The Saint Paul globe., 1900-02-18

all particular, and will take on any Of
the men who think they can take his
measure at the game of feint, land and
get away. 1t is certainly refreshing, in
these days of masked matches, to read
the. def issued by the spind1e-shanked
freak Of the Antipodes. 1t sounds like
business. There Is no long string attach
ed to the challenge. 1t is plain as the
freel1les on Bobs face. 1t means fight
And there are few challenges these days
that have the trademark Of battle blown
into the bottle.
SAILOR SHARKEY WILLING.
Tom Sharkey, another Of the real fight
ing men of the age, Is first to take shy
at Fits challenge. He announces that
he will meet Fitz any old time or place
for any amount 1t looks as though he
would get the job. Mccoy is out of the
lists, according toIhis own statement, and
is not seeking battle with any one save
Jeffries or Corbett. There are no others
who can lay just claim to the right to a
meeting with the Australian. Hence, as
Sharkey is willing and ready to go at the
word there seems no reason why there
should be any hitch in the negotiations.
There is also reason why Fitz and the
sailor should get into ring and let the
public Judge which is the better boxer.
They have had one argument, and the re-
suit of it was anything but satisfying
1t will also give the public a line on the
peculiar battles between Sharlkey and JEFF
fries and Fitz and Jeffries
PICK THE WINNER.
Which will be favorite in the match?
Aye there's the rub II will puzzle the
wsest of them to guess In the San Fran
cisco affair there was little doubt as to
which was the better man. Fitzsimmons
outfought Sharkey at every point in tn ;
game. Sharkey claimed he was fouled
and got the decision on that ground
Since that time the sailor has improved
greatly He is today far more formida-
bic than when he met FitZ in Frisco. He
is bigger. stronger, and knows more Of
the art of self-defense There are many
people who follow the boxing game who
are not satisfied that the best man won
when Fitz and Jeffries met. Fitzsimmons
offered no excuses, yet it was peculiar
that as clumsy q boxer as was Jeffr,e3
that night should be able to put it all
over the clever Australian. There was n !,
hint of ccllusion. 1t was straigh
match and Fitz was beaten at his own
game. And yet, were Fitzslmmons and
Jeffries to meet again, Jeffries would not
be such pronounced favorite as some
might imagine.
SHARKEY'S PERFORMANCE
And then there would be a chance to
see what there is In the story that Shar-
key did as well, If not better. than did
Jeffries on the night that Jeffries received
the decision, but left Sharkey on his feet
at the termination of the battle. There
Is scarcely a doubt that the majority of
those who did not witness the battle, as
we'll as many who were there, think that
Jeffries was not entitled to the verdict
They argue that the best he should have
received was draw. After Sharkey and
FitzsimTnons have settled the question of
superiority. then the next argument would
naturally be for the winner to try con-
clusieDs with Jeffries-provided there is
no iiuke IN the meeting with Corbett that
will rob Jeffries of his championship
title Sharkey has been willing to go
on again with Jeffries. while the big
boilernaker has eEinced strong inclina-
tions to keep away from the daughty SAIL
ornlan Fitzsimmons has less, call for a
return match with the champion than has
Shafaey, for Fitz was knocked out, and
1t is doubtful whether the sailor was even