The Washington herald., 1908-07-19
CANS TITLE CLOUDY
Was Not Champion Until He
Defeated Nelson.
RING CRITICS CITE REASONS
Boxer Did Not Fight at the
Ligbt-weight Limit when He
Gained Honor by Beating Frank
Erne, SO Britt Claimed Title, and
the Dane Won II from Him.

The result Of the Battling Nelson-Joe
Cans battle made Nelson the legitimate
lightweight champion. and there are
many who give him credit Of winning the
/ title back again. writes Tommy An
. drewsF After Jack McAulifIe retired.
Kid Lavigne became the recognized
/ champion in that class. although others
/ had laid claim to IT, Lavigne not only
I beat all tre light-weights. but ne went
( out Of his class and beat Joe Walcott
and other weiter-weights. Frank Erne
/ finally won from the husky Lavigne on
March 10 1893 and claimed the title On
March 2. 1900. Frank Erne defeated Joe
I Cans. but on May T. 1892, Cans knocked
out Erne in one round at Buffalo. Erne
claimed it was a chance blow. but that
mattered not. for he lost The same year
Jimmy Britt knocked out Erne, on No
vember Is. and Jimmy claimed the title
On the ground that Cans and Erne did
not fight at the lightweight limit-15s
pounds ringside. Cans then began fight
ing men around 13s and 10 pounds, and
refused 10 make 153 pounds ringside on
numerous occasions. This strengthened
Britt's claim to the title. and when Jim
my fought Battling Nelson at Colma.
Cal. On September 3 1895. II was adver-
tised as being for the lightweight cham
pionshiD OF the world Billy Nolan. who
managed Nelson al that time did not
claim the title; il was Britt who claimed
il before that and ne was upheld in his
claim by the California sporting writer's.
Previous to all this Cans had been
knocked out by Terry McGOvern in Chi
cagO. but Developments afterward showed
that Cans had laid down 10 McGovern.
Under the conditions. Cans forfeited all
claim TO the title, and ne was bovcotted
BY most clubs in the country until he
came out openly and announced that he
would reform and take a new manager.
which he did L was then that he sue
rceeded in getting on match with Mel
son at Goidheld. New. for the champion
ship Cans gained many friends at the
time by the methods Of Manager Billy
Nolan IL making Joe weigh in at 133
pounds with his fighting toys on and by
further making Cans take the short end
Of the purse whether he Won OF lost
Cans Won on a foul in the forty-second
round. and gained a clear title to the
championship. but IL cannot be said that
his. title was clear before that time
Therefore, il viii be seen that Nelson
had pretty good claim 10 the title be-
fore he met Cans the first time. and Il is
pretty much case OF coming back and
winning it second time. something
never before done in boxing circles
should Nelson agree 10 give Cans an
other battle, the chances are that he
viii be almost as big favorite over
the colored man as Cans was over the
Battler. when they met on the Fourth
OF July. Nelson demands the big parr
Of the purse, win. lose. OF draw. which
seems 10 be the general rule among
champions And It must be said that
IL is an unsportsmsnl:ke method Of do
ing business
should the Battler pass up Cans.
there are many light-weights waiting
for q chance 10 tackle the champion.
among them Packy Mcfarland. Freddie
Welsh. Rudy UnhoIz- Young Erne and
others. In finish fights Nelson would. no
doubt. defeat any Of them. but IN limit
ed-round bouts Mcfarland and Welsh
both would likely outpoint him The
BattIer has the chance now. and he wiII
no doubt make hay while the sun
shines, as he has a pretty nifty manager
in Willis Britt
Battling Nelson did not get any
where near the sum for beating Joe
Cans thar he received when ne defeated
Jimmy Britt at Frisco in 1905 When
Bait knocked out Britt he received
nearly SCI .9e9 for his trouble. the re
ceipts being over S4S. .00O. besides hsv-
For defeating Cans he got So sos. the
receipts being S245s- At Los Angeles
on the same day that Cans and Nelson
fought. Packy Mcfarland and Freddie
Welsh battled twenty-five rounds 70 a
draw The house s4nounted 10 slO.eO.
which gave che fighters $4,000 TO
divide but Mcfarland received a guar
antee Of $4,000 which added another
81 0O0 10 the amount Besides this.
Jef-ies had TO pay all expenses, ad-
vertising. &c, and when he got through
he had practically nothing left for his
trouble. Now, JEFF says % per cent
is enough for the stars Jimmy COf-
froth gave Cans and Nelson 20 Der
cent and paid all expenses He spent
over $4,000 in advertising. which with
other expenses, left him less than s. O08
for his work and worry The receipts
at Frisco were not so great when you
stop and think Of the S2I240 that Ker-
cheli and Papke drew for a ten-round
bout in Milwaukee"