Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-30

that he is regarded as the only fighter
| in the middle division now who ha.
| any chance to whip the champion
Papke gave Ketchel the hardest fghl
Of the Grand Rapids boys career, ac-
cording to Ketchel, and the champion
unhesitatingly has said that, barring
himself, of course, Papke is the best
middleweight in the business today.
ketcheI Pays Tribute
In signed statement to the press
recently Ketchel paid high tribute tC
the prowess of Papke. Here is his
own statement:
BILLY Papke is. firmly believe. the
greatest middleweight fighter in the
world at the present time, barring my
self, 1 might modestly add. / predict
that he will be the middleweighi
champion in less than a year, for
will soon forsake the class.
HE is certainly the toughest man
ever met in my life. and I have
stacked up against the best of them in
the last year He is the only man
use myself. He keeps boring in all the
time, and is ever ready with one of
those jolly wallops of his that will put
a man away in jig time if his opponent
is not constantly on his guard.
'That ten-round go that l fought
Papke in Milwaukee two months ago
was the most strenuous ring engage
ment that 1 ever signed up for. He
worried me after the first three
rounds and found to my disappoint-
ment that I could not put the sleeper
over on him. Next time we meet
which is scheduled to be in Los An
geles on September Z, the route will
be more than twice that of our first
battle, and will either knock him out
or else he will put the crusher on me
before it ends.
"Papke is the last man that I will
ever make weight for. I realize now
that am a heavyweight, I am signed
up to do 158 pounds for Papke, and
know that will have to work some
to be right. If I am successful against
hinl-and there is no question in my
mind that / will bel will say fare
well to the middleweights and go right
upstairs after the big fellows.
81 regard Papke as one of the first
stepping stones in my path toward the
heavyweight championship. When ]
am through with him I will devote all
Of my time to Tommy Burns
Both Work Out Today
Ketchel and Papke will put on extra
workout programs at their training
camps this afternoon for the entertain.
ment of the thousands who are ex-
| pected to visit them. Ketchel will be-
gin work at o'clock at the South
Side Athletic club at Thirty-eighth anc
Santa Fe, and the knockout kid will
have a special corps of sparring part.
ners on hand to box with him, unles.
they are attacked with fright and rur
out. Papke will begin work at 3:3t
O'Clock in the ring opposite the amphi.
theater at Venice, and as he has -four
| big sparring partners he will be able tC
put on show that will give him al
the rough work he requires and at the
same time entertain the large crowd,
that always attend Sunday workout:
at the seaside city camp.
Ketchel is having a hard time get
| ting partners, and he is inclined to for,
| get that he is training instead of fight,
| ing, and has been accustomed to knock
| ing out these assistants. He has sucl
frightful kick in either hand ant
goes at his work with such energy ant
zeal that he scares his sparring part
ners half to death before he hits them
However, a new one or two appear al
the camp every day to work with him
and he will have a few on hand thi,
afternoon.