St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-11

the men who decry and traduce a
sport in which the lion-hearted Rich
ard of England, the greatest of
Christian crusaders and the conquer
or of Saladin, was not ashamed to
take part. 1 am proud OF the pro-
fession Of which I am no mean
member; but, like many others,
have had all the fun 1 could pos
Eibly have out Of it. I have now
been a champion in my class longer
than any man breathing-twelve
years. | had intended over a year
and half ago, when Dick Burge, of
England, f1unked out of that match
for $4,000 at Coney Island, to retire
as the undefeated lightweight cham
piOn of the world. So many chal-
1enges, however, were being aimed
so constantly at me that 1 reconsid-
cred my determination and an
nounced my willingness to meet all
corners who could secure any re-
spectacle kind of backing. Some of
these fellows would challenge me to
fight at a period when 1 had lots of
money-at one time $50,000-for a
" IL
side. When I went broke, however,
and had to fight, I could not find
these fellows with a search warrant.
There are lots of strong, clever,
ambitious young fellows after me
now. Principal among these are
George, better known as Kid, La
vigne; Young Critic (when he gets
out of trouble) and Jimmy Handler,
Bob F'itzsimmons' skillful protege.
To any and all of them [ have this to
say: I will fight one more fight at
155 pounds and then quit the bust
ness. | do not intend to follow the
example of my illustriOus contem-
poraries, John L. Sullivan and Jack
Dempsey, and stay in the ring until
1 am whipped. Once we "thre-
Jacks, as they used to call US, were
1nVincible. Two, when weakened
by sickness, age and dissipation,
went down before younger and
stronger men. The third won't if
he can help it. Therefore I say to
all ambitious lightweights who are
hungering for gold and glory,
Come on; the first served will be
the man who can command the larg-
est backing" To Young Critic, of
Australia, 1 say, Il will be glad to
meet you anywhere to q finish as
soon as you are out of your present
trouble" And here let me observe
that l believe the young antipodean
to be innocent Of wrong-doing and
am sorry he got into the meshes of
the law. We We're matched for s.. 900
side at the time and had each of us
5000 posted with Arthur T. LumIev. of
the Illustrated News. I could nm
der the laws and usages of sport
have claimed the forfeit. but I cheer
fully returned it to Critic to help him
out Of his legal complications.
To Lavigne, who once fought Critic
to draw, and who is still an undefeat-
ed man and has, l believe. plenty of
money behind him, I say, Defeat Jim
my Handler in your battle at I,onr
Island i'll September next, and T will
light You to a finish for a stake bet of
$4,000 side and the largest purse Of
Tered by any reputable club. am Will
ing, IL you are, to participate in the
tournament at Dallas in October and
November next, where CCrbett and
1 iI@SiiIliliOliSo, f0GItF Aahef and Steve
O'Dcnnell and Tommy Ryan and Mys-
terious Billy Smith will all strive for
the mastery in their respective classes"
think 1 have made my position
clear / viii fight one fight and no
more. Win or lose, will retire from
the rlnS-a champion, l hope. [ wCsl't
be the pitcher broken at the well if I
can help 1t. After my next and last
battle l will jump right into business.
have two plans under consideration.
distinguished playwright has writ
ten play all around" me, as drama
lists put it, ard I may go out on the
read at the head of q strong COM
p2ny. Friends have been kind enough
70 say that L have the dramatic in
fhnct and can act bit. At any rate
can be any worse than Corbett. and
ne TASK IS worth essaying.
announcer plan have is to open I'D a,
hoteI IN either New York, Coney Island
Or Bath Beach. l have thousands of
TRENDS near New York. and as T
know considerable about one mart of
hCt2l figure it won't take me long tn
get pointers on the rest. So that set
ties it; after November next I will
either be an actor or a boniface.
FIT @&4s5