The Saint Paul globe., 1899-07-16
CHAMPION ERNE.
Sam Austin Ranks Him as The
Greatest of Lightvveights.

Greatest of L1ghtveights.
kid" Layigne encountered MANY OBJ
stacles before he acquired the distinction
Of being the best lightweight fighter in
the world, says Sam Austin. He fought
galantly and courageously to defend his
title of champion. and the difficulties
which he had to contend with can only
be appreciated when we pause to remem-
ber the marvellous battles he fought with
joe WaIcott and "Dick" Burge. the
famous champion of England and fifty
others. But he has at last met the fate
Of many an illustrious predecessor. and
the laurel crown which he wore so proud
ly now adorns the brow Of another
Frank Erne, of Buffalo, fought him one
of the greatest championship battles in
the annals of pugilistic history and only
defeated him by reason Of h4D ability to
demonstrate the superiority of the meth
DDS of the new school over the old La
vigne was and is today great fighter
Erne is a greater one. He proved that he
Is Incompatible in his class. He Is a Ie-
gitimate lightweight, and in anaIyZing
the claims of every aspirant in that divi-
sion I fail to discover one who has a logi-
cal reason for preSuming that he can
beat him. His work in the ring is an OBJ
ject lesson in the beauties of scientific
pugilism and the acquired art of fighting.
I have seen all the great pugilists who
have bloOmed, blOssOmed and faded since
John L. Sullivan first doomed up on the
horizon of pUgilistic prominence. 1 have
studied them, made the study of them
and their methods in fact the object of
my work for almost two decades. When
Corbett first came amongst us and dem
onstrated that the old school sugging
type of fighter was no match for the
skillful boxer who utilized intelligence
and carefully planned and studied meth
DDS, hewas looked upon as something phe-
nomenal, but his followers have been
many. Others have utilized his methods
with success. Some have improved upon
them Among the latter is Frank Erne,
and 1 venture to say that no man in that
arena at CheektOwagai derived more
pleasure from watching Erne than Cor
bett, notwithstanding that his sympa-
thies were with Erne's opponent.
Nobody could watch Erne fight and
fail to be satisfied. He has acquired Il
thorough knowledge Of every point of
the game His methods are superior to
any boxer living. not excepting Corbett,
the pioneer Of the now prevailing school
Of pugilism. Erne Is admittedly clever
in more senses than on7, he can adapt
himself to any style Of lighting, and he
fights each opponent i'll a way entirely
different from the other. He is, graceful
in action, both when he is fighting ag-
gressively or upon-the defensive He has
a puzzling delivery and a fast and ef-
fective method Of getting over or under
his opponents guard No matter how
clever the. latter may be. ErRe has not
yet foughtzthe man wiaagn he cannot
reach with that marvellous .4aft hand
which he shoots to it's mark with he ac-
curacy and precision of a Mauser bullet.
He places the utmost dependence upon
his left hand, which he jabs and stabs
with murderous frequency, reserving his
powerful right to administer lthe coup de
grace when the opportunity ID afforded
him His work is picturesque and beau
tiful-peculiar terms to use in connec-
ton with prize lighting, perhaps. but who
could fail to appreciate the merits Of his
artistic endeavors- as he glided In with a
stinging left-hand jab, ducked to avoid
counter, and nimbly danced away out
of danger almost In the twlnkling of an
eye. Every instant that he Is in tEe
ring he proves to you that he IS mas
ter OF his art; that he has analYzed the
scientific possibilities of it, and only
utilizes that which is beneficial and Use
full.
[ was sorry, indeed, to see Lavigne
lose his title, but he lost it as [ always
believed he would, lighting gloriously in
defense of it. 1t was no disgrace to be
beaten 10y a man of Erne's acknowledged
ability.