The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-17

CARSON, New, March 16.-Corbett
and F'itzsimmons have finished their
training. Nothing remains to be done
except to appear in the ring tomorrow
and by their prowess decide which is
the better pugilist, and entitled to the
Ito them proud distinction of champion
of the world. They will battle for sU-
premacy in the presence Of a crowd Of
several thousand people, perhaps the
largest number that ever witnessed
an athletic contest. Both men are in
the pink of condition. .COrbett, accord
ing to the best judges, is more perfect
physically than FitZsimmOns. They
have worked hard and long. COrbett
has tired out his trainers, while FitZ-
simmons assistants are said to be still
fresh. Principals and others are doubt
less glad that the end is so near. Cor
bett is the favOrite and he has been all
along, but many believe FitzsimmOns
has a good chance to win. They say
it is only necessary to land once to
knock out his opponent
The wind ceased blowing about 10
o'clock tonight, and was followed by
some snow, but not enough, however,
to be more than noticeable. The clouds
are much lighter than they were in
the early part of the evening, and it
is now feared that tomorrow may be
unpleasant.
At late hour tonight, the Associat-
ed Press is in a position to state posi-
lively that if the sun does not shine
tomorrow the big fight will not come
/ hi he 10,
will be put on and the crowd be enter
tanned by witnessing them. If the big
fight does not come off tomorrow it
will be on the 18th, provided the wealth
er is suitable, the intention being to
have it take place at such time as the
! Verascope can record the movements
of the contestants.
| The town was livelier this afternoon
! than yesterday. owing to the fresh
| arrival of visitors. Two special trains,
/ one from the coast and the other from
| the East, came in, bringing several
! hundred people. The sidewalks are
! crowded, and the offices of the four ho-
| tells are full of people discussing the
fight and the prospective winner.
| The matter of choice of corners was
was decided tonight by "toss-up, /"
! Corbett winning the toss. He chose
the southwest corner of the ring,
| wishing to get the sun at his back,
! leaving Fitzsimmons no choice but to
/ take the northeast corner.
The betting on the fight Jagged
! somewhat early in the day, but with
! the arrival of the crowds from San
j Francisco and the East, the pool rooms
| Gid a lively business. Up to 10 o'clock
/ ,;.~I,+ O. ! i
on the three fights. Most of the money
went in on the t-FitzsimmOns.
fight but the other contests received a
| share Of attention. COrbett was the
favorite at 500 to $75 against Fitzsim-
mons. Jimmy WakLley is said to have
placed $500 on COrbett at odds rang
ing from 500 to $65 to 500 to SIS In
! the WelterWeight contest Green was
faVorite over Smith at 500 to $50
Hawkins and Flaherty were at even
money, but very little Hawkins money
appeared.
In the combination betting. Corbett
Green and Flaherty seemed to be the
favOrite trio, SO out of 234 bets going
| on them to win. The other combina-
tons sold were: Corbett, Green, Haw-
| kins so; COrbett, Smith, Flaherty, ~;
FftZsimmOns, Green, Flaherty, 20; Fitz-
simmons, Smith, Flaherty, 10; F'itz-
simmons Green, Hawkins, II; Fitz-
| simmons, Smith, Hawkins, 10; Corbett
Smith, Hawkins 10.
Quite as much attention was paid to
the races during the day as to the fight.
The truth is, perhaps, that all except
enthusiastic friends Of Fitzsimmons are
controlled by the belief that he can
win only by chance jab and the odds
are not large enough to induce admir-
ers to bet freely on him. 1t is esti-
mated that. with the arrival this even
ing and afternoon, $500 strangers are
in town. The bulk of the crowd ex-
| pected, at least a large part OF it, will
come tomorrow morning, When the
miners from the Virginia City mines
and several special trains from the
East and West are due.
The sale of tickets was brisk today.
and Dan Stuart feels more hopeful
about a large attendance than for sew
eral days. How large no one can tell
but is expected to reach from 1000
to 5000 Every train that arrived to-
day was late. and it was not unlikely
that some people from the East now
on their way here may not arrive in
trne to see the fight. Regarding the
! chances of the men there has been bur
| little concentration Of opinion of the
/ sporting men. COrbett is the faVorite
| among the betting men. but it cannot
be denied that there has been during
| the day an increase in the esteem in
| which the chances of FitZSimmOnS are