BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP OF AUSTRALIA.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2695, 28 December 1909, Page 5

BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP OF AUSTRALIA.

LANG DEFEATS FITZSIMMONS.

THE VETERAN KNOCKED OUT IN THE TWELFTH ROUND.

United Rnicps Association —Copyright

(Received Dec. 27, 2.20* p.m.) SYDNEY, Dec. 27. Lang knocked out Fitzsimmons in the twelfth round. In the opening round Lang had the best of it. Fitzsimmons got to work early in the third round, swinging a terrific left on to the Victorian’s face. The impact was so severe that the veteran fell on his 'knees, remaining several seconds while Lang attacked him over the head. Fitzsimmons, rising, rushed in, Lang getting his left on to his jaw. The rest of the round was quiet, Fitzsimmons giving a good scientific display. In the fourth round the Victorian followed up his advantage, but his leads jvithi the left were not successful. Fitzsimmons was evidently resting, only attempting an occasional punch. Lang livened up'a bit, and the round ended slightly in Fitzsimmons’ favor. The latter’s evasive work was pretty to watch. In the next round Lang bustled Fitzsimmons badly, but the veteran always had him safe, taking matters easily. Lang then forced the fighting. Fitzsimmons was apparently in a bad way. Lang, landing a stiff one in the face as the gong sounded. Fitzsimmons was spent. In the next round there was a good, deal of dodging, Lang getting home with a few good punches. In the eighth round Fitzsimmons got the Victorian a jolt on the jaw, which rattled hm badly. A lot of clinching followed, honors being even. Fitzsimmons began to grow weak in the ninth round, although he made a grand recovery towards the close The tenth round was tame, but the end was in sight. The eleventh was all in tlio Victorian’s favor, Fitzsimmons showing some clever side-sxep. ping. Early in the twelfth rouqd Lang caught the veteran on the jaw with his right and sent him down for five seconds. The old man was very groggy. Then, with a right uppercut. Lang knocked him out, and the police stopped the proceedings. (Received Dec. 27, 7.15 p.m.)

The weather was fine. About 10,000 people witnessed the fight. Fitzsimmons, after the contest, said: “Youth must prevail. I am an old man. Lang is young. The fight was an absolutely fair one.’’ fWilliam Lang, heavjuveight champion of Australia, gained that title by defeating William Squires a few months back. He is a husky young fighter in the prime of his manhood, and has a long list of successes to his credit.] FITZSIMMONS ON THE STAGE.

At the Tivoli charity entertainment (says- the Sydney “Referee”), Bob Fitzsimmons appeared as Bob Fitzsimmons in a little sketch, “A Man’s a Man for a’ That.” It was the ex-champion’s first attempt in the acting line in this part of the world*. The sketch seemed to have been .worked up by an American journalist out of a newspaper interview, in which Bob told tho story of his life from the rattle to the ring. There were some flourishes of decorative fiction in the actor-pugilist’s description of his first fight in Australia for “a purse of 500 dollars,’ ’and the sensibilities of the packed and perspir. ing gallery were tenderly touched when Bob wound up with the statement that he gave the whole of the prize money to the man who had been knocked out. “I knew the poor fellow had a sick mother, and after the fight I said, ‘Take the money to your mother. I’ll not touch a penny of it.’ ” At this point Mrs. Fitzsimmons, who as Vivian Wainwright, had been making artful openings for the ex-cliam-t’/on with leading questions, asked: \\ hat did your own mother say, Bob when you told her that you had given tie 500 dollars to the beaten man’s sick mother?” “With one eye on -the sentimental gods,” and the other eye on his pretty wife, Bob Fitzsimmons, the actor, playing the part of Bob Fitzsimmons, the philanthrophic pugilist, proudly answered, “My mother said, .nob, my boy, there are twelvei of' us ana we -wanted the money. Still, I til ink a]l the more of you for what you have done,” v J Bob Fitzsimmons die! not descenu to the devices of theatrical make-up while appearing as “himself” on that day. He came on. bald and beaming, in a yachting suit of white flannel, and walked and talked in the easy-going style of a man who didn’t care a brass button about the crowd in- the auditorium. The setting of the scene included an elaborately-mounted punchingball. In the nature of things, Mrs. Fitzsimmons, as Vivian Wainwright, asked Bob Fitzsimmons, in the character of the heavy-weight pugilist, w£at he did with “that queer-looking arrangement over there?” And, just as if he didn’t know that the question was one of the blue-pencil lines in the sketch, the obliging Bob looked surprised as he satisfied the curiosity of the fair Vivian. To the least imaginative person in the audience it must have have been plain that Mrs. Fitzsimmons would as'k Mr. Fitzsimmons to set the ball jigging. The lady did so, and the one-time New-- Zealand blacksmith, taking off his coat, put on a pair of punching gloves, and gave the ball a devil of a doing. Then, as if to prove that he had not lost his punch, the amiable-looking pugilist got in a four-hourse-power blow that sent the suspended “Tootball” spinning into the stalls . In one of his premeditated flashelTTu humor Bob Fitzsimmons described a pair of boxing gloves as, “sleeping powders.” A little earlier, when asked if he had earned much money? the strong-armed one replied that he had made°as much as 60,000 dollars in one dav. “What line?” asked Mrs. Fitz. “The knock-out route,” daid Bob. ' Right through “A Man’s a Man for a’ That” Bob Fitzsimmons spoke a good deal like Hugh Ward, the comedian. In a ilttle speech, not in the sketch, the big fellow thanked the audience for their generous reception of ' “a. man who was hardlv even known by name in Australia.” The only apology he had to offer for turning actor was that there appeared to be no age-limit or time-limit in the theatrical profession. That was why he had joined Sarah Bernhardt, tho # wonderful, and tho. im-. perishable Adelina Patti. -: • . “Not that I am an old man, or feci like an old one,” added the audacious humorist. “In my new profession I am playing juvenile leads and Jqyer oarts I have tracked Romeo, and 1 have-won-the fairest Juliet in the whole wide world.” - . ■ " V' i Then, kissing his wife on the cheek, the Romeo of the ring retired with his dainty and diamonded Juliet. ;V‘