The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-15
O'KEEfE NOW FACTOR
AMONG LIGHT WEIGHTS
His Battle With Jimmy Britt Prob
ably Will Secure Match
With Joe Cans.
CHICAGO MANS RAPID RISE.
One Year Ago He Was CLAD 20
Get Preliminary Here
Results of Changing
Hia Glass.

Two claims on the part OF JACK O'keefe's
| friends made on the occasion of his first
fight with Jimmy Britt. seem borne out by
the result of last Saturdays battle beween
/ the men. One point is the fact the. t.riss
J has tendency TO landing foul blows; the
| other. that O'keefe's chances on the first
occasion We're injured by Jimmys tactics.
In last Saturdays battle at Butte Britt
| is said to have repeatedly hit low. This
may have been unintentional on his part.
! Que to low-aImed blows being pushed down
by O'Keefe or slipping into the region of the
/ 81 DIN. But the fact remains that these
! punches affected Jacks work in the prog
| ress of the bout.
i When Referee Grant handed down his YER
diet after the mems first fight. in Portland.
| giving O'Keefe the decision on u foul. a.
! mighty howl went up from Britts support.
ers in San Francisco. Jimmy had been well
played. at odds OF TO TO- and rumors about
| the why and wherefore of the verdict were
numerous. Saturdays fight would seem to
| fully uphold the referees decision in the
first battle.
One. result of the affair is the proof az
forded that Britt Is lucky never to have
f, q Saturday. the negro would dispose Of the
san francisco man most enectuaHy III
the two ever come together, Cans ought
to make short work of the coast champion.
| Their respective showings with Willie Fitz-
gerald will give. some idea Of their abil-
lily. even admitting that form Is compare
lively of little value in the ring
Britt fought twenty .t:rueling rounds with
titzsera!d. and was in danger at two o.
three stages. Cans Er Ocksd Willie out IN
few rounds. The negro certainly ought
to best OKeefe If the pair ever get to-
.gether. and he ought also to nip Britt'S
championship aspirations in the bud.
o'Eeefe's move in getting into the lght-
weight class has been justified. His drawl
with Britt viii entitle him to probably more
consideration in the lightweight division
h.rn
and matches should he offered him with
frequency. He can certainly. If so disposed.
weight championship: and even though the
such battle. o'keefe would not be cut
of the running by any mears- His share
of the purse would amount To a big sum,
REGARDLESS of the outcome of the affair
Had O'Keefe insisted on remaining in the
so-called feather-weight class. his chances
for getting on matches would have been far
from good. He would have ha1 to buck up
against Yanger. Broad, Attell. Ryan and
few others before he could get in the first
division of his class and have a claim on
Young Corbett's attention. ny, simply
which he fights he has worked to the front
in the lght-weight division in short order
and is in line for q match with the cham-
pion of the class.
Form certainly is an elusive quantity in
o'Keefe fought in this city. about one year !
ago. he only fought preliminary and wal =
glad enough to take a match with ST.
Louis Tommy Sullivan for slO9. Sudden
sickness on the part of Philadelphia Tommy
Ryan. which necessitated the postponement
Of his battle with Martin Duffy. resulted in
O'Keefe and Sullivan going on for the main
event that evening; but the fact remains
that the affair was scheduled as a prelim-
irary in the first place
Now o'Keefe is well up in the light
weight class. Truly big jump to make in
shcrt order.
In the match set for Thursday. at the
West End Club. when Andy Walsh and
Mike Schreck will meet for the second
contestant in a different way. Walsh
should be helped by the reduction OF weight;
Schreck should be aided by the longer
route.
Walsh made the weight last Thursday
without difficulty. He can readily do III
just four pounds less than the weight set
for their last meeting. Schreck was barely
inside the ISL mark. and had some work to
reach that figure. Cutting down some moro
avoirGupOis will not help him.
Schreck was fighting the fastest at the
out from sheer exhaustion. Five more
rounds could only have resulted in an over
whelmng victory for Schreck on that oc-
casion-and most likely would have resulted
in Walsh getting put away in one round
more Mike. accordingly should be aided
by the route.
1t must be said. however. that Walsh was
not in the best of trim, and that he was
in no shape for hard battle Thursday lie
was making his first appearance in the ring
after an absence of two years-his form
showed 1t. He is said to have trained but
five days for the bout If this is So his
hard fight and another weeks training
should put him on edge.