Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-15

pion, and it may be that we will have big
boat race or two here this year. Certainly,
contest here between O'Connor and Stans
bury would be interesting, but race be-
tween Hanlan and anybody whom Staus.
bury might bring would not be so popular.
Hanlan may talk away about what he will
do and what he expects to do, but his cham
pionship days are gone.
A Remarkable Little Pugilist.
Those who read what 1 had to say last
week about the Plimmer and Kelly battle
would probably expect the contest to result
as it did. The fight itself more than veri.
fed what 1 had to say about Plim.
mer's chances of victory. 1t is some time
since we had such very clean and decisive
victory gained by any pugilist, big or little.
Kelly, the American champion, was beaten,
and beaten very badly, indeed. He never
had the ghost of show from start to
| finish.
And now that the battle is over, and it is
lost and won, it is quite interesting to find
such large number of people who 'talways
knew that Plimmer was wonder and that
Kelly was far from frst-class" When one
hears talk of this kind it is amusing to re-
member that the odds were on. Kelly.
| There is another class of people who claim
that Kelly never fought as poorly in his
life as he he did against Plimmer Most
certainly am ready to believe that, and
because of reason that the people referred
to don't see. Kelly never was in front OF
such an opponent at the weight. His style
Of fighting compared so badly with that of
Plimmer that spectators would readily
jump at the conclusion that Kelly was
not up to his wonted standard. Compare
son is great thing. If Kelly had been in
front of any of the little chaps whom he has
alresly defeated his fighting would still
have led some people to believe that he was
wonder. But Pimmer exploded all these
false notions about Kelly.
People who take an interest in boxing
should note one particular feature of the
Plimmer method of fighting. He kept his
whenever opportunity afforded he used his
right with effect. He wasted no energy
with his right, and never used it untdH he
was sure of mark. And he always took
care to get the best position whenever in
fighting was resorted to. Altogether,
Pllmmer has that safe and reliable style of
fighting that cannot be beaten except an
opponent is superior in all respects. No
doubt he is the best bantam-weight this
generation has seen. As several correspond
ents have asked questions regarding Plim-
mcI IecOrQ now give III.
Tho Record of Billy PIimmer.
On February next Plimmer will be %
years old. He was born in Birmingham,
England. His first battle was with big
John Shannon, whom he beat in rounds
Then under the management of old Tom
Wellington, welI-known sport of Eng
land, he defeated the following lads:
Charley Sallade, champion of Birmingham,
Ir,1 - NJ i
for $50; "Chappie" Moran again, months
later, in rounds; Jack Sweeney, local
champion of London, in rounds; put Jim
Buckley to sleep, In London, in rounds;
beat Joe Farrell, who was pounds over
weight. in rounds; Jack Brown, of Vasoll,
at Alt Greenfeld's sporting resort in Bir-
mingham, in 4 rounds; Jim Buckley, at
Barney Shepard's Athletic Club, for ESQ, in
rounds; Arthur Wesley, of London, for
purse of $500 and a stake of 81, 200, at Or
monde Club, London, for 107-pound cham
pionship, in 13 rounds; Sol Phillips, of
Islington, for 11O-pound championship Of
England, in rounds; Bill Moore, of Kings
land, London, in 8 rounds; Charley Mans
ford at the Kensington Club, London, for
$500, in 10 rounds; Jim Stevens, of London,
in 10 rounds, for purse of $3.50 and stake
OF g, 900. Then he came to this country
and defeated Jim Watson, of New Jersey.
He then fought and defeated ssKid" Hogan,
the champion amateur bantam weight of
this country. Altogether Plimmer has had
remarkable record, and he has certainly
merited the title of worlds champion.
The Slavin and jackson Contest.
The time for the battle between F. P.
Slavin and Peter jackson is drawing near
and as il approaches interest in the event is
becoming very great, indeed. The men are
to fight 20 rounds; that is, the conditions
limit the contest to that number, but am
inclined to think that the event will be
ended before 20 rounds. An hour and 10
minutes is long time for a battle such as
Slavin will make it, and he will either win
or be beaten in that time.
Both men are good pugilists, and it is
difficult to make selection as to the prob
able winner On public form Slavfn looks
best, because, in my way of thinking, he de-
feated Joe McAuliffe and Kilrain in way
that jackson could not do. On the other
hand, Jackson's performance against Cor
bett tells strongly against him, but it is to
be expected that jackson will be in much
better condition when he meets Slavin than
what he was when he met Corbett. Bv all
means he must be or else he will soon be de-
feated The styles of the men are verv dis
similar. jackson has long reach and is
very clever. He depends greatly on this.
Slavin, while tolerably active, does not de-
pend on long range work and will not have
it. He insists on being as close to an op-
ponent as possible, and woe betide that op-
ponent when he gets close enough to get
that half-arm work of his in.
Without going further into details the
question narrows itself down to this;
Can Jackson keep Slavin away from
him long enough to defeat him {?
1 don't think he can. Slavin is one
of the most powerful men that has
ever been in ring and in nv opinion Jack
son cannot hit hard enough to keep MIN
away and from countering 1t is Slavin's
counters that do the damage and if it were
to come to a matter of pure give and take
Jackson would not last 80 minutes. At
least that is the way sum the matter up.
Well, to make a long story short, look for
Slavin to defeat the colored Australian.
They are both Australians, but they have
been so much in this country and have figured |
in pugilistic contests here so prominently |
that Americans are sure to be considerably |
interested in the contest. Certainly there
will be some heavy betting in this country |
on the result and the betting should be at |
even money or as near it as possible. To |
be sure some people will point to the verv |
way in which jackson beat Jem Smith while |
Slavin did not polish off the Englishman SO |
handily But we must not forget that Jack |
son met Smith with gloves under Queens
berry rules and in building, while Smith
and Slavin met on terra frma and under
London prize ring rules. There is vast
difference PRrNcrr