The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-10-10
CANS
Tells Why He, Did Not Knock Ont
E.r faEr Nemsic. .. .&'"

y y a.
week was the announced retirement
from the ring Of Lightweight Cham
p1oh poe Cans and the presentation
Of hiA title to Jimmy Burns George
Memsic). Cans passed Though Chi
eago en- route for Baltimore last
Thursday and affirmed the report
that he was through with the game.
He said he had b. cen fighting about
IL years, had met the best men in
the couhtry before he reached the
top and since winning the champion
ship has cleaned up all. aspirants for
h1s honors and also won the welter-
weight championship twice by de-
feating Mike. (Twin) Sullivan. Ask
ed why he presented his title to
Burnside said: "Titles do not rep
resent much, and it did not cost any.
thing to bestow it. l know that the
sporting public and the .pugilistic
writers will take no stock In gift
champion, SO Burns will be compelled
to fight for. it. 1 really had nothing
to present him. SO told him I intend
ed to. quit the game and that he
could defend the title. The light
weight market is pretty we'll depict
ed at present. Jimmy Britt and Bat
tling Nelson are, l think, out of the
running. That leaves Burns, Packey
Mcfarland, kid" Herman, Tommy
Murphy, Jack Blackburn and a few
others in the field. Burns is willing
to fight any OF them, and as he is a
pretty tough fellow he may give
them good run. There is, it ap-
pears, considerable dissatisfaction
because did not knock Burns out in
the recent fight. l probably could
have put him away had I taken any
chances OF laying myself open for a
hard punch or to break my hands.
knew could beat him decisively! on
points and give him a good lacing
doing 1t, so made the job as easy
as possible. There is no rule COM
pelling man to win with knock
out. SO why take a chance Of having
tough, hard-hitting fellow sneak
q good one over. Had I been care
less and had Burns. hung one on my
jaw that would have put nae down
and out would have been accused
OF taking, r. gage the spectators a
run for their moHey, licked my man
as clean as a, whistle and still did not
satisfy those who were not within
thousand miles OF the fight. The
public Is hard to please and I sin
cerely hope my hotel venture will be
a success and that will not be asked
to please them again. I have been
treated royalty since I severed my
connections with Al Herford, and
have earned more money in the last
two years that could call my own,
than | have during the Is years that
l was fighting under Herford." .
Cans, whose right name is Camp,
was born in. Baltimore on November
25, 1874, and began fighting in
1901, since which he has engaged in
over 100 battles. He won the light
weight championship at Ft Erie,
Canada;~on May 12, 1902, by defeat
ing Frank Erne in about two sec
onds-one punch, in fact His only
defeat since then was at the hands OF
Sam Langford, fifteen-round point
decision. His most important fight
in the last 13 months, and fights
which netted him the most money
and put him on Easy street, were
with Battling Nelson, at GoldfieId
Kid Herman, at Tonopah Jimmy
Britt, at San Francisco, and Jimmy
Burns, at Los Angeles
Joe, undoubtedly, is the cleverest
boxer and ring general since the
days OF Jack McAuliffe, and the gen
eral belief is that he could have TAX
en- Jacks measure had he heen in
his day. Cans went wrong many a
time. but when he reformed and
turned new leaf, 80 to speak, he
came into his own.