Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1914-01-29
NEW FIGHTING RULES
Boxing Regarded as a Staple
Sport in Australia.
Everything Pertaining to Pusillsm
Thrashed Out Thoroughly and
Many Evils of Pastime
Rectified.

Rectifec.
That boxing is regarded as a 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 Fl.
D. Morton, speaker of the legislative
assembly, who opened the proceedings
and then vacated the chair in favor of
Il. Y. Braddon.
Everything pertaining to glove fight
Ing was thrashed out thoroughly, and
many of the evils of the pastime, as
Australians saw them, we're rectified
when the conference got down to franz
ing rules. AS many of the new regula-
lions will be of interest to American
pugilists who intend trying their luck
in Australia, a digest of the work OF
the conference may not be out of
place. .
The new scale of weights runs as
| follows:
Bantam, 11S pounds; feather, 1875;
lightweight, 1876; welterweight, 147;
middleweight, 100; mid-heavy, IT'S;
heavyweight, any weight, which pre-
sumably means any weight above d75.
In all contests in Australia weight
must be made at the ringside, and it
| is explained that this means within
one hour of the advertised beginning
| of the contest"
This is an entirely new construction
Of ringside weighing, by the way, and
1t 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:
1.-THE Australian championships shall
be contests boxed in Australia, and
where boxer from another country
having a IL months residential quail
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
cant 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 a mans corner is limited to
four. These henchmen are forbidden
to coach, assist in any manner, ad-
wise their principal during the rounds
or enter the ring during the progress
of a contest. By offending against
these rules they will cause disqualifi'
cation of their principal by the
referee"
Contestants are warned against hit
ting in clinches, and clinch is de
fined as a condition which exists when
both men are holding with one OF
both hands"
Infighting is tabooed, and 1t is left
to the referee to determine what con
stitutes infighting Such being the
case. it will be as well for boxers to
engage in a match to interview the
referee before tearing loose.
Here is how knockout is defined:
"A knockout shall be counted Ca
when a 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 a con
testant's towel is thrown in while ne
is taking the count, (c) should a con
test be stopped by the referee or any
official owing to a contestant not be
ing considered in fit condition tt
continue as a result of punishment he
has received"
There was quite an argument as t.
whether the referee should hold cour
in the ring or outside of it. Finally
by a small majority, it was decided
that the referees place is where the
blows are flying thickest, and that j
is wrong to have him propped up OF
a bench like British justice of thu
peace.
1t would be as well for American
pugilsts afflicted with the wander
lust to study these rules, for the ex
cuse q didn't know" does not holt
In Australia.
English Offer Abb.