Omaha daily bee., 1893-09-17
CHAT OF THE BOXERS
A screed on the Coming Fight Between
George Dixon and solly Smith.
A SHOT At THE s0-CAlleD AMATEURS
Larry Twitcheli the Ring OF Batters-shoot-
ing and Fi~shing-The Song of the wheel
with whip and SPECIFICATIONS
Answered and the Usual sports.

ring will be the meeting of George Dixon and
Solly Smith, which will take place at the
Coney Island Athletic club on the night of
Monday, September %. The battle will be
Tor a purse OF 10000 and the fe~atherweight
championship of the world.
VINO will VIM That is n question which
is puzzlng the wisest minds. The best
Judges OF pugilistic skill are utterly at sea,
ana frankly confess that 1t is beyond their
Ken TO pick the victor. So keen an expert as
Al Smith says that 1t Is like betting on colors
AT roulette-black or red-to guess the win
ner' save in this instance the bettor will
nave black and white to select from.
until the temporary reverse Dixon suf-
1ered, when he met bold Billy Plimmer of
England. the chocolate-colored lad was an
overwhelming ~favorite In the east. Since
that time the California boy has had an even
call in the betting with Tom O'Rourke's
prodlgy among sportsmen, who are proven
bially as tickle as the wind in their prefer
ences.
Those who are best informed in these
matters, however. say that Dixon's setback
with Plimmer should be no measure of his
hstlc skill or any criterion to go by in his
approaching contest with Smith. Dixon.
they aver, was simply suffering with an
affection known us the big head He held
Plimmer too cheaply and made no prepara-
ton for the fray. The Briton, on the other
hand. was trained to the hour. The natural
outcome of such a meeting between twolads.
equally clever, under normal conditions, was
obvious. When Dixon goes up against Smith
he will be the physical perfection of a
trained athlete, and can be depended upon
to render n much better account of himself.
"Solly Smith. the prize of the west has
always entertained AN impression that ne
could defeat Dixon. Since The latter's bout
with Plimmer, of which he was an inter
ested observer, that impression has become
n deep-rooted conviction. He will enter the
ring with every confidence of ultimate VIC
tory, ana Will never yield while natures
forces remain. He is strong, resolute. ell
during, and nothing short of the 'auctioneer'
WIN compel him to quit. He has fought
thirteen hard battles, defeating, among
others, such wonderful lighters as johnny
Van Heest and Johnny Griffin, whom many
sportsment thought Dixon was afraid to meet.
While not quite as clever as Dixon. he is
really as quick on his feet, and by far IA
harder hitter. Indeed, he can strike a blow
with all the power of u mIddleweight. and
is accounted the strongest lad of his weight
and inches that ever stepped over II rope.
lie Is not given to Boosting, but to his imlne-
diate friends he scntentiously observes.
Cream (meaning DiXon) may be as clever
and shifty rs he pleases. but | will catch
him some time, as / did the two Johnnies
ivan Heest and Gritfin), and then it will be
all day with HIM. AS for his hitting. he
could not put me out with n club
Little Dixon smiles at this outburst of
laconic eloquence and confidence. and replies
just as pithily. 4 don't care If Solly is as
strong as Sandow,' he remarks with
terriiied many an adversary in the
ring; but l will punch him out
before he least expects it. [ won't be
caught as was with Plimmer; neither will
''bnd right of his. People say that ! have
some generalship, and | will try to show il |
the night Smith and / meet
Additional interest is manifested by the
puolic at large IN the contest trorh the fact
that the winner will undoubtedly be pittod
against Billy Plimmer of England, the
champion bantam of the world, who can no |
longer find any fighter Of his own class 10 |
meet. Then 1t will be determined whether
the worlds featherweight championship will
abide In America or 90 over TO England. the
dry nurse of fistic heroes.
Large delegations Will rome from the east
ana the FAR west to sec either Smith CON
quer Dixon or Dixon annihilate Smith With
two such fierce, resolute little pnmecncEs
there can be no divided triumph. Neither
wants u draw Either the sun of Austerlitz
wiltshire for one on the other or the storm
cloud of Waterloo overtake him.
From far-distant California will come
such famous sportsmen as Young Clans
S~preckles. Nose Gunst, Aleck Jordan. Char !
ley Dexter ana Harry Corbett. They will
back smith to a man. The Boston delega.
tion will do the same with Dixon"
The meeting between Jack Hickey Tro.
lands so-called champion at middle weight
and he champion of the world at this stand.
ard, Bob titzsimmons, was n disappointment |
to a cool many people who were cock sure
that the HlDprIian would r,aLa "a ,,nol -
ing. But he did nothing Of the sort, the
lanky kangaroo making a connecting link
out OF him. Hickey came here heralded asa
paid-up entry In the phenomenal class. He
had whaled big Peter Maher in two rounds.
which was certainly sufficient to create a
good deal of faith in his capabilities as n
clever fighter and stiff puncher. That there
was little ground for this faith after ali,
fltz demonstrated IN four rounds with big
gloves. and he also demonstrated that he is
even u better man than his most ardent
had rated him. 1t will be n pre-
sumptaous l5S-pounder, indeed, who i'm the
future agrees TO meet Robert, and his only
chance for ANYTHING like a big purse here
after will be his willingness to take ON the
topnotchers.
Johnny Griffin has refrained from going on
record as n tout in the Coming fight bet vreen
Solly Smith and George Dixon, but he did
say TO a little knot of sporting men in New
York the other evening that. while not
about his ability as a pugilist. he
was willing TO make his belief that he can
beat Solly and George in the same ring IN
the same night, good, by n trial at any time
the two men might consent to such an ar
rangement.
This all sounds very frankie McHueh II in
the face of the fact that Solly knocked
Johnny as dead as the proverblal door nail
IN four rounds at Roby Il couple of months
ago. Still j must acknowledge that | firmly
believe that the Braintree boy could come
nearly doing just what he saws he
can. AS | have time and time asserted.
| take no stock in chance blows in a prize
light, and i do not think that IL was one of
vegetables that sent Griffin iato the
land OF Nod on the night above referred 10.
! DO believe, however, that the trick was
turned by reason of a lack Of attention to his
on Johnny's part at a critical stage
in the battle. That he had the Californian
going almost from the sound of the big bell.
no one who saw the fight will honestly deny,
and that the story circulated about Smiths
feigning ~grogginess is about as tenable as
claim that he is a gentleman.
Griffin kept handing them in SO fast, both
right and left, that about two-thirds Of the
cline Solly's cere bellum was in juxtaposition
with his shoulder blades. Another half
round would have had him hugging the floor
like a long lost brother. And in the mean
recollect, Griffin was as good as ur.
But what does all this s~ignify2 Nothing.
Solly was fighting like a drunken sailor ana