The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-24
PEDLAR PALMER'S DEFEAT BY
HARRY HARRIS OCCASIONED
LITTLE SURPRISE
AN AMBITIOUS MIDDLEWEIGHT
Jack O'Brien Earning Bread Money
Over in England - Ritchie's
Easy Defeat of Young
MOWatt.

event IN last week = uSllC ulSlOIy.
The American lads victory was no
great surprise to sportsmen on this side
of the Atlantic. Harris is a boxer OF
much the same type as Kid Mccoy, and
possesses, for one of his weight, far
greater natural advantages than the
clever Hoos.er pugilist. He is past mas
ter in the art of using the LETT jab, fast
on his feet, and quick to duck his head
out of dangers way when occasion de-
mands 1t.
The hit and get away" style is win
ming factor with English referees. Up to
the night of his defeat by Harris most of
Palmers battles had been won by adroit
feinting clever in and out work and the
inevitable left-hand jab. The Pedlar never
figured in the pugihstic calendar as
''knocker out" His record contains only
two instances of where an opponent went
to sleep under the saponiflc influence of
the little BritiSherS gloves. They were
Ted Willis, two rounds, and Billy Plim-
mer seventeen rounds In his fight with
Harris, Palmer essayed to box in his old
time form, but found that he had met his
master. as far as science was concerned.
The Chica SOan'S superiority In height
and reach. to say nothing of his general
ship and clever two-handed work, stand
him in good stead and for Probably the
first time in his life Palmer found him
self opposed to a boxer by whom he was
thoroughly outclassed from a scientific
standpoint.
During the last few rounds of the battle
the little Englshman seemed to have
realized the fact that he was hopelessly
beaten, as far as gaining points was con-
cerned, and tried rushing tactics as a
sort of forlorn hope. Harris, however,
jabbed away steadily. and held his man
safe to the end of the contest.
The American boxer will In all likelihood
o1, for
cured several enga gements at English
music halls to appear in sparing exhibit
tions with Sammy Kelly, the New York
featherweight, who was recently beaten
by VIII Curley.
1t is also within the bounds of possibili-
ty that a match between Harry Ware
and Harris may be arranged in the near
future Ware has a decision over Palmer
in twenty rounds to his credit, and 1t was
with the intention of meeting the former
that Harris iourneyed to England. Ware
backed down after seeing his prospective
opponent the latter's height and reach
probably soaring the Britisher, and re-
fused to make the match. Palmer then
came to the front and offered himself as
a substitute for Ware, and the proposition
was accepted, with, as it proved disac-
trous results to the plucky Pedlar.
George Gardiner, the Lowell, Mass,
middleweight, who was unearthed by Tom
O'Rourlle couple of years ago, is bust
ly engaged in hurting challenges at the
top notchers in his class, Jack Root and
Tommy Ryan being the principal objects
of his attack. Gardiner has but recently.
returned fran a trip across the ocean.
While in England he bested the oft-de-
feated Coffee Cooler and whipped Jack
Scales, a British middleweight, who has
never done anything of consequence in
iS ha
judging from his record, to make much
of a furore in the world of puglism.
These victories appear to have puffed
Gardiner up with an undue sense of his
own Importance For about the best
item on the Lowell boxers record is a
defeat of George Byers, the colored mid
dleweight, on a foul. When Jack Moffat,
of Chicago and Gardiner met in the ring,
Moffat had his man whipped to stand
still and was just preparing to add the
finishing touch whe he had the misfortune
to break his arm and was obliged to quit.
AS matter of fact Gardiner has done
absolutely nothing to entitle him to a
fight with any of the leaders in HIS
division. He is a fairly strong, active
young mellow, a moderately clever boxer
and ambitious in the extreme. When
that is said all is said.
Jack O'Brien, the Philadelphia middle
the credit Of American boxers over Eng
lishpen when he knocked out Jack
Thompson at Newcastle-on-Tyne last
"Wednesday night. 1t only took two
rounds for the Quaker City lad to dis
pose of his opponent who was outclassed
from the first call of time to the finish.
O'BTien is an exceptionally clever per-
former With the gloves. He is somewhat
light for the middleweight class as he
can make 152 pounds ring side if neceS-
sary, but his agility and artful foot work
more than make up for his lack of flesh.
II OBrien is wise he will stay on the
other side of the herring pond for many
months to come. He recently challenged
any heavyweight or middle-weight in
Edward VII. dominions and there is no
reason to doubt that he could whip any
man in either class that Britain could
furnish forth. 1t is pretty certain that
an opponent will be provided him. The
English are nothing, if not conservative
and always willing to put money on one
OF their own race against a detested for
eigner. 1t may sound ridiculous but
there is even now talk among the British
sporting fraternity Of resurrecting poor
old Dick Burge and pitting him against
O'Brien. This would merely be a case
of the lamb led to the slaughter"
There are probably over twenty light
weights in America any of whom could
trim broken down Richard with neatness
and despatch Burge is dead and buried
from Il pugiiStic standpoint. Even when
at his lest, he fell a victim to Kid La
vigne, the latter having to give away
over seven pounds in weight to his Cp-
ponent. Yet despite this handicap La
vigne thraShed his man thoroughly To
put Burge, long since past his prime
against O'Brien at the present time of
writing would inevitably result Ill a
pugiliSttc farce and disgrace the game Of
fSticuffs.
Johnny Richie, the ST. Louis feather
weight, took the measure of Young
Mowatt, the lighting conductor" at
Memphis, Tenn, last Tuesday night in
twelve rounds. The result of the con-
test was a severe blow to Mowatt's
many admirers in Chicago Still the old
er t1stic fans who had watched the con-
ductor's progress up the pugilistic ladder
eXhlblted little surprise at his downfall
MoWatt'S best claim to recognition in
prize ring circles lay in the fact that he
fought Benny Yanger two hard battles
He was beaten in the first event and
fought the Slasher draw in the second
Whcreupon his stock went away beyond
par and he was touted as a coming
champion in the featherweight division
Mowatt failed TO make good against
Ritchie simply because he was an anna
teur at the game compared to the vet
erar st. Louis fighter. The conductor q
plan OF battle was always the same As
soon as the gong rang he rushed swing
Ing both hands for knockout Carving
fight to his man from the first tap of the
bell. For six rounds Mowatt's style of
fighting was impressive. The manner in
which he tumbled pell nell into mix
up won for him the plaudits of the spec-
fAtOrGE TO IL: