THE BOXING MATCH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2799, 16 January 1888, Page 2

THE BOXING MATCH.

Murphy v.Kelly,

Considerable interest was taken by the Sporting section of our community in the boxing match which was held " on Saturday evening in the Masterton [ Theatre, and as a result about 150 f persons including " All sorts and conditions of men "put in an appearance to see the glove contest between Wilj liamMurphy, the cliampion light weight I f and Edward Kelly who was vaguely j -described as being of London. The match ostensibly was for J625 a-side ' and the entrance money, and it was f to be fought to a finish. The laws observed were those known as the } Marquis ■ of Queensberry rules, by , which the rounds each last three minutes, with 80 seconds between each j round and 10 seconds allowance after I each fall. The fight which took , place on a roped-in ring on tho stage [ of the Theatre, was preluded by a series of sets-to by a number of local [ boys, and also by a few rounds by two well-known Maori. footballers Taka ! and .Pani. The spectators rather ; wearied of the juvenile performances, but the tactics of the two Native boxers seamed to amuse and interest ; them a bit, both men being rather ( smart and hitting freely, Pani if any- , thing getting the best of the friendly | fray. There was,however,agooddealof | blind slogging about all the inary amateur contests, "jj ie , onslaughts in response to the encouraging plaudits Of the onlookers were both fearful and wonderful to behold. About nine o'clock the event of the evening came on. Murphy was the first to strip, and he displayed a welltrained, muscular frame. Kelly immediately after entered the ring, but his condition was far from fit; he was too fat, and showed no signs of preparation. Murphy's fighting weight on this oooasion was Bst 41b; Kelly's was M 101b, The audience, at the request of the combatants, selected from themselves a referee; timekeeper, and two seconds (respectively Messrs Schwass, Ross, Jfinifie, and Simeon), and then the two men, after the usual preliminary hpd shake, proceeded to work, It was evident at the outset that Kelly was no match for Murphy, for the latter was very active on his feet, and.apparently seemed able to use his fists and to hit hard when it suited him, whereas Kelly moved round very stiffly, and any blows he got in were both feeble and harmless. Near the end of this round, Murphy gave several fairly' hard hits, but he quite refrained from taking advantage, of Kelly's openings, and'contented ' : himself with making them merely ; chest blows, which are more showy ' than hurtful. In the second round, i Kelly'sbad attitudes were very notice- ' able, his head and shoulders being so ! much forward as to almost thrust J themselves on to Murphy's fists. Kelly here also put in a number of < chest blows, to which Murphy, who £ seemed to have things entirely in his ■ own hands, replied by a few hits at ' the former's shoulders. Some of the audience, apparently getting tired of Murphy's evident disinclination to i punish, now left the hall. The third r round was very much a repetition, of j the others. The fourth round opened * with the display qf- a little move 1( warmth on Murphy's part, and he got in QQg.ortaQ g°° a left-handers. I Kelly also gave Murphy a good one o w# the. m from the ropes. Murphy n

qm^kly: ;/ siibwM^ ' things'toi; close,: ;and;'|rwnpl|eilyS tovfafds the cords, sonfc ; him ■ tirnesin. succession, by:^dUMerln"ts];B facers, and side'' occasion, Kelly was uria'ole:tb wsef toj ■ 1 time,:. and-: the :Eeferee:'ideclar|^ffie; t match woniy■ 'Murphy^: % \ r ■ : V It lookers throughout seemed .dissatisfied ■ with the stand made. by'; Kelly,! and !.*••• freely expressed their feelings 'ihi 'that'■'£■ direction. There is no doubt about it -% that so far' from; beirig anything •.': of a;' match, Kelly wiis; nplyven; ; 'i good enough to enable 'Murphy /; to give a fair exhibition of boxing, and the, latter could have brought matters •: to a close in the first -round if ■-'■- liked, in fact m wonder WwM Man-" ■; aged to keep his, man:on hisieet'so':'' long as he did, ' The tiling |||cms tainly fought to a; finish,' but"J|fe- : not saying much' for it, Ifor ■ want of condition that Kelly exlifflaji: ■ apart from his lack of scikce,:.ifc. f d6eis . not take a very hard short wind him and bring him down, and,;: Murphy refrained from this class ■&& hit until he wanted to close -matters^- ; up. With such a weak opponent:frig ■::' nesdless to' say Murphy; .careleselyi:/-; gave several openings whichfwere||ot::" taken. On one occasion:also, he-SuV rather low down, and was cautiopd by the referee. ; Affcoi: - the jmb Murphy explained that he was 'fflßringfrom a sprained right hand, • He however considered that he had given the public a fair exhibition for their - money. He would back himself tofight, under a two stone handicap, any j man in the Australian colonies. Mr j Schwass, a Carterton amateur of considerable, repute, afterwards met 'Murphy and offered to make a match, but as Schwass fought at-18 stone the match was declined, Murphy not being l equal to the while his hand remains weak. ". A VALUABLE GRASS, A.very valuable grass for keeping sand along the coast line back, called lime grass (Elynms arenam), which wasbrought to Taranaki from Sussex, England, by a gentleman who is now • in Australia, about eight years ago, •and planted on the vacant ground be«, 4| tween town and Moturoa.by him, as a labor of love, has been found by Mr J. W. Foote, of Fitzroy, to be val»le for thatching haystacks, etc. Mr F3ote, about two years ago, got some of the roots that had been torn up and thrown away while the Moturoa line was being made, and planted several acres of his land that was besieged by the sand with them. The expedient is found to act excellently, and now he has. over a hundred settlers cutting the grass, for thatching purposes, its fame having spread. The last heard of the importer of it was some years ago, when he was applying to the Government of New South Wales for a bonus for having planted railway embankments there withthe same grass. As a means of keeping the sand from encroaching, it cannot be beaten, and the same can ba said of its thatching qualities. Id could be cultivated profitably between ■ here and Waitara, June.and July being the months for planting.— . Taranaki Herald.