The St. Louis Republic., 1902-12-26
GENERAL Ring TALK
AND BOXING GOSSIP
.ieiiries Sends for Delaney and An
nuunceS He Will Resume
Training.
CORBETT MAY GET A MATCH.
thampi"n'S Change of Attitude
Looks Hopeful for the For
nrr Champiou--Fri>co
Gossip.

GuSSlp.
Criticism of the. Monroe Ieffrir> bout has
already SIuns the champion into action.
Is WAS expected. and the announcement
was made yesterday that Jeifries would re-
sum" hard training without delay. me
dispatch from Butte also iutimated that he
would re-enter the priZr ring as soon Is
he gained his best form and that Jim cor
! bctt might be given his chance. after all.
JettI!eS has wired Tor Silly Delaney and
ne veteran trainer started yeSttrday I"r
! PARTY. Before leaving san tranclsc" he
IoiI Harry Corhett that he believed tina I
JehflGS would give Coroeti ms fsht ana
| that he thought the champion would tske
up active work in the rms again: he tS-
tpatch alded that Delaney believed the Mon
! roe afalr was accidental ana that JenrI"s
| could dispose OF him in short order III Il
second meeting
However that may b-. the news that the
champion has been awakened rather rudely
| fr' III his dream Of easy money is pleasant
| indeed. II a champion is To De allowed TO
| PAD his record with lot OF dub bouts OF
| value III the ring: or rather they Will be
tsenerally distrIsted by all sporting men. If
any more distrust in the game is aroused
| than already exists. it will certainly he Il
| bad thing for the sport
Monroe has already gained notoriety by
ms feat ana the press Of the entire country
IauueVliie contracts at two Eastern thea
| itFS. beSiies several engagements on WeS-
tern circuits. So far. he has not taken ad-
| vantage OF any of these. If he prefers To
| SICK To his business as miner until he
gets ready to, enter the ring as Il rrofes-
Slonai. he Will be setting an example the
| champion could well pattern by.
The sporting public is sick of theatrical
| champions. Appearances on the stage is
| legitimate enough: in fact, it is desirable
| as II gives every one chance TO the
holder of the worlds honors. But the
prostitution of sport merely to fill the
pockets OF managers with money is in itself
| sufhcient 10 kill any game; and this proSti-
tuition invariably follows any attempt TO
make the ring secondary 10 a theatrical en-
| gagelnent.
Fitzsimmon's popularity with the masses
when he was matched for his champion
ship bout with torbett not due. as is
| often said. to the fact that he was 1t the
| longer price IN the betting and that the
| was due to the fact that Corhett made him
self unpopular at the time by refusing to
| night and yet endeavoring to retain the
| championship a$ Z means of advertisement.
| As every one knows. he was fairly forced
| into nj" bout with Ftzsimmons. Once Fitz
| the same tactics: and tried to hold the
| championship without giving any one else
| a chance at it.
Some way or other. retributon has fol-
| lowed every champion who has tried TO
| forefiush in this manner. Once champion
l
| amaSs fortune he should remember that
| the support of the sporting men alone gave
| him his chance, and that he owes something
| TO his supporters. When he has failed TO
| remember this, as has been the case with
| most champions, disaster has followed al
| most Immediately.
| Corbett tried to hold the championship a.,
! means Of advertising his stage career.
| only TO be forced into a match with Fitz
| ana be defeated. FitZsmmonS tried the
same game and met defeat. Terry McGov-
ern fought as well as appearing the
stage. but a good many of his contests We're
| with men who had no class and who We're
| merely matched with him to boost his show.
| He also met disaster. Now Jeffries has
| tried to adopt the get-rich-quck method
and has been humilated deeply.
| tnpopulaIity has followed every such line
! of action. and Jeffries has evidently felt
haste with which he has changed his atti-
| tude on the fight question. as intimated i'll
the Dispatch bout with Corbett may fol-
! low, after all. Corbett is now at Toledo
where he appeared yesterday at the Saliva
ton Army dinner, in company with John l..
Sullivan and Mayor Jones.
\ dispatch from san Francisco reads:
Frank Neal has gained rather than lost
prestige as the result of his meeting with
harry Forbes. which had such an Unsatis-
! factory ending. Although Forbes was given
/ the decision over Neal there is still doubt
| in the minds OF the ma iority of those pres
ent whether he would have won had the
fight gone on. The end came near the close
of the seventh round. when Neal rushed the
the ropes and bent over with his hand
his groin Immediately there a roar
boy sank to the floor. Referee Smith
walked over TO where the prostrated boxer
lay and motoned to him 10 get up. When
Neal refused 10 move Smith pointed to
Forbes. saying: You win" There was an
other roar, and the referee called for doc
tors from the audience to examine Neal.
who had been carried to his corner.
After an eXaminat ion of the little fellow
the doctors said there was no trace of any
injury. but thought il better to withhold
their decision for an hour. SO Referee Smith
stated that he would give his final decision
at that time. He seemed to have forgot
ten his hurried decision at the time of the
alleged foul. II seems strange that but few
of those near the ring claim to have seen
the blow struck. while a larger number sit
the pit OF the stomach. Forbes said himself
after the fight that 1t was fair punch,
On his way home from the battle Harry
Corbett announced that he and some fellow
ma tches for total of slG,0tO. One of the
fights is for Neal and any li2-pounder an
other is for Hanlon and and l12-pounder.
and the third is for Jimmy Britt and any
l3D-Dound boxer in the world. Any person
wishing TO do business can bind the matches
Forbes and Neil. through their repre-
sentatives. signed articles of agreement to-
night for 4 return match The only stipu-
laton was that the fight must be before
some San Francisco club not later than
January. All terms OF the match are to
be the same as before. except that Jack
Welch or Eddie Graney is preferred as ref
cree
The Yosemite Club of San Francisco has
made offer for Andy Tokeil the Eng
liSh bantam-weight champion. 10 box Har-
~ Forbes. the American champion during I
the month of February. Jimmy Kelly. the
manager of Tokell. wired that he would
accept the clubs offer providing it would
furnish him with transportation both ways
for himself and Tokell.
Kelly will post forfeit of $500 tomorrow
and request that the club do the same as
soon possible When this is done Kelly
and Tokell will al once leave for the coast
10 prepare for the battle. They are now
i'll New York
Cairo IL. Vienna q.
EEPt' BIIC SPECIAL.
Cairo. M. Dec. IS The football game here to-
h.tl