Omaha daily bee., 1898-12-18
BLATHER Of THE PUCILISTS
Tom sharkey's Chance to Square Him.
self Comes When He Meets
Kid Mccoy Next Month.

Tom sharkey's Chance to Square HIM
self COmss When He Meets
Kid Mccoy Next Month.
Thomas Sharkey, pugilist, Will have q
chance in the near future to demonstrate to
the sporting public whether ne has de-
cided to enroll himself in the society Of
fakirs and shell men, of whom Corbett
seems to be presiding chairman, or whether
he is a gloveman on the square. Whom,
and also II, he meets that smooth Hoosier
at the Lenox Athletic club in New York on
January 10, he will have an opportunity Of
clearing his skirts of all suspicion that he
had a hand in the disgraceful iasco com
monty dubbed the Sharkey- Corbett fight. Il
will be a case Of Mr.. sharkey being tried In
the balance.
To be cure, the same sort Of . test will
be applied to the H~oosier, upon whose per-
son more than a suspicion Of taking already
attaches. His action in agreeing 70 .
private set OF articles previous to the pro-
posed bout with Corbett and making
another for the benefit of the public, how
ever stamps Mr.. Smoothly Mccoy as an In
dividual who is ready to seize any oppor-
tunity where he may secure q piece Of the
purse without taking the chance Of q knock
out. Consequently, even II Mccoy goes
through the journey with the man of-war's
man on the level, sporting critics will still
look upon him as ready to do a bit Of
taking whenever the chance affords.
AS a matter of fact, there are not . few
Of the elect who freely predict that the
proposed fight will never take place II
Sharkey shows a disposition to go through
the fight on the square. These skepticai
individuals believe that II the Indiana kid
encounters such a state Of mind In Shar-
key he will straightway proceed to
withdraw as gracefully as possible from the
match. Some such argumentative act as
resulted In the calling off of the Corbett-
Mccoy affair is predicted, although the
opinion is as general that Mccoy will not
attempt to put a period at the end Of any
conversation between himself and
Sharkey In the shape Of a kick, as
he did in the case OF Corbett at
the Gilsey house In New York. Sharkey
and Corbett are two differently constituted
individuals. The sailor lad, for example, Is
mo gentleman" according to the Pompa-
dour.
In view Of the possible contingencies that
may be rammed in the three weeks before
the proposed fight takes place 1t would be
a bit premature to say anything about the
result Of the proposed go. 1t would be a
peculiar mitt battle-more so even than q
level fight between Corbett and Sharkey
would have been. Mccoy is a past master
In the art OF sidestepping and could have
given Corbett lessons in this element of the
pugiltstic game at any time in the ~latter's
career. He Is par excellence an infghter,
the chief OF the clan Of this sort OF scrap
pers. In the past he has succeeded in get
ting away safely after landing Q right and
lar yVhnthar th,a foohton - a-lAt-- ~
overcome Sharkey's bull rushes, his punch
and his quite respectable science displayed
in the Corbett iasco is the question to be
decided. sharkey will have the advantage
in weight and general build, while Mccoy
will have a couple Of inches bensnt In alti.
tude and no less than six inches In reach.
The second most important bit Of news in
the world OF the scrappers is the reported
possibility Of a fight between Red Robert
Fitzsimmons and Tommy Ryan for the mid
dleweight championship of the world. Ever
since Tommy has graduated from the welters
he has had a hankering to separate the
champion from his m~iddleweight laurels and
has made various and divers advances to
Red Robert. The Syracuse boxer recently
made Fitz an offer to go him twenty rounds
with the middleweight championship cre-
dentials up as the main section of the purse.
Bob, however, is Of a money making char
acter and made response to the effect that
he would engage in a finish fight with the
ex-welter champion for a side bet Of $40, 900.
Ryan dubbed this announcement OF the
Cornishman as an effort to creep out OF a
tight place through a very small hole, in
sisting that $40, 900 Is beyond his means and
Fitzsimmons knows it. Fitz now comes back
with a nrnnneifinn that ha utl he uutIli-- &.
wage glove war with Ryan for 1880 a side,
but insists that the setto shall be to a
finish. Ryan has not as yet made answer to
this latest pronunciamento from the cham
pion. Glovemen and their admirers would
like to see the matter Of the middle weight
championship settled, for IT Is charged that
Fitz can never get under the limit Of this
class, while Robert declares to the con-
trary. With Fitz over the limit Ryan would
be against an almost insurmountable propo-
sition, for while unquestionably he is one OF
the toughest bundles Of bother for his pounds
in the ring, he could hardly expect to send a
heavy man Of Fitz's caliber to the floor.
Now that Red Robert has consented to
emerge from his pugilistic retirement In
order TO take on Tommy Ryan. members OF
the Society Of Billing 400 would like to see
him enter the ring with the winner OF the
Sharkey- Mccoy setto. Stuffed glove critics
are inclined to believe that the man-of-
war's-man and the Kid are the best heavy
weights In the roped arena now, barring
Fitz. AS Sharkey appears to have laid away
his rough-and-tumble tactics and Is fighting
according to rules. the belief Is widespread
that he should be given another chance to
cross arms with the Cornishman should he
put a Quietus on McCoy's career. Fitz
has all along declared that he was handed
the hot end Of a robbing game In his 60
with Sharkey on the coast. but there Is