Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-28

ness that he was very unpopular with
the good fellows Of the ring.
Maher was licked so often that no
one ever had time to inquire into the
measure of his popularity or unpopular
| ity, as the case might be.
Say Walcott Fakes
Joe Walcott was never a popular fell
low. He was accused of a couple of
jobs and this hurt his standing very
much with the fight followers through
out the country.
Corbett and McGovern were always
idolized by the fight public. Both boys
were of the mixing style, and this al
ways appeals to fight fans.
Jack Dempsey, in his day, was a very
king of the people. No fighter was ever
more loved than THE Nonparell." Jack
was well liked from coast to coast.
McAuliffe was never wonderfully
popular.
Griffo was popular to great degree,
as was Kid Lavigne.
George Dixon and Peter Jackson were
the most popular of the negro fighters
while they were at themselves.
Eddie Hanlon was almost as popular
as Jack Dempsey. The Kid" al
ways had a great following.
Joe Cans was unpopular, chiefly
through his manager, AL Hereford. Had
Cans been handled by right-minded
manager he would have been one of the
popular idols of the ring.
Herrera Justly Hated
One of the most cordially hated fight
ers of the ring Is perhaps Aurelio Her.
rera. The pHblic will not believe that
Herrera has not a wide swath of yellow
in his makeup, and he is generally
alluded to as the Greaser among fight
fans.
Battling Nelson is far from being
popular. His manager, Nolan, has al
ways put his foot and mouth in it wher-
ever he has appeared, and this has mill
tated against Nelson. Personally Mel
son is popular enough with those who
know him well, but Nolan has injured
the Battler in the eyes of the public.
The greatest fighter of. them all,
James j. Jeffries, and the man consid-
cred by nearly every fight fan as the
greatest battler the world has ever
produced, is not popular idol. He can
not challenge comparison so far as
popularity is concerned with John l..
Sullivan, who was one of the idols of
the American public, and whenever
John appeared in any of the larger
cities he was usually feted and feasted
and made over as though he were a
statesman or foreign potentate, and it
Is very doubtful If any statesman en-
Joyed a greater measure of popularity
than did Sullivan when he was cham
pion of them all, save J. Barleycorn.
Jeffries is not a very picturesque
character. The big fellow is far from
being a good advertising agent, and the
great bulk of iJeffries counts against
his popularity, as fight fans think JEFF
fries should be able to beat anybody
through sheer strength.
AtteII Not Popular
Attell, as pretty a boxer as the
ringed circle has ever beheld, is not
popular The fight fans do not like
Abe's style, and Abe's portion after
nearly every fight he has engaged in
has always been plenty of Kisses with
few cheers.
Tommy Ryan was never a favorite.
The fight followers always slightly dis
trusted the tonsoliteS scrapper.
Surely Mccoy was an able fighter but
his popularity was never commensur-
ate with his fighting ability. Mccoy,
like Tommy Ryan, was always under a
tinge of suspicion by the fight fans.
Jimmy Britt has often remarked that
part of his drawing powers was due to
the fact that he was unpopular in
many quarters. "As many people come
to see me licked as do to see me win,'
is a remark that has been frequently
credited to Britt.
OF the English fighters Charley
Mitchell has always been popular. Jem
Smith was popular enough in his day,
but Paddy Slavin and Peter Jackson
were always the apples of the English
eye pugilistic. Billy Flimmer was
never overly popular with the English
followers of the game, although Ben
Jordan was always held in high es-
TEEN.
BoWker and Moran Liked
Jim Bowker is as popular a fellow
now as is owen Moran Andy Tokell,
who fought Forbes at Detroit for the
bantamweight championship of the
world, was never popular, as he was
held to be a quitter.
Strangely enough the greatest fighter
California ever produced and the one
man who gave California more prestige
in the ringed circle and more advertis-
ing in sporting way than any pugilist
ever born on the Pacific slope, was
never popular in his home state, al
though he was idolized in the east. Yet
such was and is still the case.
Jim Corbett continues to be popular
in the east, although California, the
state OF his birth and the state he did
so much for, in a sporting way, has
never granted to Corbett fair share