The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-08
CLASS A MIsNoMER.
Boxers In These Days Make Cham
piOnships for Themselves.

!
with the advent OF the new year
| followers, and critics of the fighters are
talking of changes in rules and
weights that govern glove fights. That
! the rules under which contests are de-
cided need revision was strikingly
/ shown by the Corbett-Sharkey tiasco.
The rules that govern the bouts, how
i ever, are not nearly so much in dis
pute as the different weights fighters
claim for the championship notch. In
isthese days almost any fighter of prom
inence is champion of his own says
] the Chicago Record. He names some
weight which he can make and then
challenges the world.
In the old times, before large purses
and five-ounce gloves were In vogue,
the fighters had to elude' the minions
of the law and fight by the light of a
few smoky lanterns in the woods or i'll
hayloft. Then London prize ring
rules governed the sports, and there
were only four bona f1de classes. If
a fighter defeated all corners at shis
weight he was truly champion. Now
it seems TO be an accepted fact by
fighters that when recognized cham
pion begins growing and getting
heavy he carries the Grass weight with
him.
is no recognized weight one that a
fighter must fight at or lose his title.
George Dixon is good example of
this class. Little Chocolate COM
menced milling at 115 pounds early in
his career and carried everybody be-
fore him at this weight Little by lit
tie. he grew heavier and now he mills
more often at 122 pounds, although
he consents to make 11S pounds at
rare intervals.
Under the prize ring rules there
We're four clean-cut weights. Under
116 pounds. feather weights; under 1873
pounds. light weight; 154 pounds, mid
die weight; any man heavier than that
was classed with the big men. When
the Marquis of Queensberry rules and
five-ounce gloves began gaining favor
a set of weights was established by
Richard Fox. He hung up belts for
heavy weights. This plan worked well
for time. and Jack McsAuliffe held
the lightweight belt until he began
going down hill, and now the emblem
Is said to decorate the window Of a
Broadway pawnshop. Jim Corbett
won the heavyweight belt by defeat
ing John L. Sullivan, and lost it three
years ago, some one breaking into his
trunk and purloining 1t.
Bantam weights gained recognition
| when Jimmy Barry and Johnny Cor
man began talking fight, and the
weight proper was looked upon as 100
pounds and later los pounds. Barry
now scales about ITO pounds in the
best condition and, Of course, has car
ried his title with him. But this is not
where the bantams stop. Terry Nc
Govern fights at lis pounds and claims
bantam honors. The feathers have
climbed correspondingly, and between
118 and 122 pounds is now the proper
thing for the light boys anxious to meet
Dixon.
1.-THE light weights used to class
themselves between 12S and 1913 pounds.
Now the limit is 1875 pounds, raised by
Jack McAuliffe when he found that
making that weight was uncomfortable
work during the latter part Of his
championship career. Meanwhile Tom
my White claims to be q champion
126-poufld man-an entirely new class.
This class and title originated with
him. A welter weight was a boxer
scaling between 1875 and 142 pounds In
Of light weights scale at this notch,
while the welters represented by Tom
my Ryan. who has outgrown that class,
are still classed, If they weigh any
where under 14S pounds.
'"The most sensible raise In weights
was when Bob Fitzsimmons boosted
the midleweight notch four pounds
from 1874 to 15s pounds-when he de-
feated Dan Creedop for the middle
weight championship. This was an
other case Of the champion finding it
hard to make weight. Bob fought Jack
Dempsey at 1874 pounds, and at that
time experienced considerable difficulty
In reducing. Hence 1913 pounds with
Creedon, q man that weighed one or
f1rvo Id f6A fNy,c viii
154 pounds, was certainly too light to
make his mark among the heavy
weights, while a boxer who scales 100
pounds, or is just a little too heavy to
fight middle weights, can get along
among the big fellows"