The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-08
s. P-O- R-T- OIL O-G-
BY w. D. RISHEL.

The big fight of the year is sched-
Uled to take place tomorrow night at
Frisco, when Jimmy Britt and Joe
Cans fight for the lightweight cham
pionship. These two men met once
before, three years ago, and pulled off
one of the biggest fakes in pugiiistc
history, Cans lying down in the fifth
round, apparently a badly beaten man,
when Britt stopped over and hit him
on the floor. 1t was planned for a de-
liberate fowl Britt apparently had all
the better of the fight, in fact, IL looked
as if he completely outclassed Cans,
but the dingy held his championship
by winning on the foul.
Since that time Cans has reformed,
'fesSed up. and declared he would be
a good boy from now on. The fake on
their last meeting has caused many to
look for a fake again this time, but
the writer does not believe Cans would
again enter into a deal of this kind
with any man alive. Cans knows what
it is to be down, out and penniless.
This was the result of ten years of
fighting and taking. Since he reformed
he is respected and has more money
than he ever had in his life. He has
learned by a bitter lesson that honesty
in sports is the only way one can win
at any game in the long run. and will
probably stick to this policy as long as
he remains in the ring.
Britt An Improved Fighter.
In figuring the dope on the two men.
the last fight should, therefore, be left
out of all consideration. A year ago
a match between Britt and Cans would
have been the pugilistic joke of the
century, but Britt's decisive victory
over Battling Nelson month ago puts
a new light on the ability of~James
Edward Britt did to Nelson what
Cans could not do, and is the only man
in the world who had the Dane prac-
tically out. Of course, the beating
Cans gave Nelson at GOldfield had
something to do with Britt's victory,
but the accounts OF the fight show that
Britt must have improved greatly in
the past two years.
1t is this showing made by Britt
and the fact that Joe Cans also took
some terrible punishment from Nell
son, that makes the match look like a
good one. 1t is a question if Cans is
as good man as he was before, and it
is a cinch that Britt is better. For this
reason Britt will have a lot of follow
ers in this match, and any man who
thinks Cans has an easy mark can
find lots of takers for his money.
Decision on Bet.
Quite an argument has arisen over a
bet on the ball game played at Lagoon
a week ago between Dubei's team and
the Bountiful team. Two local fans
bet on the outcome OF the game and
named J. z. Day of this city as stake
holder A rough house started during
the game when Margetts threw a bat
at Pitcher Grant of BOuntiful, hitting
him and causing him to be retired from
the game. The game continued with
another pitcher in the box, and the
DUbei team won the game. The man
who bet on Bountiful claims the money
should be taken down. Day is up in
the air, and asked the writer for an
opinion on what to do.
Days duty is very plain in the mat
ter and should go with the umpire's
decision. 1t does not make any differ
ence if half the players of one team
fall dead or are killed, if the umpire
orders the team to continue playing,
this team must do so or forfeit the
game. II the team refuses then il
forfeits the game by a score of 3 to 0.
1t is not Days duty to decide whether
the umpire should have called the
game off. forfeited il to Bountiful, or
ordered the game continued. Day is
merely stakeholder. and should pay
over the bet on the umpire's decision.
no matter how wrong that decision
might be.
Former Cyclists Killed.
On Monday last two well known au-
tombile drivers, W. B. Felkner and c.
V. Dasey. were killed in an automobile
race at Denver, Colo. AS in the case
of many of the automobile drivers to-
day, these men both graduated from
the cycling ranks. and both are we'll
known in western cycling circles
During the nineties both were familiar
figures on the track, and later both
men became prominent in the bicycle
business in Colorado.