Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-16
NOR WOULD
MEET O'BR|EA
Philadelphia Jack Would Not
Have to Look for a Fight
in England.
Il is Claimed That Cans Also
Could Be Easily AC-
C0mmOdated.

IoNCOr-, December 15.-The Daily Tele-
graph says: 1t has been said in New York
where the critics come from, that Jack
O'Brien, a fine American boxer, could
beat all the English heavyweights in
single night" and that so little support Is
now forthcoming for boxing in this country
that there is no English champion worth
the name at any weight at all. Fortunately
for boxing, all the big, strong men are not
monopolized by any country. We had
few who are not forgotten yet, and there
are some still left who will probably make
their mark even in the country which has
produced Philadelphia Jack O'Brien. j. L.
Sullivan, Fitzs.mmons, Corbett, Jeffries
and the rest. AS matter of fact If o Brlen
were to come over here tomorrow, with an
open challenge to all corners, which would
be Immediately accepted by Moir, if not by
others. his supporters might suddenly dis
cover that the American champion was a
middle-weght who would find it somewhat
difficult to give away quite so much In
sfeCI avoirdupoiS, whatever be his clever
ness. The phrase quoted above is not likely
to have been used by O'Brie1 himself or
any boxer that knew his business, whatever
he thought of English boxing just now.
But it is evident there are men who believe
O'Brien can beat Moir. at any rate, for an
offer has already arrived from Newcastle
backing the American to beat Mor for
$1,000 a side and the best purse offered,
either in London or the north, for twenty
rounds, with four-ounce gloves, and that
offer has been accepted by the gunner.
Summers Would Meet Cans.
When ii comes to cleverness alone nobody
wants more of it, since the days of Pedlar
Palmer, than was seen when Frankly Neil
came over here with a terrific flourish of
trumpets to trampie on Joe Bowker. 1t
was not Nell who did the trampling. Owen
Moran, too. If we stick to the lighter
classes, beat two of their best men when
he went over to the states and could never
get on another match. No doubt the
American. Cans, has talent of quite first
rate order, but if his compatriot, Attell,
wished to make a beginning, he could no
doubt fix up a match by return of post
with Johnny Summers, our present feather
weight champion of England.
II is quite true that a man. like Peter
Jackson does not happen. to be boxing
professionally just .bH ieifher side of
the Atlantic 1t would be exaggeration to
compare the best of either country with
him. -.--s s-'.-
Ana 1t is also true that America has had
more good heavyweights than we have
since his day There Is plenty of encour-
agement ready in the shape of a big purse
as soon as the big man comes along, but
he seems for the moment to be fiourishing
among the amateurs instead of In the
open ring. No one knows how good Hop
ley of Cambridge could be If he liked. At
the big AlderShot meeting, too. Lieut.. Cra-
has shown such beautiful FORM such
straight and quick hitting, and much
knowledge of the ring that If a meeting
were possible they could defeat any adver-
sary. But the hypothesis Is needless and
impracticable; and it is no use blinking the
fact that neither Moir nor Palmer Is up to
the highest standard, even If they seem
able to take on any challenge of Philadel-
phia Jack O'Brien may have in store for
them.
Learned Boxing From England.
The fact is. we have largely lost the
science and the ringcraft which have dis
tinguished boxing in the United States of
late, and that Is partly because the Ameri-
cans who take 1t up there are better edu-
Gated men than ours English boxers seem
only to have retained their characteristic
style long enough to hand it on to others
They then proceed to forget it. Americans.
once having learned it. are putting 1t into
practice now. There Is really only one style
in boxing. just as in rowing, and what the
Cambridge crew of 1900 stands for in Eng
lish Craftsmanship the style of Jem Mace was
TO the English ring. When Mace left off
boxing in England he went to Australia
and in sydney he taught Larry Foley, who
turned out not only a fine pupil but an ad-
mirable teacher for in his turn he gave
L H.,
Creedon and Young Critic. Peter Jackson
handed on the lighted torch to San Fran
CISCO and the whole of the United States
recognized his value. When FitZsmmons
followed in the same path. and the others,
too the thing was done. The perfection OF
English boxing had been successfully
trahsplanted. and it was yet further fos-
tered by such men as Billy Edwards and
Arthur Chambers, who took it straight from
this country across the Atlantic. The re-
suit was soon obvious. When the best
AMERICANS came over they beat us in every
weight, from Peter Jackson downward, and
they beat us in the English style, which we
had so needlessly forgotten-''velocity and
power of hitting. combined with quickness
and ease of movement of the feet"-as Mr..
A. f. Pettinson has excellently defined
Il. Lovers of George Borrow will remem-
Der Long Melford." How little of Nat
Langham's swift, straight left we see to-
day, when round-arm hooks at the point of
the jaw. only rendered possible by the
gloves. are apparently the sole armory OF
the modern boxer.
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