Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-03
HERRERA MAKES
HIS STATEMENT
ADMITS HE MAY HAVE BEEN
MISLED
Says He Will Meet Nelson Any Time
the Dane Wishes and viii Put
Up Five Thousand DOL
lars Guarantee

The following statement of Aurelio
Herrera was made last night by the
Mexican boxer, who has been placed
in bad light owing to the recent
fasco. The statement is the first
made by the Mexican since the fistic
fizzle, and although nothing is forth
coming of startling nature the ar
ticle is Herrera's version of the stu
alton, so far as he will commit himself.
$50 much has been written about
the Nelson-Herrera fiasco and in
nearly every case 1 have been given
the worst of 1t that, to fair minded
people, it would be interesting to look
at my side of the question.
Let us suppose, for the sake of ar
gument, that / was overweight at 6
o'clock. Then let us leave my suppo-
sititious manager out of the question
entirely. 1 was there to weigh in at
o'clock and l was in the ring at
$50, the time scheduled in the agree
ment.
THE public cannot appreciate the
nervous strain on a fighter who Is kept
waiting to enter the ring. l waited,
owing to Nelson's non-appearance, for
over two hours, hanging around d
drafty dressing room in my fighting
clothes, my nerves at a high tension,
while L waited for news of my op-
ponent.
BIames Nelson
Had Nelson appeared soon after s: 30
there would have been no difficulty
! would have stepped onto the scales
willingly, and assure you, would have
weighed no more than Nelson did at
that time.
"There is no getting around the fact
that Nelson spent the time between
G.. nd IN, rs-I, INoI T
may have been sweating down weight
and he may not have been. That is
not for me to say, but it looks trifle
'fishy" when man comes to the ring.
after three or four hours in a turkish
bath, and demands a weight test.
1T is my actual belief that Nolan
kept Nelson in the baths so that he
should not gain sufficient weight to
carry him over the 1873 pound limit. If
l had stepped on the scales at the time
that Nolan wanted me to, l would
naturally have been over 1873 pounds,
as, after starving for a 6 o'clock
weigh-in, man gains weight very
rapidly Nelson's bath probably kept
him within the limit and Nolan would
have been in the position to claim that
should l beat Nelson, 1 could not claim
the light weight championship since
weighed over 1873 pounds.
In this connection / would refer to
the Britt-Nelson fight in Colma.
Nolan's actions then were similar to
those on May 25. For over two hours
he kept Nelson waiting around on the
plea that James j. Jeffries. the referee,
would not treat his boy fairly. He car
ried this so far that many in the audi
ence clamored for their money back
and many disgusted spectators left the
building.
Even after Nelson did arrive, ]
would have weighed had Nelson guar
anteed to fight me after doing so. But
this he would not do.
"To me the most opprobrious epi-
thets have been applied. Indian.
'low brow" "greaser," good for moth
ing" etc, etc. These are but the re-
sVlt of newspaper mems desire to stanC
in with a public opinion, which they
try to form to their own advantage.
II may be an Indian. If so, com.
mand a certain respect as scion o.
an ancient race. 1 am no ''low brow"
maintain that my knowledge of thu
world and a command of language ii
certainly up to the standard observed
by the average knocker who is fiat
tening my name on his anvil And
have not and never have had any in
clinatlOn toward dirty work