The Washington herald., 1911-12-04
TIM HURST TALKS
ON RING YERDICTS
Things on Which Referee
Bases His Decisions.
PRESIDED OVER MANY BOUTS
Hurst Has Refereed Some of the
Most Famous Battles In the His
tory of the Ring and Has Never
Had q Fatality on His Hands.
He Has a Clear Record.

| L met an old fellow coming home from
a boxing club one night recently" said
Tim Hurst, the veteran referee, "and he
asked me some questions which I an
swered to the best of my ability"
How do you figure the points scored
by boxers?' was his first query.
"'Well, take into consideration many
things 1 replied. Both attack and de-
| Tense count for much. A man who does
the leading or forcing receives the credit.
for II he didn't cut out the pace in many
cases thered be no scrap. The landing
| of clean blows is a big factor, while the
ability to block them either by guarding
or using the feet also is important. The
| effect of blows must not be overlooked,
and a mans staying powers always
| count II a man holds in the clinches
| or hangs on to avoid punishment he
necessarily loses ground in a referees
opinion. If he is aggressive, but has no
fixed plan of attack and misses the other
fellow repeatedly, points must be scored
against him. Generally speaking a win
ner does the bulk of the work and lands
the greater number of blows.
Suppose a man has the better OF the
first eight rounds and then is forced to
take the defensive in the last two rounds,
you say he was defeated?'
Not a bit of it. The points he scored
In eight rounds are not wiped out by any
means, and I'd declare him the winner
for that reason
" But II he was knocked down for the
count in the last round and was almost
out when the bell rang, what them
Then I'd have to take into consider
alton the condition of both men at the
finish, and probably, under the conditions
you named, I'd call the bout a draw
If a man forces the fight for ten
rounds, but is so wild in his attack that
he doesn't land more than a dozen blows,
while his opponent, on the defensive,
jabs and hooks him steadily all the way,
what would be your decision?'
I'd give it to the man who landed the
greater number of blows. Anybody can
rush blindly and swing wildly without in
fiicting punishment. but in my opinion
that doesn't constitute skillful boxing
IF you had refereed the first OBrien-
Ketchell bout, in which OBrien had the
better of it on points for the first seven
rounds, but was knocked out a few sec
onds before the bell ended the tenth
round. how would you have decided it?'
I'd have declared Ketchell the win
ner, because If the bout had been longer
O'Brien would have been unable to come
en- down and out to all intents and pur-
poses when the tenth round ended
Take the recent bout between Bat
Ting Nelson and Willie Beecher, for ex-
ample. Beecher hit Nelson four blows 10
one in the first seven rounds and then
tired. How about that?'
The decision should have been a
draw, for the reason that in spite of all
the blows that Beecher landed Nelson
wore him down and had him in a totter-
ing condition in the tenth. Another round
or two would have settled Beecher be-
yond question of doubt.
How can you tell a fake from an
honest bout?'
by the way the men hit or miss. If
man pulls his punches or doesn't try
to take advantage of openings it's plain
enough. Boxers who spend the greater
part of a bout in hugging and clinching
usually aren't trying. I make 1t prac-
tice to put such fellows out of the ring
rather than permit them to fool the pub
lie
What do you call brutality?'
When one man is hopelessly beaten
and the other fellow continues to punch
him without mercy fearing no response.
A bleeding nose, eye, or mouth doesn
mean that boxer is helpless, for I've
seen hundreds of them in this condition
go ahead and win. But bleeding ear is
a serious matter. Heart blows are dan
gerous, and sometimes when a man has
received punishment in the stomach he
is in no condition to proceed. When a
mans legs bend under him or his eyes
are fixed and CLASSY it's time to call a
halt. Fatal injuries may be prevented II
a referee knows just when to interfere "
Hurst has refereed more than 500 ring
battles and never has had fatality on
his hands. He presided over the most
sensational fight in ring history, the Wal
cott-Lavigne affair at Maspeth; also the
Sharkey-McCoy battle, the Griffo-Lavigne
contest, the Walcott-Quinn. Walcott-My
sterious Smith, Ryan-McCoy, Creedon- |
Mccoy. Maher-O'Donnell, and other big
scraps He has never refereed a frame-up
and has a clear record. Hurst after a
long absence from the ring is now the
official ring judge at the Royale A. c.