The San Francisco call., 1908-12-21
BIG BOSTON BLACK
IS EXPECTED TO
MAKE GOOD
Fireman'S Friends Are Willing
TO BET That He VIII Stay
Fifteen Rounds
By William j. SIaffery

-
Sam Langford, Joe Walcott's natural
successor in the prize ring, will make |
his pugilistic bow in this city at the |
Coliseum tonight in 20 round mill
against Jim Flynn, the aggressive fire.
man from Pueblo. The battle, which is
TO be staged under the direction of Sam
Berger and his Washington athletic
club, has awakened unusual interest
among the followers of the game, and
unless all signs fail a full gallery and
. big main floor crowd will be there to
watch the gIadiators Everybody ex
poets that the milling will be lively
while ii lasts
In addition to the Flynn -Langford
affair Is round setto between Jimmy
Walsh the fast little feather weight,
also from Boston, and NJ onte Attell is
on the menu, and il the fans do not get
their moneys worth out of the big fell
lows the little lads should produce
enough action to make the trip worth
the price.
Last night the betting favored Lang
ford at odds Of 10 10 4, with even money
that ne would clean the fireman within
Is rounds
Walsh is a consistent 10 to s chance
over Attcll and it is likely that the
price VIII drop another point before the
bell IS sounded. There is plenty of
Walsh money in sight, Dut the AtteH
coin is a bit low.
LANGFORD Is THE CARD
Langford's great reputation as an all
around fighter a second Joe Walcott
and Joe Cans combined. has tended to
Ike him an overwhe Inning choice over
the Italian. The men who have seen
ebony Sam go in the east can not figure
him loser, and consequently they are
willing 10 take a chance with the entire
bank roll on him.
FLYNN still has few admirers who
firmly believe that even If he can not
beat Langford decisiVely he viii be
capable Of going at least 10 ROUNDS
with the negro and make fast finish.
These are the boys who are betting on
the Is round proposition. and many OF
their wiser friends declare that the bet
is a good one.
1t is not the class of the match SO
much as the novelty OF seeing Langtord
go that has aroused the enthusiasm OF
the local followers OF the manly art
They have heard so much of Sans
proWess that they are all pinlng FOR
chance TO watch his every act in the
/ ring. 1t is safe to say that ne Will pc
all the noise this evening before the
fight starts
If Langford fails to do what these
men hope he can accomplish there viii
be many a man file out of the Coliseum
firmly determined never again to part
with any Of his good money for prize
fight ticket. Sans reputation VIII
prove an expensive luxury for him un-
less he can use it TO the best of his ad-
vantage against Flynn
Flynn Has the Weight
The nreman's past performances here
stamp him as bird of the light heavy
weight division who is always willing
to keep tearing and doing the best ne
can and no matter how big a man he
is pitted against. In this regard Flynn
Will not be Handicapped this time as
he usually is, for he will outweigh
Langford about Il pounds, or possi-
bly, Is.
The fireman, while a gruelling miller.
is not hard puncher and nobody ever
raVed over his ability as knocker
out. Still he is liable to get lucky
with a stray punch, for he starts
enough Of them to do a lot of damage
provided the right one hits his opponent
on the right spot.
I.angford will enter the ring weigh
/ ing about 156 or 15S pounds, and Flynn
will top the scales between 172 and
l75. Thus it will be seen that the fire.
man has a good advantage Of weight
but whether or not he can make judi
cious use of this will be shown after
the battle has progressed few
rounds.
Tim McGrath is strong enough TO go
| about telling everybody that Flynn viii
prove a surprise. Nor does Tim forget
1 to mention the fact that he seconded
/ Mysterious Billy Smith against Joe
Walcott the night the former won the
| decision in 20 rounds at Coney lslSnd
ten years ago. Tim believes this is a
good omen and he says that he can
repeat.
WaIsh-AtteII Battle
Langford is a good natured colored
/ slugger who says little. He has not
tried to tell anybody that he will give
I FLYNN the beating of his life, or any
thing like that. When pressed for an
opinion last night, Sam simply re-
marked: .'Yo' JUS watch me go. Use
gwine to do my best here and If All
don't make good, why then that's al" "
Eddie Smith, the prominent Oakland
referee, will do the honors as the third
| person within the roped arena. Eddie
has had several talks with each fighter
and both of them have promised to live
up to the rules as laid down. Smith
will watch closely for foul blow, as
possibly try TO get away with one OF
these.
If Walsh beats Attell decisively in
the ring warmer he probably Will go
hot after the scalp of Johnny Coulon,
the bantam weight champion of the
world and provided that Attell makes
good he too may pursue the same
course The contest will be refereed
by Alvie King, the popular book maker
who has had much experience at the
game in the east and middle west.
In order to accommodate the shop
ners and those who will be compelled
to work late. Promoter Sam Berger has
decided to stage the first fight at 9:20
and the second just one hour later
will arrive in time to witness the main
/ ~ ~ thew Dir