The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-27

one sort or another. Simply because there
is no one else to mention, he may be
conceded first place.
II Martin Duffy, Philadelphia Tommy
Of that CLASS went against him. the result
could still be foreseen. So the negro must
be conceded the blotted and tattered es-
cutcheon OF the championship.
In the lightweight class, which now
seems to range from 1913 to l3S pounds,
we fnd several good men. Mike Ward is
the oI latest addition, and he is said to De
recent battle was his victory over Willie
Fitzgerald at Detroit.
Martin Candle is another good man. Sell
ger, Britt and one or two others. includ-
Ing Jack OKeefe, have fallen back a tri-
fe since last year. Sam Langford came
into sudden notoriety by getting the ver-
ciet over Cans. Inasmuch as the latter
has lately been laid up with pneumonia
since the day of the battle and as Lang
ford never showed any particular ability
before. It does not seem likely that the
bout is to be treated seriously.
Cans claims that he was over the light
eight limit when he fought Langford
and that no championship honors could.
therefore attach thereto. This is all very
ing for the lightweight title. and & has
been the habit of late for champions to
raise the weight limit Of their class when
ever they SO desire s Re SO IT looks as If s
Still; few take Langford seriously. and
Cans will probably beat him to pieces
when they tie up again. So Joe can be
lightweight class. always assuming that
he has a prospective victory coming over
Langford. The mere existence Of such a
situation as this shows the tangled state
Of ring affairs Just now.
Then comes the 'feather-weight" class
of to-day. that was the lightweight class
first honors. although Hanion asserts he
will only retain them until Tuesday even
ing.
Nothing eventful has occurred IN this
division since last spring beyond the de-
feat OF Benny Yanger by Hanlon. As we
have heard less Of Benny and his man
eyer since then. the result was q relief
TO be s tough little soy 80 he viii Il s nn
doubtedly give trouble to Corbett next
Tuesday.
Incidentally. If reports are borne out.
the Stipulated limit Of ias pounds. f H aon
can just about make that weight nova
days. So this suffering class limit will
probably be raised q few pounds more
OF the outcome of the fight
The bantam class is now headed by
Frankie Neil. who sent an unkind punch
into Harry Forbes's paunch and won a
title thereby. Neil has the cleanest claim
on his title Of the whole lot regardless of
the fact that Harry claimed he was down.
but nine seconds. Fighters claims DON'T
decide battles. but referees verdicts do
And the referee counted Harry out. So
there you are
Tommy F'eltZ's defeat Of last week, and
Ids defeat by Joe Cherry at Detroit, seems
to put him back out Of the first rank.
Johnny Regain Is the strongest claimant
as yet his defeats having been due rather
to misfortunes In the past than to lack
Of fighting ability.
What should have been the legitimate
feather-weight cIass-the 12z-pound divis-
ion-seems TO eb headed by Abe Attell. We
have Abes own word for It that he Is the
best. As there is nobody to mention a.
an opponent for him who would seem to
stand chance of beating him, Ahe's
claim Will probably 60 through.
It has been a dull and unexCitng year
IN pugilisnn, with the Jefries- Corbett bat
tie as Its only real addition to ring his
tory, and the accession of Frankie Nell
as the only case Of q championship chan
ging hands-as yet For Tuesday night
may possibly alter this last statement, and
have another title changed.
That Corbett's friends think this last
improbable, however, Is evidenced by the
fact that he 10 still fsyorite in the bet
ting.