The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-30
THE RING
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1
Big Bill Naughton of the Frisco Ex-
aminer doesn't take mucn stock in Joe
! Kennedy. the new California heavy
weight, who recently whaled Gus Rub
lin. In sizing up all the candidates for
shy at the championship he picks
! Tom Sharkey as the only likely one to
set decision over the peerless JEFF
fries. He says:
In all the history of fistiana, both
ancient and modern, there is not case
which parallels that of Jeffries. Some
where in the fall Of '9S, in big New
| York, he failed to outpoint dusky Bob
Armstrong within given time, and
was voted tyro. Less than a year
| later-and without having had a ring
| engagement meanwhile-he met and de-
| feateh The only Bob Fitzsimmons. TAX
| ing sportdom by storm and being hailed
as the greatest thing in heavyweignts
| that ever happened. Ii this wasn't an
instance of entertaining champion
| unawares, what VAS it? Now, if JEFF
| fries talent as 6 fighter was grossly
| moderated when he, boxed Armstrong,
is 1t not possible that his showing wish
the Cornishman may have caused his
| fistio abilities to be slightly exaggerat
| lese majestic to hint at such a thing,
| but | throw out the suggestion merely
| to remind my readers that it is poor
rule that won't work both ways. Kid
Mccoy and Joe Kennedy are the only
new men with any pretensions to real
| Queensberry cleverness. Mccoy APP
pears to be a physical weakling, and
Kennedy up to the present has not DEM
| onstrated that he can deliver a sting
ing blow Consequently will have 10
pass them both,
THE Kennys, the Ruhlins and the
| Armstrong; are a mediocre lot, There
is not an ounce Of championship in a
| ton of'them. IN FL
Tom Sharkey declares that he Will
| take Jeffries measure within a half
dozen rounds, and the Jeffries enthus-
| lasts at this end are beginning to in
| quire what kind of brain fertilizer the
sailor uses They seem to think that
| Toms dreams are too gaudy to be the
| product of the ordinary brand of DOPE,
| and they hint that the ex-blue jacket
has private stock of new seasons
hasheesh hidden somewhere in the
recesses of his dunnage bag. But for
all that Sailor Tom will not lack sup
port when betting time comes. He has
made it clear that he is the most dur
able piece of humanity that ever step
! ped ashore. 1t was said of him once
that he had the legs of a ballet gill
and the arms of a longshorsman, but
this mixed compliment does not apply
so well at the present time. He can
throw his arms around to some pur-
pose in addition to being fast on his
feet He is game, aggressive fellow,
full to the eyes of fighting instinct, and,
although he has sampled the punches
of the hardest smiters in the business
up to date he has not encountered
smash enough to lull him into forget
funess for the minutest fraction OF
second 1t may be that when Jeffr ei
unlmbers that swinging beam left of
his Sharkey will prove so easy that
most people will wonder why tfey
didn't size the thing up correctly te-
fore the men entered the ring. On the
other hand, it may be that Sharkey
will project himself inside of Jeffr:es'
defenses and set pace that will cause
the faces of Jeffries' hackers to blanch.
After bordering on the two sets of pos
sibilities the writer has come to the
conclusion that Sharkey's chances Of
success are at any rate such as to lend
wide interest to the next champion
ship battle. 1t is a foregone conclus-
ion that Jeffries will be the favorite,
but that proves nothing. Odds against
a fighter simply show that expert opinr
ion is against him, and in pugilism, at
least, expert opinion is very, very fire.
quently the reverse of a guide TO
wealth"
Peter Jackson has been engaged to
train Tom Sharkey for his battle with
James j. Jeffries, for the heavyweight
championship of the world scheduled
to take place in October. The action
of the sailor pugilist in employing Jack
son to coach shows that Sharkey means
to leave no stone unturned in order to
be in the best possible condition when
he a
shows good judgment in securing the
services of jackson, who is one of the
cleverest men that ever put on a glove
There is not trick in the game with
which the former great negro fighter is
not familiar and he should cause quite
healthy improvement in the able sea-
mans style of sparring. In engaging
Jackson, Sharkey probably took his cue
from Jeffries, who employed Tommy
Ryan with profit while training for his
fight with Fitzsimmons.
It's astonishing how rapidly fighters
take on weight once they begin to grow.
John l.. Sullivan now hefts in the
neiborhood of 300 pounds. Half doz-
en- years ago Jack McAuliffe was the
lightweight champion and had but lit
tie difficulty in getting to 1873 pounds.
To-day he pulls down the beam to 1856,
with his clothes on. Though profess
sionally out of the business Jack takes
a lively interest in boxing. and he is
to be found at the ringside whenever
a notable pair clash" He doesn't
think the men of to-day any great i'm
provement over those of his day, but
most experts regard Kid Mccoy and
Jim Cerbett as the most scientific box
ers that ever figured in a ring.
Terry McGovern made a match of
considerable interest last week when
he signed articles of agreement 10 fight
Pedlar Palmer, the undisputed lie