Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-03
THE PUGILlSTS.
BUSY ARE THE BOXERS.
Joe Cans Gives Ward a Hard Beating = Other Battles Fought This Week.

Detroit, Mich. Feb 3.--Joe. Cans. the lightweight champion, showed last night his superiority over Mike Ward of Sarnia, Ont, the lightweight champion of Canada, in so decided
 manner and the police stopped the bout at the end of two and one-half min- utes of the tenth round.
 Ward was just able to stagger about the ring and another of the punches that Cans had been raining on his jaw would have put him out.
 Ward was so barly beaten that it took his seconds over an hour to thoroughly revive him after he was taken to his corner.
 Ward started the fight with rush and landed effectively on Cans stom- ach throughout the first round ill which the Canadian had slightly the
 better of it. Tn the second Cans be- gan to land on Wards jaw and from then until the fight was stopped the champion kept Wards head bobbing
 back with his punches.
 Ward showed we'll in the last min ute of the third round and neither man had a decided advantage during this period. Cans. however, had de cided lead from the third round to the end of the fight. Ward tired perceptibly in the fifth and sixth rounds, but re- cuperated somewhat and fought
 strongly in the next two. Cans, how ever, continued to show his superior ity over the young Canadian. Tn the ninth round Cans knocked Ward down with terrible right swing on the jaw and almost put him out. Ward took the count and the bell saved him. He came up for the tenth round very groggy and Cans punched him in the jaw almost at will. Cans would almost certainly have knocked him completely out in the next thirty sec and had the fight not been stopped by the police. Cans was the favorite 1 at 10 to 6.
 ] Lightweight Jimmy Britt is. the
 heaviest pugilist that Young Corbett has ever tackled. When they get into the ring at San Francisco next month, Britt will weight l33 pounds or close to it and will be at his best. Yet Cor
 bett and his immediate followers say
 that Britt will be more easily disposed of than Eddie Hanlon. Corbett saw
 Britt fight Willie Fitzgerald some time ago on the coast and he made up
 his mind then that he could beat the
 Californian lightweight. When Cans
 put 1t all over Fitzgerald at Detroit recently, Corbett was doubly conyinc-
 ed that Britt would be easy meat
 Since reaching California Corbett has
 had time to become acclimated and his 1 trainer says that he could readily
 make 125 pounds now, if the occasion
 required it. But the stipulated weight 1 in the Britt fight is 13O pounds, which l will be cinch for Corbett, who has l been taking light exercise since he de- l feated Hanlon and will have little to
 take off. The result of this fight
 means much to Corbett. If he wins it l is more than probable that he will go
 after Cans for the lightweight cham
 pionship Corbett is practically a 1 lightweight now and be is phenome-
 nal pugilist. Cans is undoubtedly the
 champion of his class, but Corbett is younger and has improved so much in l the last year that he begins to feel ] able to lower the colors of the Balti-
 mcrean. Therefore, do not be sur
 prised if Corbett hurls challenge in 1 the direction of Cans as soon as he
 gets through with Britt, providing, of
 course. the latter's measure is taken l iit due time.