The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-08-23


One result OF the championship battles,
thought ten days ago.. was the demonstration
OF the Vests superiority in the prize ring.
OF the four contestants for titles In the
lghtest and heaviest divisions of pusilisn.
all were westerners and all save one Cali
fornians
Jeffries. CorSe;t. Neil-aN haii from the
Golden State. Forbes is an Illinois product
ABOUT the only Eastern figure of prominence
connected with the fights ar all was SYRIA
cuse Tommy Ryan. Even the referee was
San Francisco man.
Looking over the list of leading pugilis,s
Voc Cans and George Gardiner are about
the only Fasteners who can claim pre.
eminence in their ciasses-and Gardiner is
being pushed pretty hard for first place by
his Chicago riyal. Jack Root
Frankie Neil. bantam chanxicn, Is q San
franciscan: Young Corbett, feather-welght
champion. is Denverite: Jim Jeffries is a
Californian. This Is pretty good showing
In itself
The strongest candidates for Neil's Mace
are Harry Forbes and Johnny Regain. The
latter. though formerly Of Brooklyn. is now
OF St Louis. Corbett's strongest oppon-
snts are Benny Yange- and Eddie Hanlon-
one OF Chicago. the other of San Francisco
ABOUT the only man mentioned as having
IN outside chance against Jeffries is Sam
Acsey, negro from Los Angeles
TINS certainly appears as II the West was
holding Its own well in the titled division.
When 1t Is considered that the lighter
emsses. the true feather-weight division,
show Abe Atteil and Tommy Sullivan. the
latter now a resident OF this city, as their
strongest members. the West comes out
strongly indeed.
Joe Waicott, who still may claim the
wslter-weixht title. halls from the Barba-
does Fitzsimmons, still to be considered as
strong factor in the heavyweight class,
Il m Australian. Tommy Ryan, it is said,
10 IN no shape to fight again. This leaves
Cans and Gardiner as about the sole repre-
sentatives OF the Ehst In the championship
bunch. Mc0overn may or may not get
back into shape approaching his old-time
form. 1t will be time to include him in the
leading division when he does round into
such trim.
1t is the West. right down the line. in
pugilfstic circles. The East is no. repre-
scented al it should be. And from present
appearances, the strongest factors as OPP
poneats to the champion. in almost every
class. are also Westerners.
Johnny Regain and Tommy Feltz are due
TO tie up at Kansas City tomorrow even
tEg in fight of distinct promise. These
peys have met thrice before, and the re-
suit. % far as records is concerned. is still
IN doubt. Each has q victory to his credit
ana one draw is split between the pair.
In the last fight between Regain and
Feltz the latter received the verdict This
decision Vas proper enough. considering the
manner in which the bout was fought. Re
gan always claimed that Jack McKenna.
who was seconding him at the time. held
him back. and told him not TO cut loose;
that he vas outpointing Feltz throughout
Certain It is that Johnny Fought listlessly
throughout the battle. He seemed to have a
ellght margin at stages, but this was soon
wiped out by the persistent boring in which
strawberries Feitz. The result was a de-
cisioa in favor Of the Savannah man.
In to-morrow's battle. condition will play
an important part. .Felt1 is larger and
stronger than he was on his last trip here.
Moreover, he has acquired the knack of
putting more snap behind his blows. He
Vas q hard enough hitter at first, but
you'd have made them 50 per cent more a eta
Regan ". sick this spring and summer.
aAment which reduced. his strength great
~. He fought Johnny Kelley while in this
90nt.uon, and only succeeded in getting a
draw. He met Clarence Forbes later and
etopped him IN seven rounds This seems 10
indicate that he is getting back to his old
n be & In the trim be was for a time a
pear ago. he will be the toughest man in
his class from now en-. He certainly Will
/. Do able 70 give Feltz the ,warmest argu-
ment 81 hie life In Tomorrow nights en-
The dub before which the battle is to
take pleee is conducted by Claude John
son, Z sporting writer of Kansas City.
Nal Doyle probably will run mp 10 the fight
Tomorrow evening" while Otto Richter may
decide TO accompany Feltz to the ringside.
Frank Hart and Brooklyn Tommy SullI-
van have decided to get together again
this winter and will transact their business
as Of yore. Hart Is to act in the capacity
Of Q tfnlne- and manager and will :.stend
to the business end OF the fighters affairs
ter a they dM last year.
Sullivan has had distinctly cold deal
LANDED out to him by the West End Club
After. being told that he vas
ID 3ese sent against Young Corhett. after
hav1qg been set to work to train for the
match, arrangements were abruptly broken
on ~ the management of tire Institution
and, Sullivan had his time and trouble for
AZ board for himself ana his training