The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-12
IS NELSON THE
SAME old DANE?
1t Is This Question That Jack
Clifford Is Up Against in
His Battle Tomorrow.
BY. w. D. RISHEL.

fans of this state are divided into two
classes on the outcome of this fight.
One class thinks the fight is a cinch for
Nelson and the other class are willing
TO give Clifford more than a good
chance in beating the Dane.
The present ability of Battling Nell
son to stand the gait, settles the argu-
ment in favor of either one side or the
other. If Nelson is the hardened Dane
of the past, Clifford does not stand
ghost of a show of winning. If the
forty-twO round beating Joe Cans gave
Nelson at Goldheld has weakened that
iron constitution and in the weakened
condition made him susceptible to pun
ishment like an ordinary man, Jack
Clifford is very liable to put over the
wallop which viii be the undoing of the
famous Dane and send him on his way
20 join the has-been class.
The fight Monday night will go a long
way to settle the argument started at
Goldfield as to whether Cans really did
whip Nelson or whether Cans saw he
was up against IL and quit cold as
claimed by Nelson Should Clifford beat
his man down, then the Battler viii
not be the Dane of old. for with these
two men in their prime. Nelson is or
was the better man and Outclassed the
boy from Grass valley, California. The
Dane that beat Young COrbett, Aure-
Britt. Martin Candle and Spider Walsh
can beat Jack Clifford at his best. But
will that same Dane face Clifford on
Monday night at Ogden?
Nelson Thinks He Will.
Nelson says he will; Billy Nolan, his
former manager. says he will not, and
TO be honest, those who have watched
him work the past week are unable to
say. Nelson does not seem to be both
cred in his training. He is as agrees
siVe as ever, and after forcing a pair
eof spaTring partners 10 their limit, he
comes out of it as fresh as a daisy. But
training is not fighting, and in training
the youngsters who have been giving
Nelson his daily workouts are not Jack
Cllffords by. Salt Lake block. When
Nelson faces the man who lowered the
colors of Jack Wade he is meeting a
good tough proposition. who picks him
self to be the first man to make the
worlds toughest fighter take the count
of ten.
Jack Clifford has a good punch, and
his friends say, especially those who
have watched him in Ogden, that he has
a punch strong enough to whip Nelson
if it lands. Right here let it be said
that it will land, for Nelson never
faced a man in the ring who could not
at will send over the punch which had
put other men to sleep, but which only
made Nelson come that much faster
True, Clifford has a powerful wallop,
but while Jack is blessed with much
harder one than the ordinary fighter.
he has not the wallOp of AureliO Her
rera, Young COrbett or Joe Cans.
Hardest Hitters in Ring.
These men are the hardest hitters the
lightweight division has ever known,
yet they couldfnot stop the Dane. Her
reTa stood Nelson on his head in the
fourth round at Butte. The Dane lay
down like a dead man while the crowd
rose to its feet to leave the hail. What
happened? Nelson recovered before the
count of ten and at the end of the same
round the gong alone saved Herrera
from a knockout. Herrera was the
worst beaten man that ever stepped out
of a ring when, at the end of twenty
rounds. Nelson was given the decision
by a mile. Yet Herrera knocked Jack
Clifford cold in nine rounds.
When Young COrbett saw Nelson
fight for the first time, he said, Let me
get at that fellow; he can't get away
from my punch"
For ten rounds Corbett swung on that
Jaw, and then, unable to stand, was
carried out of the ring a beaten man.
Corbett was satisfied.
train: give me another chance" said
COrbett.
The Denverite then went into train |
ing, real training, and they met a sec |
ond time. COrbett again sailed in with !
his famous punch and landed it at will /
This time nine rounds saw him battered |
10 helpless mass. He gave it up.
Joe Cans Failed.
For forty-two rounds, Joe Cans. cool
and calculating. with the wisdom Of |
years of experience and the fate of I
the worlds greatest boxers before him, /
tried to stop Nelson. Cans did not rush 4
Nelson as the others before, but waited |
and with carefully timed blows reached |
the Jaw, that vital spot of a fighter /
with the force of a trip-hammer. When |
the unsatisfactory end came il was
still Nelson who was coming. head |
down. like a mad bull, and forcing Cans /
all over the ring.
Jack Clifford cannot outpunCh that
trio of fighters, and if ne meets the |
same old Nelson, he must take the same |
route others have. But Nelson is only I
human, and the tough and wiry frame /
must some day give way TO the punches /
of the adversary. Many think il was 4
Joe Cans who weakened the Dane. and /
Clifford is the man who must find it out /
If he hopes to win. 1t is worth the trial, /
and if Jack is declared the winner, he 1
will be hailed as one of the best men /
in the ring. The goal is worth trying /
for. and Clifford has enough furnishing /
power behind his blows to bring Nelson /
down, if Nelson is on the decline.
Nelson One Qualification.
Nelson is not a boxer. Nelson is not
clever. Nelson has not got a punch.
There are four qualities usually con-
sidered necessary in the makeup of a
champion. Three of these are named
above, and Nelson has none of them.
The fourth is ability to take punish
lnent, which necessarily includes game
ness. 1t is this quality Nelson has in
such a marvellous degree that the man
has never lived of his weight that could
stop him They outlook, outpunch, out
general the Dane, and when at last ma
ture gives way, the terrible Dane is still
coming and his man, wornout physical
~ and mentally. succumbs to the on