Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-01-28

weeks notice, and each has also
big wad with which to back himself.
This list, while necessarily incom-
plete, is sufficient to show what pleth-
ora of good material there is lying
around among the lightweights and is
ample evidence that the man who shall
prove absolutely his superiority to all
Of his mates will be as much of won
der among the lightweights as is young
McGovern among the featherweights.
Notwithstanding the fact that Erne
and O'Brien recently met and fought to
a draw, the dope fiends" are plying
their trade just as industriously as
ever. Those persons who pin their faith
to comparisons of pugilists judged by
their work against other men are not
unanimous, howevere, in their opinions
as to which man will win in the forth
coming battle. Those who contend that
Erne will best O'Brien point to the fact
that the former required but seven
rounds in which to knock out Dial Haw-
kins in San Francisco last March,
whereas O'Brien could only win the de-
cision from the same man after going
the limit of rs rounds of hard fighting.
O'Brien'S supporters, on the other
hand, point with equal pride to his
fights with Jim Pop and Jack Dow
ney last August, in both of which he
scored knockouts, in and 10 rounds
respectively. The best that Erne could
do against these two men was two 90
round draws. 1t must be said in Ernes
favor, however, that it is over two
years since he met them, and the nat
ural and true inference is that he has
improved vastly in that time.
The fact that Erne engaged in but
three fights during 1899, aside from his
draw with O'Brien, does not admit of
much figuring on the basis of analogy.
O'Brien, ON the other hand, took part in
IA battles during the past year, of
which he won ten and drew four. AS
matter of fact, this business of COM
pairing fighters by means of their rec
ords against other boxers is seldom, if
ever, a trEe or even a fairly accurate
test of their ability, for it can easily be
proved by analogy that Terry McGov-
ern, the featherweight champion, can
defeat Jim Corbett, the ex-champion
heavyweight. This on the fact of Its
is, of course, perfectly absurd.
Speaking of McGovern, that sturdy
young Brooklynite is certainly making
hay while the sun shines. A good many
people think that this double champion
it attempting too much by taking on all
corners at the rate of two or three a
month, and point to other fighters who
have ruined their chances by Just such
actions
With Terry, however, the case is diff
ferent from that of almost every boxer
who has preceded him. He never drinks
or smokes and has no other bad habits.
Consequently he is always in good
shape and does not require a lot of
hard work previous to every fight to
put him In condition. As a matter Of
fact, he always does enough work in
the gymnasium every day to keep in
good trim. Besides, almost all of his
recent battles have been so easy for
him and of such short duration that
they have not been as much of strain
on his cons titution as would be an
ordinary bout with his training partner
when preparing for a fight.
Indoor sports are now attracting the at
tention of nearly all athletes, and basket
ball, water polo, running and jumping
under cover and such games are getting
their full measure of attention. One of the
principal events to vary the monotony of
training during the winter months is the
annual carnival of sports given by the
Knickerbocker A. c. at Madison Squire
Garden. One of the chief features of the
affair this year will be the attempt by
Ray C. Ewry, of Purdue university, to
break the record for three standing jumps.
Ewry is undoubtedly the finest standing
jumper in the world. The old record
weights is "a feet 6 inches, made by b.
Dougherty, of Boston, in 1894. Ewry will
easily shatter this performance, as he has
continually done over Sc feet in private
Another interesting event will be the mile