Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-07
REVIEW OF SPORTS.
Great Difficulties in Sizing Up the
Boxing Situation.
THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. FIGHT.
A Few Remarks on the Methods Of Train
ing Ball Players.
AFFAIRS OF THE LOCAL BALL CLUB

There has been more talk and discussion
on matters pugilistic during the week just
ended than there has been for a very long
time. may be wrong in using the word
pugilistic. and I may be more correct in
saying boxing. The latter probably will fit
better than the other. Well, it is always
very difficult nowadays to clearly under
stand the boxing situation, and it is no more
difficult for us this side of the Atlantic than
our brother writers on sporting matters
who do the work on the other side of the big
fish pond. Dealing with this feature, here
is what very prominent English writer
says:
"Most freely I confess inability to get
any way near to being in touch with the
present boxing situation. 1 can read mo-
tives pretty we'll throughout the piece, but
how they will operate is more than any
man may say. Not even the wirepullers
themselves can tell, 1 guess. As for news
from the other side, you may follow that re-
ligiously. swallowing all that you are told
daily land that is mostly contradicted at
once, if not earlier), and you may-and prob
ably will-end in not knowing or believing
anything. You are certain to be logged if
you get rocky in your chronology, and mix
up the gist of letters published almost SIM
ultaneously with statements cabled week
after the letters were mailed. AS to motives,
we are well aware that all concerned are
naturally on the make. Also that playing
on the press to excite public interest by par
agraphical substitutes for alarms and ex-
cursions is quite an old game. Theproclam-
W "a of nj G q M
er5 which find the daily food of the boxing
par provider are neither more nor less than
the old Jolly, which went on outside spar
ring booths, only the business is brought
down Or up to date.
$50 far as 1 can make out Slavin has to do
two things, or go out of estimation, and,
what may be of more consequence to him,
out of value as show figure. He must
somehow scrape up hackers against Sulli-
van, or the American tour spec. can't last
long. So much for America. He must keep
guaranteed he would meet Jackson in Lon
don, OF drop out of Englishmen's good opin-
ion. Anyone vino has studied the man can
tell easily enough that Slavin is anything
but the buffer the Yankees in sulIivan's
corner styled him. There may have been
bluf1ng about money, but never on fighting,
as j. L. S. will certainly find out. Where
the weakness in the financial de artment
came in will not trouble to guess. All the
public can find out 1or themselves is that the
school who were so free with offers to back
nation now, and that neither of the daily
sporting papers seems to stick up for the
stranded pugilists, who were, one might say,
demigods with them but yesterday-if, that
is, the word is big enough"
Fitzsimmons and Maher.
There is deal of truth in the foregoing
and iu applies as much to Americans as to
Britishers. But suppose we'll just have to
do the best we can and try and make our
va trai oh O. unh tI1a
labyrinthine maze. The event that is caus-
ing more comment than any other is the
proposed contract between Peter Maher and
Robert FitZSimmons. AS far as the latter
day boxing contests are concerned it is a
long time since there was such an interest
ing subject to discuss as the contest in ques-
ton. 1t is one of that class over which
there Is always very great diversity OF
following and nothing will convince some
of the followers regarding the comparative
merits of the men except the contest re-
ferred to. OF course am dealing with the
affair assuming it to be on its merits out and
and out. 1t may not be so, but at present
we must assume tfat it will.
1t is the disparity in weight that causes.
the proposed battle to be of 80 much inter
est, and fear that there is being, and will
be. too much made of this disparity. At
most Maher will not be more than about ten
pounds heavier than Fitzsimmons, and.that
is not exceedingly much when the size of
the men are taken in to consideration. FitZ-
simmons will not be far short of I6o pounds,
and there have been men at that weight who
have been among the best pugilistS the
world has seen, and they had not the
height and reach that the Australian has.
Maher will probably go into the ring at ITO
pounds, and We must not forget that his legs
are much heavier than the legs of Fitzsim-
mons, so that in strength there may not be
so great difference between the two men
after all.
Matters of Comparison.
But the great question is: Who will be the
better man of the two? Al the first thought
very many will jump in favor of the Irish
champion. Now, let us be careful and think
the matter over twice or thrice before CON-
ing to any conclusion at all. 1 should like to
ask the question: Why should Maher be
better than Fitzsimmons? Because he is a
heavier man does not prove it, because
without going further back into pugilistic
history than very short time ago we find
man like Pritchard very easily defeating
Jem Smith. But Smith was duffer,"
do we know tnat Maher is anything first
class2 There's the rub. If Peter M. had
done anything wonderful; if he had met
and beaten anybody of note we could, with
comparative ease, have formed an opinion
as to his merit. But he has yet to defeat a
moderately good man.
When he meets FitZsimmons he will GER
tainly meet the best man whom he has so
far faced. The Australian is a good boxer
a hard hitter and agood tactician. am in
ciined to think that all these qualities will
bother the champion of the Emerald Isle
very much, as he is deficient in all of them
as far as good heavyweight is concerned
True, there may be much more in Maher
than many OF us think, but at present am
of the opinion that Maher will not defeat
Fitzsimmons. The latter is active and
clever enough to make waiting Tight of it
If waiting is necessary, and Maher has yeS
to prove that he can hold up in q waiting
A rxyiY fnaf y<,ff
all the calculations of new beginners who
expect to settle things right away, and
Maher is really new beginner. But Fitz-
simmons is also a rusher when 1t is neces- |
rush Maher to defeat. without going any |
further into details, the above reasons lead !
me to the conclusion that at present.the |
chances Of victory are the bet |
But after all # may be that the contest is
for the big purse and for the purse only. |
very scheming people, and we can seldom !
know what they intend to do. We have to |
take chances.
Very Wise Resolve.
A friend OF mine who wHs recently in San |
Francisco tells me that there arc efforts |
being made by the directors OF the Califor- |
mia Athletic Club there to have all the lead |
ing athletic clubs in the country agree to |
not offer any big purses for glove contests |
for II or Is months. SO as to keep things |
moving it is further proposed to only offer |
$500 or 500 at most for something like scien- |
tific exhibitions.
My informant tells me that the reason Of |
this is the very outrageous demands OF lead |
ing pugilists or boxers. or recent years |
these stars have been more than 1C0-fold |
worse tnan any baseball player who ever |
lived, and things have come to a pass that |
even such frauds as Upham and Warren talk |
about S., 600 purses.
Well, in more ways than one, good would |
result fr0n the abolition of these big purses |