BOXING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 218, 14 March 1914, Page 7

BOXING.

I'KiHTIXi; AND BUNNY HUGGINU. The wjld cheering that greeted Dava Smith when he appeared in the ling nt Sydney Stadium, for the first time aftvr Ida disastrous meeting with Ed tie M'Uoorty, evidently tilled that -boxsr with a wild desire to out Jules Dubourg in short order. His anxiety was tempered witht high hope owing to the memory left behind by Paul Til and the other French boxers who failed to make good in the not too distant past, .'jo Smith came out, even as M'Goorty had advanced on him, and tried to suddenly overwhelm the Frenchman. But the thin, melancholy-looking Guul was not to be overwhelmed bv any sudden rush. He is an excellent boxer, and he has pluck and capacity for punishment. In a few rounds he demonstrated that he whb quicker with his left than Smith, and had he possessed » punch Smith would not have lived seven rounds. As it was, he hit Smith whenever he liked, but didn't hit him hard enough, if he had had an axe the business wouldn't have lasted two seconds.. Smith fought what can be. described as a rotter light. His anxiety to retrieve his limitation was painful, and led him to take risks that, had the clever Gaul been able to hit hard, or had he taken his club into the ring with 'him, would have led to Smith's downfall The Frenchman had a good guard, and. moreover, lias the knack of bending the blows he cannot dodge in a manner that robs them of all their effect and half their stint'. Over and.over again he made Smith's swing? anil swipes and wallops look crude and amateurish. Dubourg would have wo» the fight bad he "gone for" Smith. But he was a. stranger fighting in a foreign ]and, and seemed to feel the strangeness. So he didn't lead, nor did he follow up what advantages he scored, nor did he bite Smith once. What somco»« who loves him should do is to whisnw in his ear that it is wrong to be polite \v a boxing ring. His game is to bash the other fellow on the jaw and nut it all over him, and wallop him off the prem ises, and make him feel as if all the pyramids of Egypt had dropped on him. Dubourg is quite a different type of fighter from the ones who have oreceded him from his own country. He is full of grit, he is scrupulously fair, he is skilful, and he can take punishment; and, judging bv his exhibition on Saturday night, he requires only confidence to develop into a first-class fighting man. At present he is only a boxer.—Bulletin.