Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-24
BOXERS SOON
DROP FROM VIEW
TITLES ARE CONTINUALLY
CHANGING HANDS
JeffrIes Started as sparrlng Partner Of
Man Whom He Later Put Out
After Winning Highest
Honor

With the going down and out of Ed
die Hanlon, the defeat of Nelson at
the hands of Joe Cans, the crashing to
the floor of Fitzsimmons from the
blows of Jack O'Brien during the past
few months, the fact has been more
clearly emphasized than ever that the
career of a pugilist is but a meteorlc
existence.
The amateur boxer becomes the pre-
limihary fighter, the preliminary fighter
either stays with the preliminaries,
joins the Amalgamated order of Down
and cutters, or becomes q pug, whether
in the first, second or third class de-
pends greatly on his own powers and
those of his manager.
If the boy Is really a good one and
the manager a really noisy and busy
one, the combination soon places the
first-class pug in sight Of big money,
and in the heyday of success he frisks
the golden heap as a gun-mob would a
man covered with diamonds on a
crowded race track.
If the pug can control himself, avoid
the amber and tear up his transfers
to the Great White Way, he has a dim
and distant prospect of some day quiet
ly retiring to a less strenuous form of
existence, and that with his pile.
But It is the general rule that they
hang their shingles out just once. too
often, and then comes their extinguish-
ing by some better man.
With the many fighters coming up
and the frequent meetings, it is i'm
possible for any one man to remain long
undefeated, for when a man is once
defeated he sinks into oblivion, as the
sporting public has no use for a man
who cannot win.
For this reason it is hard to get
line on pugilists of ability until they
have reached a commanding position in
the eyes of the followers of the sport
Jeff Is Sparring. Partner
So far back as 1897, when Jim Jeffries
became the, sparring partner of Jim
Corbett, when the latter was training
for his mill with Bob Fitzsimmons at
Carson City. the boilermaker in his
bouts with the then champion, con-
vinced good judges that he had the
stuff in him to make wonderful
scrapper.
This was satisfactorily proved when
two years later Jeffries won the cham
pionship of the world by beating Bob
Il at COIley lSldnQ.
Later on Jeffries, whipped Corbett in
2S rounds before the same club. Cor
bett and Fitzsimmons had been before
the public for years before then, and
on divers ocasions had proved their
mettle by beating lot of good men.
Fitzsimmons first came into promi-
nence by trouncing Jack Dempsey, who
was believed to be invincible, and went
through the list of middle and heavy
weights, easily taking their measure.
The steady advancement of the vari-
Gus fighters who have contributed to-
wards fistic history is an Interesting
topic at all times.
Starting with Jim Corbett it may be
said that he came to the fore in the es-
timation of fight followers in 1891, when
he fought a 61-round draw with the
late Peter Jackson at San Francisco
and followed this wonderful achieve
ment by winning the heavyweight title
from John l.. Sullivan at New Orleans
on September 7, 1892.
He again showed his work by wal
Looping Charlie Mitchell, who was rec
ognized as the English champion in
1894. q
Kid Layigne, who succeeded Jack Nc
Auliffe as lightweight champion, came
into notice as a great bruiser in 1894
when he fought an eight-round draw
with the clever Young Griffo at Chi
cago. \
Lavigne became lightweight champion
IN 1895 and clinched his right to be
placed in class by himself when he
knocked out Dick Burge before the Ma
tlonal Sporting club, London, on June
/, 1896.
Frank Erne wreSted Lavigne's honors
from him in 1899 at Buffalo, defeating
the saginaw Kid in ,twenty-round
contest on points. But Erne was doing
yeoman work at his weight at least five
years before he stepped into Lavigne's
shoes as champion.
Joe Cans, who came after Erne as
lightweight champion, has been boxing
since 1894 His ability in a fistic way
was recognized in 1885, when he drew
with Young Griffo.
Erne succumbed to the negro in 1902
at Fort Erie, Ont, Cans winning in one
round.
Nelson the Youngest
Battling Nelson, the youngest, and
until his recent defeat by Cans long
regarded as one of the greatest little
men of hiss weight. only beat Jimmy
Britt for the title about a year ago
Britt, a great fighter lost the honors
after holding them a brief period
Terry McGovern succeeded George
Dixon ~ featherweight champion in
1900, but lost to Young Corbett at Hart
ford a little later. Joe Walcott, who
held the welterweight championship,
was before the public. .as early as 1893
and was making rapid strides In his
class year after.
Tommy Ryan has been fighting, ae-
cording to his own admission, nearly
eighteen years. Ryan was noted and
made a name for himself as far back
as the early nineties, and is one of the
few millers who has succeeded in re-
naming on top at the middleweight
limit.
Tom Sharkey came to the fore as a
biddef for the championship in 1896.
when he came within an ace of beating
jim Corbett in a four-round bout at
San Francisco.
Marvin Hart of Louisville. supposed
by many to be the heavyweight premier
in view of his claim of having the title
conferred on him by Jeffries, has been