Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1913-12-31
NEW FIGHTING RULES
Boxing Regarded as a Staple
Sport in Australia.
Everything Pertaining to PueIism
Thrashed Out Thoroughly and
Many Evils of Pastime
Rectified.

That boxing is regarded as staple
sport in Australia is ,evinced by the
fact that a conference of sporting au-
thorities was held in the City of Sgd
ney for the purpose of framing rules
beneficial to the game, writes W. w.
Naughton in the Chicago Examiner.
A certain degree of eclat was lent
to the occasion by the presence of H.
D. Morton, speaker of the legislative
assembly, who opened the proceedings
and then vacated the chair in favor of
H. Y Braddon.
Everything pertaining to glove fight
ing was tkrashed out thoroughly, and
many of the evils of the pastime, as
australians saw them, were rectified
when the conference got down to franz
ing rules. AS many of the new regula-
tons will be of interest to American
pugilists who intend trying their luck
in Australia, digest of the work of
the conference may not be out of
place.
The new scale of weights runs as
| follows:
Bantam, rs pounds, feather, 1876;
lightweight, 1856; welterweight, 147;
middleweight, 100; mid-heayy, IT'S;
heavyweight, any weight, which pre-
sumably means any weight above IT'S.
In all contests in Australia weight
must be made at the 1sngside, and it
is explained that this means within
one hour of the advertised beginning
of the contest
This is an entirely newAconstruction
IF ringside weighing, by the way, and
it will burn more quickly into the
intelligence of American ring men
when it is told to them that they must
weigh zone hour before"
Here is an interesting rule framed
by the conference:
THE Australian championships shall
where boxer from another country
having IL months residential quail
J fication defeats an Australian in an
Australian championship he shall only
be the holder of the championship
while resident in the country, and on
his departure the championship shall
revert back to the previous holder"
This may or may not have been
| worded thuswise at the suggestion of
The Land Settlement League of Aus
tralia, but anyhow it is explicit. You
can't bring Australian championships
away as souvenirs.
In many other respects the new
rules follow the lines of the old
Queensberry regulations, the latter be-
ing extended and amplified to suit
Australian requirements.
The five-ounce glove of pugilistic
commerce is discarded for the six
ounce mitten, and the number of Sec
onds in mans corner is limited to
four. These henchmen are forbidden
| to coach, assist in any manner, adj
wise their principal during the rounds
or enter the ring during the progress
of contest. By offending against
these rules they will cause disqualifi-
ration of their principal by the
| Teferee."
Contestants are warned against hit
! ting in clinches, and clinch is de-
| lined as a condition which exists when
both men are holding with one or
| both hands"
| Infghting is tabooed, and it is left
| % the referee to determine what con.
vtitutes infghtfng. Such being the
Ease, it will be as well for boxers to
engage in match to interview the
1-eferee before tearing loose.
Here is how knockout is defined:
| "A knockout shall be counted (a)
when contestant is knocked down
and is not on his feet ready to resume
| boxing in ten seconds from the time
he is knocked down, OBJ when con-
testants towel is thrown in while he
is taking the count, (c) should con
test be stopped by the referee or any
official owing to a contestant not be-
| ing considered in a fit condition to
continue as a result of punishment he
has received"
There was quite an argument as to
whether the referee should hold court
in the ring or outside of it. Finally
by small majority, it was decided
that the referees place is where the
blows are flying thickest, and that it
| Is wrong to have him propped up on
a bench like a British justice of the
peace.
1t would be as well for American
pugilists afflicted with the wander.
lust to study these rules, for the ex.
cuse I didn't know does not hold
in Australia.