THE SQUARED RING

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 17 June 1933, Page 8

THE SQUARED RING

PROFESSIONALS AND AMATEURS

PRESENT DAY FORM AND TACTICS. TRACING MODERN DEVELOPMENT There is a subtle rather than a deep-seated difference between the sport of boxing as it. is produced for tlie modern prize-ring and as it develops naturally - among amateurs (writes the boxing correspondent of the London “Tillies”) _ It is not, as might be imagined, a social matter. Socially, there is much in common between the great mass of amateurs and the professionals; they might even merge in some areas if left to their own devices, for a growing number of amateurs use the amateur clubs and the Amateur Boxing Association championships as a steppingstone to paid—still mostly badly-paid —fisticuffs. It is the essential difference between the types of men who organise the two branches of the sport that keeps them as the poles apart in countries in the Old World.

In America professional boxing has fallen into the hands of the “racketeers’’ and in . a very short time the standard of skill has dropped perceptibly. An English equivalent of the American reign of. roguery ' and violence nearly killed our own ring at the start of.. the 19th century, and there is the risk, as yet no more and scarcely mentioned in the newspapers, that it may do'so again. In tracing the development of modern boxing, which, of course, began with the general use of gloves,. it is as well not to fall into the mistake of thinking only in terms of heavyweights. Yet let it be granted'that the big men established the new ideas and set most of the new standards. The late James Corbett deserved all the fame that lias clung to his_ name since he demolished the pretensions of John L. Sullivan, the last of the groat bare-knuekle fighters, by means _ of clever footwork, a general speedingup of attack, and well-thought-out variations of punch. I saw Corbett box, some years after his classic encounters with Fitzsimmons, Peter Jackson, and Jeffries, and yet can. well Understand how he must have surprised all those who had been brought up on the Sullivan legend. Corbett used, tosay that , what annoyed' his enemies most was the fact that he was, a “dude” —in other words, a. former 'batik -clerk' and‘an educated, man. The last heavyweight champion that matters. Gene Tunney, . also has .recorded .the unpopularity of his .efforts to add a. note, of refinement to his training, even his flights in the air from camp to, arena failing to ' place the modern fan of America. y

> Nearly all the great, heavyweight fighters of the golden era of the .’9O s added 1 - something to tho general -knowled go of how to ■ hox with hahds on—cased in padded gloves, originally only weighing four ounces- —-3.11 d that, mostly <ahout the wn&t—-hut now usually 6ix ounces: or more. The modern style has beep, -built no on Corbett’s, left, hook, Fitzsimmons’" shift to. the _rtonjach, Jackson’ s one-two _ punch,] and ’the Jef--ries' crouch and in-fighting especially .designed to beat “Old. Map Fitz” in the 'lps fc-na mod's 37th .year. But we also have to...thank the smaller men who, a few years later, revealed an even gerater brilliance, both in tactics and- execution. )= '

Eon a- long time our cleverest men could' not equal the astounding combination of boxing and* fighting- produced by men like. Young Griflo, Joo Walcott" Joe Gails and Kid, McCoy, though Cbarlie Mitchell probably would* have won tne world’s middleweight -title if lie had not always gone for the big AmericaiiSv Eventually, -fo tie decade before tie war r w.e'produced; four or five outstanding men.- There- was Jini Driscoll, greatest of all-the feathers; Owen Moran, the best .bantam that' ever failed to win-a : world)’s, championship; Ered "Welsh, who conquered all- the American lightweights p Jimmy Wilde, whose natural igenius—and punching power enabled him to-become world-famous at- well under the. flyweight, sometimes, giving away, a stone and a half to champions: and Bombardier Welle, the last o-f our heavy-' weights to capture- the popular, imagination in' spite of his dramatic failures in the contests one most wanted-him to win. ' 1 » ‘ E-or the last 14 years our- big met liavc gone from bad' to worse,; some ot their failures touching the ignoble. (The smaller men have seldom reached the heights. A flashy- instead of a_sound technique; poor moral and- rank bad training and ; seconding - have often played havoc "with their best chances. (It is not surprising to those who follow boxing; : closely to fin d the Ttoyal Albert 'Hally one of: the main homes of British! boxing since the sale of the old • National Sporting Club, a-s well * filled when a big amateur tournament, is m ’progress ' as when a “big fight’’ l: between professionals has been staged. The boxing bf ‘the Imperial Services and the Police has become •*.notably popular. The best boxing of all is-seen! during the championships of-the London, working boys’ chibs. _ It is well to remember that .Tack Petersen, the outstanding British hope of the day, graduated l as an amateur eliammdn," and still has Ids " fortunes guided to some extent by amateur sportsmen.