Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-05-29
WHY FRENCH BOXERS ARE i. i. \
TRIllllIllG ENGLISH PUGS

Those continued successes of French
prizefighters over Anglo-Saxon. cham
pions do not indicate to Stephen
Black, formerly middIeweignt anna
teur champion of South Africa, the SUI
periority Of the Latin physically or
even in technique. Mr.. Black is a
close student of these encounters. He
has attended, in the capacity of ex-
pert many bouts like that of Georges
Carpenter of France with Bombar-
der Wells and that of Ledoux with
Benyon. He attends the tremendous
combats in the ring at Paris, made
notable by the presence of Partisan
society ladies, for in Europe prize
fighting has become sufficiently sclen-
tific to, interest notable women.
TIE most remarkable OF the many
features which distinguish a French
boxing bout from one nj an Anglo
Saxon land, says Mr.. Black, Is the
almost cruel implacability" of the
audiences. Perhaps 1t is the intro
duction of the feminine spectator, ne
saws, which has caused this. women
of the Latin races are VIGOROUSLY
cruel at times. The. French reFolu-
ton. Spanish bull-fghts and, going
farther back, the Roman gladlatorlal
combats, conclusiyely prove this,
Not less remarkable to our high au-
thority is the splendid French pluck
animating fighter once in the ring.
AS Mr.. Black writes in the London
Mail: -
Never have L. seen such undylng
courage exhibited as by the french
boxers. Badly beaten men fought on
and on; matches proceeded to the bit
ter end which in England would long
before have been stopped by the ref
cree at the request of the enlookers.
In Paris the onlookers seem never to
have had enough. did not once hear
the GRIP Stop it to which one is so
accustomed III England and the over
seas Dominions when a boxer is OBJ
Yiously beaten Even fouls of the
worst kind are excused in Paris so
that the contest may proceed to the
bitter end. The French boxers do
not foul Intentionally But many men
less skilful than Carpenter, Ledoux
and De Ponthieu fight naadly, blindly
for the body their arms whirl wildly
as they crouch, one lower than the
other, In desperate efforts to reach
the stomach: and blows are frequent
" struck below the belt. But the ac-
ton of French referees is more as
tonishing still AS the boxer stands
crying out in pain the referee inter
venes. Then he announces that the
man fouled wishes to go on fighting
and that there will be 'un repos de
deux minutes This made me gasp
when first / heard it, as indeed it
must have made Mr.. Bettinson, Of the
National Sporting Club, gasp, but it
was nothing to what followed. Near
the end of the same contest to which
refer second foul still more nag
rant was perpetrated by the man
who had first been fouled. Again two
minutes repose! And as the suffer
ing boxer in his corner loudly. pro-
tested. the. referee walked toward
him and said, Yes. my boy, but you
did the same thing to him beforen
French boxing viii have to- be
cleansed of this sort of thing if it is
to make the same advance of spirit
and tone that it has made Of sheer
achievement. Unskilful boxers must
be taught with an iron hand that
they cannot sacrifice all the eonven-
tions of sport in order to hit the 9TH
er man unfairly. Il
The Italian spoke many years
ago of the French fury in warla
furia francese. / think it is the great
est quality of the modern French box.
er. Other races of Celtic origin pos
sess it, too, but none in so marked