MORAN’S GREAT BLOW

Hokitika Guardian, 8 February 1921, Page 3

MORAN’S GREAT BLOW

BECKETT KNOCKED OUT. IN 2nd ROUND. WINNER’S DOUBTFUL TACTICS. (By Berkeley, in Daily Mail). LONDON, Dec. 11. In the presence of possibly the largest crowd ever seen at a professional boxing match at the Royal Albert Hall, Frank Moran, of Pittsburg, U.S.A., last night beat Joe Beckett, the British heavy-weight champion, in a round and a half. A right uppercut caught Beckett fairly under the chin and he fell. Beckett tried to struggle up but could not and was counted out.

From the British point of view it was a very unsatisfactory affair from beginning to end. In Beckett it was impossible to recognise the man who had “put away” Wells and Goddard in such quick time. His boxing was quite crude and his punches were positively feeble compared with those of his opponent. Time and again lie seemed to have the American at his mercy, buthe only tapped, whereas he should have hit out with all his force.

CARPENTIER ASTONISHED. from the moment that lie entered the ring Beckett gave one the impression of a man who was not tn love with his job. He was quite obviously worried and he suffered the preliminaries with impatience. And when he got to business lie played the game that must have been exactly to the liking of his opponent. He went in to mix it, whereas if he was to have a chance at all his game was to use every hit of the boxing skill he possessed. Georges Carpentier, who sat a couple of seats in front of me, was quite obviously dumbfounded by Beckett’s display. Not once, but several times, lie'put his hands to the side of his head and exclaimed “Oh; la la!” as if almost in distress. 11l the hands of Carpentier Moran on his last, night’s form would have been a choppingblock. .Moran may he slow, but last night Beckett was certainly no faster. The British champion seemed to have only one idea, and that was to get home the right on the body. Moran soon found a good defence for this stroke, and as a consequence the most serious of Beckett’s intentions were thwarted. BETTING FAVOURS BECKETT. Before the stint the betting favoured Beckett at the rate of 6 to 4 on, but there did not seem to hi' much doing in the way of speculation. A.s 1 have already said, Beckett looked unusually serious, not to say nervous ; hut Moran, who has a typically Ivi.sh face, smiled, or rather grinned, broadly throughout the preliminary proceedings. The difference in the respective weights of the men was, I believe, 121 h in favour of the American, but in reality he appeared to he stones heavier.

Beckett) had Jim Driscoll as lus principal second, hut each man had a sinah army of attendants in his corner. L was exactly ten o’clock when the >' " shaped up. A conference with the referee consumed another two minutes. All this time Beckett was clearly ill at * The appearance of the men was in striking contrast. Beckett is almost brown Enough for a South Sea Islnndei, while -Moran is particularly fair of skin and he lias bright golden hair. He is a line figure of a man, but been use of the many batterings they have suffered his features aie not exactly those of an Adonis. Moran got to husilU,SS at once. Without hesitation lie planted a long left on Beckett’s face and followed it up with a couple of snappy jolts with the same weapon. Beckett bored in and hanged away on the rih.s with the right, but « ,d not seem to notice these blows. At close quarters -Moran made an injudicious use of his left forearm, ami Induing so earned for himself the condemnation of the majority of the spectators. Once or twice Moran tried to measure Beckett with the left in order to get in his famous right swing which is known in tight lore as “Alary Ann, but the Englishman either stepped back or slipped inside. At the close of the round there was very little in it on points, but perhaps Moran had a shade the advantage. Moran began the second round in n very rugged and unsatisfactory manner. Twice lie used his left forearm like the haft of a hatchet- A third offence brought a caution from the referee. Beckett was now trying to score with the left hook that heat Wells and Goddard, but his blows were singularly lacking in strength. THE END. It was in attempting one of these blows that Beckett met his fate. He left himself clean open, and Moran with a half-arm right upper cut which bad all the weight of the body behind it, caught him under the chin and toppled him over. Beckett was not dean out, hut the punch had takyn all the strength out of his legs, and although he tried hard he could not get up. Moran is undoubtedly a great sluing fellow, but his boxing leaves much to he desired. Mr Palmer might have been much firmer with him than he was, for several times lie used las left elbow quite improperly and he was guilty of holding more than once.