The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-07-06

was Joe Cans beaten on the level
when he was knocked out by a body
blow from Battling Nelson IN the
seventeenth round at San Francisco on
July 4?
That is the one question stirring the
sporting world at present, and * IS
one which is not likely to he answered
for a long time TO come. Ii there was
anything crooked about the fight IL
was so carefully scovereJ that the mon
ey was all gathered in without trouble,
and no squeal would be probable until
ii came time to arrange the inevitable
return match.
A careful reading OF the fight Dy
rounds. and "A study of Nelson's method
Of fighting does not indicate on the sur
face that there was anything crooked
about the fight itself Nelson was
Just the kind of a man 20 beat Cans.
and he adopted exactly the right style
of procedure.
Cans Body and Hands Weak.
Cans weak points are his hands and
his body For the past FIVE years he
has not been sure of his hands, be
sides which the bones Of his right fore
arm have been in bad shape as a result
of the terrific punches ne has admin
istered TO some of his bOne-headed CD-
ponents. II is not likely that in the
Goldheld fight Of 1906 or in any fight
since he has cut loose and hit with all
HIS might The reason was that II
he were TO let go and fail to land fis VIC
tim ne would almost surely smash his
knuclIles or break his arm and be
without means OF continuing the fight
with the hone of winning
The fact that Cans could not stand
body punishment has been known for
years, but the information has been
of little use TO his rivals because he
was able 10 outlook them at every
point and drive them back when they
came to close quarters.
Nelson Had Right Con bination.
The combination to beat the negro,
then. was an ability to eat up harder
blows that Cans dared give in the
earlier stages of the scrap and step
inside despite the champions punches
for the sake Of lanIing a jolt TO the
stomach in the clinch, for those
smashes TO the wind were sure to ac-
compllsh results.
The account by rounds shows that
this is what took place. The Dane was
coming all the time. and Cans could
not keep him on far enough 10 pre-
vent savage thumps at close quarters
Cans used his elbows as tenders In
these mixes and saved himself much
punishment. but the Dane was getting
a fair percentage Of his attempts past
the guard, and every one was a help
TO the white man AS the fight pro-
crossed. Cans became weaker and
weaker. and the finish was perfectly
logical
Maybe Dane Learned Something.
OF course. the big query is: Why was
not Cans able to stall Nelson as sue
cessfully as he did ct Goldfeld on
September 3, 1906, when the Dane pur-
sued much the same policy. vet
could accomplish no particular results
in forty-two rounds? That is the nub
OF the proposition. and nobody can
say positively wnar produced the
change. Probably there is something
in the talk that Cans devoted too much
time 10 roadwork and too little boxing
in training. but it is hard to conceive
that such a willy and brainy fighter
should make fatal mistake In his
preparations after all his years of ex-
perience. The most obvious suggestion
is that Cans knew he had nothing to
learn in boxing and was afraid to
take chances on the mauIers In exhi-
bition bouts with his partners.
On the other hand. II must not he
forgotten that while Nelson is far from
being On intellectual giant. he IS not q
fool. He fought fOrty-twO rounds with
Cans at GOldheld less than two wears
ago and learned much. ore thing that
must have filtered through his mind
was that Cans could not or dared not
hit him hard enough 10 stop him. An
other was that he was wasting energy