Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-14
BOXING ATHLETICS

Milwaukee lad. Ad will probably figh
a youngster named Griffin in the ia
east, and then will return to Los Ange
les with Jones, arriving here about NO
vember /. Reports that Nelson has ac
cepted an offer of $10,000-win, lose o.
-draw-to fight Wolgast in San Fran
cisco, twenty rounds, are dtscredite(
here, as it is not believed the northern
promoters would touch the match a
such a price which involved pulling a
least a $4,000 house before the figh
club would be in the clear.
Eddie Keevin. the Boston fight i'm
presario, sends me his latest amen
the boxing situation. Keevin is wei
known among Los Angeles sportsmen
has followed the game for years, anC
consequently his remarks are at leas
worthy of careful scanning. The lat
est runs as follows:
Is boxing degenerating in this
country?
It is a question put forward by
several sporting men. To many
people now patronizing the game
such a suggestion will probably
strike them as being ridiculous.
They are so used to seeing the ar
ticle called boxing of the present
day that it will be difficult for them
to see the foundation for such a
charge.
If this assertion was made by
some one outside of the United
States he would be nominated as
a candidate for the BOBBY hatch on
the muddy skylight" platform by
the 'knock-his-lop-off" delegates
at the ringside But leaving all
jokes aside there is much room
for improvement in boxing in this
country. To my mind, the trouble
can be traced to one thing as
being the cause, that too much at
tention has been centered on the
man with the punch. This has
been the case ever since Jim JEFF
fries retirement. When the big
fellow took off his gloves after de-
feating "False Alarm" Monroe, and
declared he had retired, he was
then leaving a class that had prac-
tical1y become extinct.
Promoters then began to look for
a man to fill the shoes of the Ohio
giant. Coal beavers, truck drivers
and longshoremen were about the
only raw material that seemed to
attract the promoters attention at
the time Bring on the man with
the wallop'' was the cry. mo
white man could ever succeed the
mighty Jeffries unless The carried
the sleep producer" said they.
That was the way they figured 1t,
and 1t was right there that sub
seouent events down to the pres
ent time proved that they were
wrong. In the first place, they
failed to appreciate that clever
ness made Jeff the marvel that
he was. They thought because he
was big and strong that his sue
cessor would have to be drilled
along "rough-house" lines.
How well they have succeeded
Is best shown by looking over the
bunch of white heavies in this
country at the present time.
Not one Of them can begin to
approach the big fellow in any
single department of the game.
With a couple of months work
Jeff" could step in the ring with
them all in one night and make
them think they were taking box
ing lessons.
These same lovers of real boxing
do not forget that night he fought
Jim Corbett in San Francisco,
when he sat in his corner and
whispered to Eddie Graney that
he was going to have some fun
with the professor-meantng Cor
bett-and then actually outboxed
the man recognized as the worlds
cleverest boxer at that time.
It will be mighty long walt
before another Jeffries is forth
coming. When he does come 1t will
only be after the present methods
of developing him are changed
considerably.