The Saint Paul globe., 1898-07-24
CORBETT SEEKS NO GLORY
NEEDS MONEY AND SEES A
CHANCE TO MAKE IT


Match With Mccoy Bears All the
Ear Marks of Another Circus
Play for the .Gate Receipts"-
Ring Followers Marvel at the Sc
lection of ''Honest"s John Kelly as
Referee-Ring Gossip.
James ]. Corbett Is not in the boxing
business for glory. He thinks he sees
chance to make money in meeting
kid" Mccoy, and the chances are that
he will clean up a neat sum, win or
lose. And Mccoy is not vastly dissimi-
lar to Corbett in that particular. He
is also a nloney-getter. There may be
a $4,000 purse hung UP at Buffalo, but
the chances are that the affair will be
conducted on the percentage basis.
There will be q neat sum to "cut up"
whichever way the battle terminates,
and it is folly to presume that the
winner will win all and the loser lose
everything. To begin with there will
be nothing to lose. There are no stakes
the forfeit is a good advertising card,
and the public will do the rest Princi-
pals and managers Of the Corbett-Mc-
Coy match must not be supposed to be
asking to be let off at Buffalo because
they consider that city health resort.
The summer is long, and the coming
winter may be hard one.
WILL DRAW A BIG CROWD.
There Is no question that the match
will draw a big crowd. Buffalo is easy
Of access, and as the contest will be
within a few minutes ride of the city
proper there will be nothing to keep
the lovers of the game away. The
prices will bring in the amount Of the
purse and something handsome for the
promoters. The figures are $5, $40 and
$15. Then there are to be veriscope pic
tures, and the principals will have a
handsome royalty from that feature Of
the Entertainment" In fact, it is a
decidedly Corbettian affair-not much
glory, but a lot of money. Billy Brady
is wisely keeping in the background,
but if any novice thinks the astute
manager is out of the deal he is guess
ing wrong. Billy knows enough to keep
quiet. There will be more confidence
in the match with him out Of it.
WHY THAT REFEREE?
Why Honest John Kelly should
have been selected to referee the match
is a puzzler for those Who know how
bad a referee "Honesta John is. His
performance at Jacksonville, when Cor
bett met Mitchell, Stamped him as the
worst ever seen. He evidently knew
about as much of the Marquis of
Gueensbury rules as Admiral Montojo
and Cervera did dS"of laval fighting.
There is but one man living who com
pares with Kelly asian arbiter of box
ing, la QueensburN, and that is Jere
Hunt, the popular railroad ticket agent,
who was once selected to referee a
H11cl rrlo
who met in Aid. Cronln's christ par
lor," in st. Louis, Mo. In the third
round one Of the contestants appealed
to jerry for Judgment" He said: "Say,
Mr.. Referee, this yere niger is gouging
me-" well" responded Jere, you've a
gouge coming, go in and get it."
THE MITCHELL AFFAIR.
When Corbett defeated Charlie Nit
chell, at Jacksonville, Fla, Honest"
John Kelly was referee. Of all the
alleged Queensbury contests in the his
tory of the ring that was the worst
handled. 1t was more like a rough and
tumble than a boxing match, and Kelly
did some things that caused old-timers
to rub their eyes and wonder if they
were dreaming. For instance, before
the battle had progressed far Corbett
lost his temper and began to foul Nit
chell repeatedly. Corbett's seconds
Jumped into the ring and pulled Cor
bett back into his corner. From that
time on the ring was filled with sec
onds and handlers of the man with the
pompadour and never word said Kel-
ly. And this in the face of the fact
that for second of boxer to enter
a ring during the progress Of a round
means loss Of the battle to that par
ticular principal. But to crown it all,
when Mitchell managed to regain his
feet, at the close Of the third and last
round, what does Kelly do but rush
over to Corbett's corner and inform
him excitedly that Mitchell was up.
Thereupon Corbett ran over to the
Britisher and gave him his quietus.
panied him, urging him to keep his
temper and not foul his antagonist
and they were inside the ropes. at that.
AS OTHERS SEE 1T.
In this connection here Is signif1-
can't reference to the match from the
sporting columns of the Chicago Trib-
une:
But several things have caused,
sporting men to talk as if they looked
with some suspicion on the approach
ing match. There is not the confidence
in Mccoy that there is in Corbett. the
lndianian always having been regard
ed more or less as q man who was
never looking for any possible chance
Of getting the worst Of a financial bar
gain. Probably the feature that has
caused as much gossip as anything else
is the agreement on Honest John"
Kelly as referee. Why Mccoy should
consent to accept Kelly as referee. if
he Is anxious to defeat Corbett, when
it is matter Of pugilistic history, that
never has been contradicted, that Kelly
allowed Corbett to foul Mitchell at
Jacksonville in the most fragrant man.
ner without penalizing him, is the
thing that the sporting critics cannot
understand. 1t looks as if Mccoy would
naturally look to some man who never
had shown any such favoritism to-
wards the man he is to meet-that is,
If he set great store by the coming
contest in Buffalo. Kelly's selection as
referee will certainly not add to the
Importance that will be attached to the
Corbett-McCoy fight in England, where
Kelly's ineff1ciency as shown at jack
sonville, is well known
SHOULD MEET SHARKEY.
If Corbett is in earnest about his in
tention to re-enter the ring, the first
man he should take on is Tom Sharkey.
1t is a notorious fact that the sailor
man bested Corbett in their so out in
San francisco. More: He would have
sent the pompadour champion to
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