BOXING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2642, 26 October 1909, Page 6

BOXING.

LANG DEFEATS SQUIRES. United Press Association— Copyright (Received October 26; 1.5 a.m.) ■ MELBOURNE, October 26. Before a big house and in a good fbdit Lang knocked Squires out in -AJ. rounds. No details are available. JACK JOHNSON AND AL. KAUFMAN, FOR WORLD’S HEAVY-WEIGHT SUPREMACY. Jack Johnson and Al. Kaufman boxed ten rounds in the' presence of a vast throng at Coffroth’s stadium yesterday (says the “RefereeV’ special correspondent, under date September 10 and when it was all over there we’re conflicting opinions as to the inwardness of the thing. There wasn’t a chance of an argument as to Who had the better of the bout. Johnson dominated -the ex-far-rier from first to last, and the only question which arose hinged on Johnson’s earnestness in the matter of tryincr to bring his man down. More than one-half of tlie spectators came away thinking Johnson had operated under wraps. I am among those who thought otherwise. I am willing to admit that he “stalled” m some of the rounds, but just wliat motives impelled him I wouldn’t venture to say. .A poke in the ribs might have steadied him as it has done in former fights or it may have been his native flasliness. lie likes to show what a grand ring artist he is, and a favorite method of delineation with him is to act on the defensive and give a superb exhibition of blocking. , „ . , T ~ Johnson is a great fighter—l didn t have to wait for yesterday’s affair to discover this—but at tlie same time he is different from other champions I have known. With his undoubted confidence in himself and liis wonderful knowledge of timing and distance, one would expect him to feint his man into a state of confusion and then measure him. But the good old right-cross—-the pugilistic dagger of mercy—has no place to speak of in Johnson’s system of assault. His straight left is a joke, and he doesn’t follow his body punches in a way to lend force to them. Anyone seeing him yesterday for the first time might be led to believe that he must have something to hang on to before he can deliver solidly. His right uppercut —the best asset he possesses — wasn’t in evidence until he and Kaufman were clinging to ea«h other and yanking an -arm free for sly poking as the opportunity offered. Then the uppercut passed beneath Kaufman’s arms, grazed Kaufman’s breaSt, and made Kaufman’s mouth and nose rain blood. With shorter men like Jim Flynn and Tommy Burns, Johnson uses liis uppercut as a welcoming punch. He nails them as they come at him, but I suppose Kaufman’s height made the champion feel that his favorite lick would be unavailable in outfighting. ' UPPERCUT JOHNSON’S BEST CARD. Anyhow, Johnson’s way of employing the uppercut with Kaufman settled a point we were pondering over. We know now that the negro only has to change the gear, as it were, and make the thing effective with tall men as well -as short men. And as already stated the uppercut is Jack’s main reliance. The fellow who said “take it away from him, and what has he?” put the pertinent query Johnson, whether from cautiousness or cussedness, wasted valuable time in many of the rounds. Then when lie wanted to get in and hustle the dash wasn’t there. He wasn’t trained any too well to begin with. There had been too much beer drinking; too many water-melon orgies in the evenings, and too many automobile rides by the lightof .the moon while he was in quarters across the bay. Johnson was so much on the defensive in the seventh round tliat many thought the punches in the ribs were hurting him. . He was tired probably. He cut' loose in the. eighth round, and in the ninth, during a sjiell of holding and hitting,' he used a free left on Kaufman’s face in a way. that made Al.’s second gasp. I for one thought the end was coming, but Kaufman worried through, and when the round ended seemed fresher than the man who had flogged him. At the close of the ninth round the crowd hooted, thinking, nd'doubt, that Johnson had .arranged to let Kaufman stay the full'ten rounds. The negro, albeit he was open-mouthed and breathing heavily, busied himself in the closing round. He landed three blows to Kaufman’s one, and he bent Kaufman to his will in the grappling matches. Kaufman faced The music just as he had in the beginning, and when the final gong clanged there was some cheering, because the man who expects to , fight Jeffries had failed to stop tho stalwart native son. The articles of agreement provided that if both men were on their feet at the close of the ten rounds no decision was to be rendered. Kaufman’s record, therefore, will not show that he was bested, but as a matter of tact Johnson did just about as he, pleased with the' big white man. ■ In explanation of liis failure to out Kaufman, Johnson said: “He is stronger and tougher than I thought.” Kaufman remarked: “Ten rounds is too short for me.-, I’d Tike to sigh with him for 'a longer fight/"'