Bisbee daily review., 1908-06-28
Bosan's gbat
 On PugilisnI
CBy Malachy Hogan )


 ought to have definite line on
 form" on the lightweight class.
 With Joe Cans scheduled to meet
 Battling Nelson once more. and with
 Packie Mcfarland earded to box
 Freddie Welsh, the result of the
 week should be to show us two
 claimants for the lightweight title
 instead of ore.
 The meeting will definitely settle
 which are the best men of their di- yison.
 As l said at the start of the year. one development of 1908 should be 1 the Settling of claims to merit in the various divisions of the ring. Last
 year was a season wherein few titles were definitely settled. This year lshould prove a time wherein every
 claimant to honors should be able to
 show clearly that he is entitled to
 wear the crown.
 Packie Mcfarland and Manager | Gilmore, after a Journey along the
 southern edge of the country, reached | Los Angeles all safe and sound and
 Packie seems to have made quite a | hit. Very sensibly, he started in
 with his work easily and his first ! two or three days out there consist ed largely of mild runs about the roads and of easy jostling with Pat ] Kenneally-work that could hardly
 be called sparring. He will have abunadant opportunity for surf bath | ing and it is said that he may take ! up swimming as an aid to his train | ing later.
 Swimming is one of the most val. u2ble exercise in the list of sport, as i it brings every muscle into play. It lis particularly good for men when | they get down close to weight. as it gives them abundant play for their muscles without reducing them by causing precipitation. If used when
 a man is too close to a bout. it may
 have tendency to weaken them, in some cSses-it showed this in the
 case of Charley Mitchell when he met | Corbett at Jacksonville. But for a portion of the work it would seem ex- tremely valuable.
 1 Mcfarland may show better form
 at the longer route than He did at the ten-round game, and look to see him win this time by 8 good margin I referred last Sunday to the es-
 
 1 that dean of referees, was held in the
 hearts of the followers of sport. No better indication of this was required than the scene at his funeral last | Tuesday. The church of Corpus | Christi contained as representative a i gathering of admirers of manly sport as could be collected in this section of the country, and that their tribute, fah gs1 -s- and heartfelt was evident to all. 1 Men from every walk of life at | tended the services which marked i the last earthly rites fer the greatest ! referee this country, and probably the | entire world, has known Back in the early days of pugilism there were | men of wealth and influence who ! backed the sport and who themselves served as referees. But although | their efforts were witnessed by kings and noblemen. not one has left a name which became such a house hold word as that of Siler.
 | George Siler probably officiated in more ring battles than any other man l in the history of the boxing game. ] And the fact that in not a single case 1 has the faintest suspicion of his hon. ! esty ever been aroused speaks more 1 highly than any testimony of his i merit as a referee. In all the history ! of sport I do not recall single in | stance where more sincere admira- l ton for a man was shown than in the congregation of last Tuesday who i paid their last respects to the dead ! Boxing is having a sudden and en- { thusiastic reception across the water i in both directions. No sooner did the French wake up to the possibilities of lthe sport as furnishing an exciting i means of entertainment than the 1 Australians woke up from their long l slumbers in a fistic way and com menced to get busy making matches. They don't seem to have ant men over there of the order of Bob Fitz- simmons. Jim Hall, George Dawson, i Joe Goddard. or even of Dan Cree 1 don. these days. For nearly fifteen i years the ring seems to have been | steadily going backward in Austra- 1 lia. But once they import a good man or two to give them some les sons in the game it may perk up a ! bit
 Just at present, an unknown quan- l tity named Lang, is to represent the country in case Tommy Burns ac- cepts the offer to box at Sidney and | Melbourne when the American fleet | is there. Moreover, Bill Squires. whom he knocked out for the sec ond time near Paris a week ago. is also to be sent against him if Tom my wants to make the trip. It may be that this revival of the game will stir up Australia to some activity and will result in some real ly good boxers being produced The latest development came last Tuesday when a Boston sporting man l is said to have received an offer | from an Australian syndicate asking him to bring back Bob Fitzsimmons 10 his native shore and also to es- coTt Marvin Hart, Jack (Twin) Sulli- van. Hugo Kelly and Stanley KetcheI across the water to take part in a series of tournaments.
 ] Several persons have asked me the ! reaSon for the sudden drop in merit f "n the part of English boxers and of i the total lack of good men produced i hv Australia fn the last fifteen years i The general explanation for the Brit
 ish situation is generally accepted as
 being the fact that the English boxers are too self-conceited to admit that
 anybody knows anything about the
 game they fondly consider all their
 own until some American comes
 along and lands on their jaw. Then
 they probably think it is an accident
 They continue to use the old. time honored straight left and right lead.
 which good fast two-handed boxer