Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-09-21
THE PUGlLISTS
JOE CANS TELLS
 HIS LIFE STORY
Has Had Hard Row to Hoe to Reach the Top of the
 Ladder.

rom EfanH Erne, In a battle Which lasted just one minute. This was not Cans first try at the champion ship, March 23, 1900, Cans fought his first battle with Erne. For eleven rounds Cans had his man outclassed, and during the 18th the negro chal- lengef sustained a severe butt over the eye which forced the eye out of its socket. The fight was stopped, | as Cans was unable to continue. Joe has never stated that this was any thing more than an accident: .
 II said then, and I say 1t now" says Cans. II do not think Erne had any intention of putting me- It was an accident: Lots of people have tried to make me say that Erne but ted because he was losing the fight. do not thing he did. It was nn nc cident but 1t cost me the fight, and 1t was two years before get another to meet Frank Erne.
 fra.'It isn't as hard as it used to be for a man to get chance to fight for the lightweight title. Not much like the time when little Joe Cans of Balti- more was trying to get Into the nov ing picture class! l had to lick every lightweight in the east before the champion would so much as look at me.
 "YOu understand that a negro is handicapped when 1t comes to press ing his claims. If he goes around telling how good he thinks he Is peo- pie will say, My but that fellows q fresh niggeri We'll have to hand him the frozen boot and teach him his | place.
 ''The only chance I had was to build up such following that the eastern sports would demand that 1 be given Il fight with Leylgne, who was then the lightweight champion. 1 never overlooked chance to fight. was going around the east showing lightweigllts off the map just like | tumbling drunken longshoremen off Il wharf. l averaged more than one long. hard fight every month for two years before 1 got chance at the championship which in the medn- time had changed hands and was in Erne's possession. The year before 1 met Erne l had fl fights with a total of 203 rounds. Show me the man who has beaten that record. "I was up against It. had to make the champion notice me, and In order to draw his attention 1 had to ever lastingly wallop bunch of fighters around New York in 1899. WhenI I went to the big town Kld' McPart- land was their topnotch nght weight. He ranked right up next to Lavlgue, then the premier of them all. They made me fight Mcfarland, thinking that I would be easy for him, as he had just gone 25 rounds with La vlgne. 1 beat McPartland handlly In 20 rounds. Then they gave me Jack Daly-an0ther tough one. I whipped him in ? rounds. Then along came George McFadden-sand oh what a tough fellow he was, In his prime I fought him and for the first time in my life I was knocked out. l got 1t in the 23d round and they thought that was the end of the Baltimore champion. But came back at Me Fadden. l fought him seven times in all and licked him sOundly the last six times we met. Six beatings ought to reverse q knockout eh? ,,
 They were coming pretty fast for me after the first McFadden fight Billy Ernst, Gene Bczenah, Spider Kelly, Martin Judge, twice for him, around New York in 1S99. When I fought Mcfarland agnln and after that I won from Spike Sullivan. TheE got what I had been looking for-Erne signed up with me for the light weight championship.
 Every man who saw that fight knows what I did 10 Erne for II rounds. My one mistake which corrected later, was in that l did not go on to Out-slug him. I had him beaten at that game. but did not know it then. gave him credit for too much punch and stood away, slashing him down until I could get him without taking a chance. In the 12th round Erne butted me over the left eye and eyeball came out Of the socket and lay on my cheek. They had to stop the fight and lost the decision. That bump delayed my championship for two years.
 After that licked Dal Hawkins twice. beat Young GriffiO in eight rounds. fought McFaddcn a couple of times, beat Kid Parker in Denver, when they though he was tho com ing champion. and hung it on his old friend Spider Kelly in eight rounds. Then came the had business with Mcsioveru. and after that had to fight in Baltimore for a whiIe. After IS months I gut another fight with Erup.
 The second fight did not last long I walked right into him with q left and right. and down he went He was Icing counted out at the end If the first minute of fighting. So. while won the Iightweigit ctampiOn- ship in a minute. r took nc years to get a chance at it-even after the sporting peUpla were satisfied that I was the lest man at the weight In fhe wOTld
 No. ST. it's c0Uparatively easy fer a man to get a crack at a cham p5azsafp thesp days But when Me Par7Iand. McFa1ten and a few more uT these bays were f1 god couiifiO1 ft was a serious thing yna hrf- bsI to knDck fem sEl off tie Izf5rr n O-- der to ept to the taq- euess I l5Ia-t sksr znybSiy-