|
From the sport section of The Kalgoorlie Sun May 12, 1905....Promoter Silver Jack Matthews imports South Afrika's heavyweight champion Mattius Obopu to test the sinew of the current Australasian heavyweight title holder big Jack Howard and packs them in at the Old Tin Shed at Rushcutters Bay...Howard, in the pink of condition weighs in at 13 stone 12 pounds and Obopu tips the scales ringside at 13 stone 8 without an ounce of superfluous flesh on his six foot frame...Round one is a recce as both look to see what the other has and no serious damage is done...Both rush from their corners at the next bell and battle is joined in earnest...Howard lashes out left and right and drives Obopu back, but the Afrikan retaliates and the crowd is up on its feet baying for blood...In the third stanza they meet skull to skull and Obopu gets the worst of it as his right eye starts to swell...The tide swings back and forth through rounds four to seven with plenty of punishment meted out, but the edge seems to go to the Sydney lad as he busts up his valiant opponent, opening a cut over the right eye that sprays gore on the white shirt of referee Arthur Scott and reporters at ringside...Obopu comes back in round eight but spends the last of his strength in trying to knockout his powerful foe and falters in round nine as another cut is opened under the same eye...A terrible right uppercut staggers him seconds into the final round but he refuses to go down and trades punches until the gong sounds the end...Scott's card reads six rounds Howard four rounds Obopu and the Australian raises his opponent's hand to acknowledge a brave fighter...At Maitland Stadium Colin Bell endures an early scragging from visiting Yank Dan Daly and gradually wears the giant down with body blows, putting him on the canvas twice in the eighth round when his corner skies in the towel...Outweighed by more than two stone, Jerry Jerome suffers a points loss over ten rounds to towering Bill Turner at Hobart...After he sat with reporters, Jerome laughed, "That Bill Turner fella's just too big a knob to climb for a little man like me. Maybe I'll bring a step ladder next time."...The mob at the Golden Gate Club saw the potential realized with Melbourne's Pat Doran as he mopped the floor with Peter Kling and put him through the ropes where he lay as the referee signaled an end to it at 2:43 of round one...The scribbler for the Sydney Referee remarked Doran looked like he could have beaten anyone that night...On the same bill George Stirling KO'd old rival Les O'Donnell in the 4th after both had visited the canvas...Ern Waddy was such a huge favourite over Archie Greaves that local pools refused to take wagers on the outcome...Not surprisingly, Waddy's manager will vigorously pursue a rematch...
__________________
"...There were Giants in Those Days.."
Last edited by Cap; 05-05-2023 at 09:45 AM.
|