The Topeka state journal., 1897-12-17
DAILY NEWS OF SPORT.
Great Middleweight Battle of
CreedOn and Mccoy.
Mccoy the FaVOrite at Odds of
s to 10.
Fitzsimmons Thinks Creedon Should
Win and Corbett Also Favors the
Australians Chances-Purse
OF $500 Hung Up

New York, Dec. 1.-THE most i'm
portant middleweight battle fought in
this vicinity since the days when
Jack" Dempsey, Johnny Regan,
George LaBlanche and other ring no
tables struggled for championship hon
ors will be decided in the arena of the
Long Island City Athletic club tonight.
The men will fight at catchweights. and
neither win be down to the strict mid
dleweight limit of 15S pounds.
The contest means much to both men
because the middleweight champion
ship of the world and a purse of 81, 500
are involved. Each man appears su-
premely confident of the result, and as
both are reported to- be in the best of
physical condition, great battle is ex-
pected.
Mccoy is unquestionably the best
middleweight in America, while Cree
don is the best Australian now fighting
in the neighborhOOd of 1913 pounds. Both
men have many friends, McCOy'S being
slightly in the majority When the
match was made three months ago,
many good judges were of the opinion
that Mccoy would enter the ring a 2
to 1 faVOrite, and the fact that odds of
only 10 to are laid against the Aus
tralian'S chances indicate the high re-
gard in which he is held by the wise
ones.
Creedon and Mccoy are as unlike in
their style of fighting as any two men
COulQ De. Ine AuSUraIan Is snort ana
chunky. while the American is tall and
wiry. Creedon is of the old school of
boxing. He fights on the hurricane or
der, and depends more on the force of
his blows than science to win fight.
He likes to fight at short range, and
his usual point of attack is his oppo-
nents body; He can hit a terrific
blow, and the Australians friends be-
lieve that his ability to strike effective
kid"
On the other hand, Mccoy likes to
fight at long range, believing in Jab-
bing his opponent and gradually wear
ing him down. He does not believe in
taking chances, and is not near so eff
fective at infighting as he is at long
range. McCoy's style of fighting re-
sembles COrbett's. The kid" is par
ticularly anxious to win, for victory
over the Australian will put him di-
rectly in line for heavyweight hOnOrs
and Mccoy is ambitious to shine as the
heavyweight champion. Corbett will
be at the ringside in Long Island City
as a spectator.
Bob Fitzsimmons, who has defeated
Creedon, telegraphs from Milwaukee
that he thinks the Australian will win.
James J. Corbett says: "Creedon
has fought better men than Mccoy. He
is short and stOcky and will no doubt
make of it a close-range fight. He is
game to the marrow. On the other
hand, Mccoy is virtually an untried
man. The ablest opponent he has de-
feated is Tommy Ryan, no doubt the
best welterWeight of his day. Mccoy
is the first middleweighC Ryan ever
fought, so that contest gives us no line
on him, but the men he has defeated
were beaten artiStically and left no
possible doubt of his extreme clever
ness. In my opinion Mccoy will put up
a long range fight. He has height,
reach and quickness in his favor, but
he will find in CreedOn a very danger
Gus opponent and the greatest fighter
of his weight alive. The battle will be
hard and the winner Will prove himself
the best middleweight of the world"