DISCIPLES OF MACE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3504, 16 June 1920, Page 6

DISCIPLES OF MACE.

THE 'PRINci3PLEs OF PUGILISM.

AND THE ERECT STAND.

Jem Mace was the last, champion of England, under Prize Ring rules. Critics aver that he was “the complete boxer,” the master craftsnlan. He ‘visited Austfalia during the late seventies and taught and trained the late Lari-3; Foley, subsequently champion of Avsti-alasia. Faithfully this earnest disciple copied the precepts and example of the master, and when he in turn passed his knowledge along

what is familiarly termed “the Mace schcolg" was born.

GOSPEL OF STRAIGHT HITTING

Mace was the apdstle of straight hitting. He scorned the clumsy, swinging haymakers, so "beloved of the figim_>r‘of to-day. He taught his pupfl to stand erect, easily balanced; to step in and out without shuffling. Also he taught -How to utilise the advantages of height and reach, and“? above all, preached the gospel of the straight left. I

Let two men start punches simultaneously, one a right swing, the other a straight _left-hander, and you can bet odds that the jab which flies straight to its objective will beat the wandering wallop home. Thereason is that one takes the direct route, the‘ other goes round by road. 3 The seed .sown by Mace -and Foley resulted in a crop of brilliant glove-j men whose like we may ne’er look on again. America was then the pugilistic Mecca. Thither migrated Foley’s flock. They taught the Yanks how to box. Jackson, Fitzsimmons, Dawson, Grifio, and Dan Creedon were names to conjure with. Each was: «:1 product of the Mace school. THE NEW TYPE. Would Dempsey be champion if Jackson or Fritz., was alive in his prime? Methinks not; Ghns, greatest of all American lightweights,l frankly confessed that lle learned his art by watching Griffo spar. ' ‘ A new type of gloveman has evolv- I _ed-—a. slugging, swinging, tear-in, dur- - able "fighting man. Papke, chip, VVol- I gast, and Battling Nelson are shining examples. In a‘ twenty-round’ bout,{ Nelson or Wolgast might have put a glove on Griffo——if the latter had been dopey. Jim Driscoll, who is probably the finest exponent of ’Mac‘e's methods alive, knocked spots off the American huskies. .

Dan Creedon was a. physical wreck when he returned to Australia. Though he eventually lo'st, it didn’t prevent him punching the stuffing out of thethen champion, Billy McColl, as long as nature stood to him. Matt. Wells demonstrated the virtue of a

straight. left against Meheg-an. Hock

Keyes and Bob Turner, purely scientific boxers, have no peer among ("he lightweights of to-day. Turner after a six years’.sojourn on the fistic shelf came back and gave Herb. Mccoy a boxing lesson. ' MASTER OF FOUR BLOWS.

9 I once heard a man say that Mace ionly knew four punches——“stra.ight left, right cross, body punch, and up-per-cut.” I replied, “Show me a. man "to-day who is a master of these four blows, and Hll show you a champion.” A good straight left, backed by nimble feet, pluck, and the requisite stamina, will beat all the crouching, ‘leaping, swinging sluggers that ever ’ were. V What I like about the disciple of the Mace school is his erect att.itue_e, overlooking. seeing everything. It says, “I am here to fight: let’s start”! The crouch of the pugilist. who bend»,-3 low gives the impress‘loll that he is hiding as much of his body as he‘ can. like the hex: protecting her brood be; heath her feath'e‘rs. giving the idea that he is fl-iglitened of being hit. I