhnd, r.r.d Wells on two occasibns, but never such a sdene &3 when I entered the ring for Mehegan ) " writes "Freddie lV Welsh, in the .News of the World. The very atmosphere was laden with importance. Opposite to me was the man who was regarded as a world-beater, and I must admit I stole many admiring glances at his cplendid condition. He was good that night,- and before We had gone a rotnd I realised that I had met a foremm of the highest character. I had been told that Mehegan could not box; that he was n remarkably strong man, with a terrific punch and never-flagging stamina. He was all that, but he can box, too, lassi>re you. He has a clever* nes3 all his own, and I was longer in solving it than I had ever been before. I quickly concluded that to beat him I would have to go at my highest speed and never relax for a second. Even though I knew I was winning, I knew that I must not slow up. •. "FAST, STRONG, AND CLEVER." "There was no time for resting until after the twelfth round had passed by, and then I knew that to win he would have to do what no man has. yet doneknock me out. He was very fast and strong, and made me admire him throughout the whole contest. And he annoyed me, too, .with his speed and cleverness. Many of my left-handed leads, quick as they were, never reached him. ' He caught them in the air with his right and brushed them away with such force that 1 was swung around a* on a. pivot. No one ever had succeeded in doing that with, me before, and it proved what a boxer he was when he wanted to be. As he made that counter move to my lead, he would simultaneously swing a left for my body; but I' evened up with his blocking by stopping all -of these swings with my right elbow. "After the twelfth round I did ease up, for 1 know he would fight Very atrohgly in the last rounds, and I wanted to reserve as much of my strength as I could for those trying clashes. It was because I' did £ace that many gained tin impression I had tired, and he wae gaining on me for several ronds. I let un until in a half-careless moment— in tha sixteenth round I think it was— h« landed on the side of my, head with a right swing, and for a brief moment I was dizzy. That woke me up to the necessity of the moment, and I started in again. They tell me I boxed better in the nineteenth and twentieth rounds than during any of those preceding, No doubt 1 did. I had to, as Mehegan was madly tearing into me to turn the tide Of battle. "We fought so hni-d and fast that both felt ilie effects of the pace when tlie contest came to an end, and we, no doubt, were both glad it was over. I knew I had won, but we stood together Waiting for the verdict, and that monosyllable 'Welsh !' from Mr. Bettinson when, he interpreted Mr. Douglas's de- i oisiou eounded sweet to me, although I knew it could have been none other."