The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-09-13

It is needless to remark that Harry's
luck didn't seem to hold good in San Fran
cisco. frisco vas his unlucky city, St
AtteiI and Regain had narrow escapes
from getting first place in their divisions
here. The writer always believed that
Regain beat Harry Forbes by a good mar
gin when they battlcd' here. and should
have had the verdict. He did not get II,
however; Ihat decision meant many thou-
sand dollars to Forbes. and at the same
time shut Regain off from another match.
for Harry took good care not 10 fight him
again after that one contest.
Atteil was to have met the winner or
the Dave SulliVan-Young Corbett battle
for the fe~3thsr-Seight championship here.
With his spriIting tactics he had a chance
with either man, although both figured 10
outclass him immensely at hitting. and
either Was capable OF slowing him up with
a punch. then putting him out.
At that, Attell might have been able to
make 50 good a showing. and could GER
tainly have fought q runaway battle so
as to last the init, as to make him one Of
the most-taiked-of men in his class. 1t
would have meant a good deal of money
to him. He missed connections b. a mar
row margin. however. when the fight was
prevented by the authorities.
In n recent article Lou Houseman dis
cussed the question of popular and unpop-
Uiar champions. This very question OF
winning on decisions and by narrow mar
gins was the point on which he wrote. On
this account, he said. the public had no
puSillStiC ldOlS az II ndu a deCdHe ago.
Jefries Is at such a tremendous advan-
tage in the ring that his victories arouse
no enthusiasm. Nell has had some slurs
thrown on the manner in which he won
dark marks on his record that he could
never be highly popular, in spite of his
terrific fighting ability. And so it goes
down the line.
Those who recall the ovations rendered
to John l.. Sullivan will readily see the
difference between the champions of his
iaE- an1 Of thFc rnrf11 Tho ring nGrt aInlN
seems ripe for Il new crop of champions
all the way through. The public could
readily work up enthusiasm over men who
Won their victories fairly and decisively.
and who were admittedly The best men in
their classes. instead of having merely a
decision as to their method of winning.
As 4 result of this feeling to-day II IL
extremely likely that some period of ac-
tivity VIII come shortly. After most pc
RODS Of comparative s~tagnation there has
generally been an active time following It
in the ring.
Munro will at last nave a chance to see
what he can do in the prize ring. His
little bout of last spring proved the best
Investment the miner ever made. BY
lasting four rounds with the champion
he has been drawing a steady income
from vaudeville and the losers end of his
purse with Jeff should be a neat little
sum.
Few take Munro seriously. 1t is abso-
lutely impossible to get a line on his
abilities. but for an unseasOned fighter
to enter the ring with the mammoth
Jeffries seems like counting death. The
bout of October is il generally regarded
as a joke. and some believe that the
wrangle over the place wher the fight is
to he fought IS really a prelude to de-
claring the affair of.
Assuming that the men get together.
however. Munro will be possessed of one
advantage that Jeffries had never yet
met in an opponent. and that is weight.
Munro is a miner and a husky specimen
at that. He states that he can weigh
close to 25 pounds when he enters the
ring. This will give Jeffries only an adj
vantage Of fifteen pounds, or so, big
enough in all conscience. but the small
est advantage he has had in any previous
battle.
Weight counts for as much among the
big fellows as among the little ones. or
nearly as much. An odd two or three
pounds. which would throw the ad-
vantage TO one side or the other in a
bantam match would not matter among
the big fellows, of course. But five or
six pounds is felt and felt strongly even
by heavy weights.