The Washington times., 1906-05-20

the Dig promoters expect to pull on
twenty-round fights in New York long
before the snow flies. and re-establish
;he metropolis as the great fight center
OF the country. the position IL deserves
to hold
At present the pugilistic fans Of New
York are contenting themselves with
bouts of three to six rounds. and occa-
sionally one of ten rounds is put on as
sort of tentative feeler. There seems
TO be no reason why a twenty-round
bout should be stopped more than those
of lesser length. but the wise men back
Of the scheme do not want. to stir I'D
the notoriety seekers and self exploit,
ers by springing the real thing too sud-
denly.
Better Than Philadelphia.
The fight game as at present conduct
ed I'm New York is not half bad, all
things considered. and the fans get tho
worth of their money. Eight to twelve
bouts OF from three to six rounds are
pulled of at one meeting, and the boys
work hard. On the whole, I should say
from one experience, there is more fight
ing and more execution in the New
York bouts than in those in Philadel-
phia
The average Philadelphia preliminary.
and most Of the finals. are sorry affairs.
The men jolly each other along for five
rounds and a half by indulging in
clumsy boxing mixed up with Intellectual
passes and blows that do little damage.
In the Last half Of the sixth session
they bang each other industriously on
the kidneys. both are loudly applauded
when they leave the ring and another
introduced n prn ha
same performance Once in a great
while Nan who IS an unusually great
dub is stopped. or rather, he more likely
quits, and the fans nudge each other
and remark that the victor is a wonder
Baltimore Boxers Preferable.
This IS not saying that there are not
some fast and fairly good men in the
Philadelphia ring. but the majority of
them are poor excuses and do not put
enough action into their bouts. The
prelimlnaries at the small clubs IN Bal
imOre are, as a rule, far superior 70
those at the big clubs In Philadelphia,
and there are some youngsters I'm the
Monumental City fighting hard for small
purses who should be able TO clean up
some of the stars of the Quaker City
arenas.
In New York the boxers are not much,
point, than those in Philadelchia. but
the matchmakers or managers seem to
have inspired them with more life and
tney indulge In more swats and eX-
change soulful thumps in their brief
careers In the squared circle
Tot One Topnotcher.
Bat Masterson recently made the as
se-tion that among the 500 or so boys
who are regularly fighting around New
York there IL not one good man. and
not one man who shows signs of be-
coming a topnotcher. His view Is sup
ported by a number Of capable critics
in Gotham. and L should also say that
he is right
One scrapper who has been constantly
breaking into the New York papers as
a prospective world-beater and who is
touted almost daily as a slugQer and
sleep-producer Is Amby McGarry This
young man, if what he did with Blink
McCloshey before the Marlborough Ath-
letic Club in New York recently was
the best he could do. is wotully over
rated. He t. not n clever boxer, does
not deliver mis- blows Cleanly, leaves
himself open. and displayed no ear
marks Of having a deadly punch. Nc
ClOskey substituted for another scrap
per and was out of condition, hence he
did little out cover. but whenever he
Ino2Ent the spectators would De DeIter
pleased with a little aggressiveness on
his part he cut loose and hit the sup
posed marvellous McGarry almost at
Will. Kid Sullivan, with his hand in
condition. should have no trouble what
ever in beating McGarry down. as the
GOthamite has a very poor way Of pro-
tecting his body.
Have No Science
NIastorson also said in commenting on
- IL. 1T
of the scientific knowledge of every
fighter there was to lead with the left
and cross with the right. Again he hit
the nail upon the head. II was
astonishing to see the number
Of times these tactics were re-
peated and this fact accounts in
part for the little damage done. Each
contestant knows exactly what he is
going to do himself. and also exactly
what his opponent is planning. When
you are warned a couple of days in adj
vance where a man is going to try to
hand you orc il is not a great deal OF
trouble to prepare an adequate defense.
Whenever a New York boxer changes
his style and Goes work in the body or
essay a straight punch he appears sur
prised at his temerity and returns to
the old method for the rest of the
hound. The straight punch snapped out
from the shoulder is much of a lost art
in both Philadelphia and New York.
When they punch they stick the arm
out straight and throw the body for
ward using the fist rs a sort of a pole !
or lance. Such a blow can do little
damage unless a man is running straight |
at his rival and even then is not parti- |
CUlaTly dangerous.
SHOW No Improvement.
The swinging is as defective as the
punching. The accepted method is to
swing the arms wildly with a hail-like
motion. and any one with any preten-
tions Of cleverness can easily ward off
such a blow. Also. it leaves the man
delivering ii wide open for counter.
And the queer thing about it is, some
of these boys have been boxing in the
same old. ineffective, clumsy way for
several years.
II is being announced on all sides that
Britt and McGovern are to meet in New
York. but it would not do to bet that
they will. Pat Powers. who is one OF
the promoters Of the big scraps to be
held in Madison Sonare Garden. told me