GREAT BOXING MATCH.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9639, 3 November 1909, Page 3

GREAT BOXING MATCH.

HEA VX-WEIG HTC HA M PION S HIP

OP AUSIRALIA

LANG STILL ON TOP. SQUIKES LEADo' TO THE LAST. i' Three thousand peopln saw Bill Squires make a mighty efFort to le'gain the heavy-weight boxing championship of Australia at the Cyclorama, Melbourne, on M rnday, October 25th, when he fought Bill Lang. Just whet! he had his hands almost clenched round the prize it was snatched from his grasp, for Lang pent him down and out in the twentieth round of one of the fiercest fights witnessed iu Australia for many a day.

Squires had led fir fully 15 of the 20 round?, and he was proclaimed the I victor from all parts ot the huge building when the men shook hand", tired and worn out from their strenuous efforts, for the last round. Squires, who had Tommy Burns in hh angle, met with a tremendous ovation as he went into the ring. His face was drawn pnd pinched, but his body was browned through constant exposure to the sun. Lang, who wi)n the title of champion from Squires, looked pale and fidgety. tiut his condition appeared all that hands could make it.

Etldie Williams, Austialia's premier middleweight, was his chief adviser. Jack Mitchell the referes, announced that Lang scaled 13st, while his challenger was 91b lighter. The ring clear, and the order given, the sparred cautiously for an opening. Lang was the first to move, and his light left to the face

was met with vicious swings from Squires, who failed to connect. Squires' right found the ribs. Lang's head went back from a left, brimful of powder. Squires had all the better of the round, but both men were palpably nervous. Lang forced the fighting in the second term, but the Sydneysider showed a surprising stock cf cleverness Hard exchanges were the order in ti is round, with Squires, if anything, havirig the advantage till near the end of the round, when a roar went, "He's got him!" Lan? had unwound a right which caught the ex-champion hard on tiie jaw however, managed to weather the round, though sorely pressed. Straight from his chair Squires whirled at Lang. He rushed his opponent to the corner of the ring and sent a right to the chin, which fairly staggered him. Lang, however, stuck to hia guns like a Briton, and it was give and take for a tew seconds Then, from a clinch, the New South Welshman nailed Lang again with his right, and the term ended with Squires after the champion Hue a tiger.

The fourth and fifth three minutes were comparatively tame, while nothing of moment occurred in the sixth, with the exception that Squires brought blood from the nose with a left jab. For/ this blow Squires showed a great liking all through the battle, but there wis not much stinij in it, albeit it worrit d Lang a gr at deal. The seventh romrl was a tame period, but the succeeding one was tor rid. Lang reached Squires' chin with a riiiht upper cut, but ho>i3ur3 w?r=? more than evened when Squires whipped a right cross to the jaw. Lang sagged at the knees, ani wa* -.1 n ■ si down. It looked as *f nothing ha t a miracle could save him. Squires was too >.ager, and vimful right and ldtc swings landed on nothing but air. The men displayed a decided respect for each other in the opening moments of the ninth round, nut they rapidly warmed up, and when the gong sent them to their corners they were at it like Kilkenny cats

Squires' left was busy all through the tenth. He did all the leading, and hai established a good lead on points. Lang as shown bad judgment with his blows. A right rip

to the body by Lang made tue fee River farmer wince, but he kept poking his left on to Lang's damaged nose, and tn vary trie medicine he hurled a right, which had the real intention with it, but it passed harmlessly over Lang's head. So fierce was the punch that it carried Squires clean off his feet. It was the only amusing incident during the whole piece. Lang was rucked to his foundations. In the twelfth bout, Squires did not seem to that extra steam tha 1 : would have been so useful. Lang clinched his way through the rounr!, and when the bell came he was in a perilous condition indeed. Lang took a fresh lease of life in the thirteenth round. And he needed it. Squires bore in on him with one grim intention stamped on hia "fit brown face. A right to the body an 1 a left to the chin did the Victorian no good, while two left jabs in the face made him swing his arrn3 wildly round Squires, who wriggled from a hold and planted his dexter hand hard and square on the jaw. Again the friend of Lang.—the gong clanged out its summons. The fourteenth term passed away with both finessing, and nothing of a telling nature was done. Lang danced round like a marionette in the fifteenth round, but three or four lefts in the face took a lot of pace out of him. h was in l)e sixteenth that Squires'

black and Lang's guardian angel were once more in evidence. There had been a succession of fierce rallies

when suddenly Squires cut loose with renewed vigour. He fought Lang all round the ring and working him into a corner over went the right square on the jaw and down went Lang. The scene was one of intense exritement, as Referee Mitchell counted the seconds out. At four Lang rose slowly to his feet with both hands down. But "clang 1 ' went the gong, and a burst of disappointment rose from Squires' seconds and supporters. Nothing could have saved the champion, but the expiration of the round.

A lot of "go"' had been taken out of Squires, and oxygen was administered to him in his corner by a medical man. It revived him, arid he.went in to finish Lang, who, however, had recuperated in a wonderful fashion. He caught Squires off his guard, and a right on the jaw had Bill in queer street for a moment. But lie was fighting Lang all over j the ring when the close came.

The last three rounds are never to be forgotten. It was practically a fierce wnirl broken only when the principals went to seek their seconds', needed aid. Squires did all clean hit* ting, and Lang's face was greatly damaged. Nothing but a knock-out could now save Lann, and it seemed as if he did not have the necessary strength to do the trick.

j Rut the unexpected happened. The men shook hands in the final round, and as he stepped back, Squires slipped down in his corner. He hastily regained his feet, when Lang jolted a right on the chin. A wild scramble followed, and in the midst of it Lang's right landed on Squires' chin. He tottered and another on the jaw sent him down, and out. The round had been in progress one minute.

| "Poor old Bill,''said hundreds of people as they left the building. The sympathy for Squires was great. There is a likelihood of the men being matched again. A tremendous crowd gathered out sine the Cyclorama. numbering many thousands. Many men made a violent attempt to burse into the buil'iing, and were not deterred until mounted troopers charged and swept them away. A cordon of police was then formed round the building.