Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-23
Ill RACING q EE55Sne Z BOXING ATHLETICS

q AN FRANCISCO had its term of
Ketchel madness. New York got
~ the fever, and it burned out its
usual course. Now both burgs have
gotten down to the state of compare
tive calm, and the reaction has set in.
There is no attempt made in any
quarter to minimize in the slightest
degree the wonderful fighting ability
of the middleweight champion, but the
ridiculous fiasco which Willis Britt
heaped on the fight public in the Lang
ford matter has had the effect of max
ing the fans stop and think. Ketchel
is a dangerous opponent to any man
near his weight. OF his inches and
poundage he is probably the peer of
any battler who has donned the gloves.
But there is limit to human accom-
plishments. Outclassed in height,
strength, weight and cleverness,
Ketchel has set about the task of de-
feating the Galveston negro, who
CLANS the worlds heavyweight cham
pionship by virtue of defeat of the
smallest but one of the gamest cham
pions the ring has ever seen. Tommy
Burns, a rugged, determined, wonder
fully aggressive, chunky little fighter
was like a mouse in a kittens paws
when he stacked UP against the dig
black. Ketchel, probably a more dar-
ing and spectacular ringster and pos
sesslng a sitter punch than the
Canuck, will give away even more
weight than did Burns. Inc pIack
man will tower over him, wrap those
huge long arms around him in the
clinches, and stop his terrific rushes
with beautifully placed uppercuts and
body jolts. The timing of the punches
will be as accurate as q Boston bay
clock. It will be a methodical cutting
down of the savage young hghter, put
the thoughtful fan can see nothing else
except a victory for the big dinge.
Before he left New York ketchel
committed himself thuswise:
johnson can't hit hard enough to
whip any good man. He never could
hit. He stalls along and just wins. l
won't let him stand away from me ana
stall. He's champion and he'll nave TO
do some fighting. After 1 finish the
Job of exterminating Johnson nope no
other white man ever fights a negro
But this is Willis Britt's idea of ad-
vertIsing. Ketchel never talked so
much at once in his lifetime. If the
bout Is ever held-and western fans
are becoming as skeptical about it as
were the wise" New Yorkers-John-
son probably will loaf into another
victory. and that Jeffries-Johnson
spectre will again loom up in the
foreground But by this time Jeffries
will have returned to America, and
the fate Of the real worlds heavy
weight championship bout will prob
ably be decided.
George Hancock, matchmaker, Sec
retary and general factotum of the
Pacific Athletic club, has a new
1t wouldn't be brotherly
to tell what happened when he took
me out for my first spill. in the trim
little roadster. Suffice it to place the
occurrence in the category of the un-
usual in autodom. But there is an
other and more interesting tale con-
nected with our fight promoters
Hancock purchased
q brand new horn, not the lowly
kind, but the genuine,
genteel, footing affair and had
placed It on his machine. He left thel
machine to go to his offices in the
building last Friday, and when
he came back the horn was cone. Now
our friend George has a scent that
could detect an odor of salts in a sugar
refinery. He retired for the night to-
sleep the snores of the just when he
was awakened by a familiar footing
In front of his domicile He got up
caught q light and sailed forth. There
on the front step, enjoying to the full
their new toy, was a crowd Of boys,
and in their midst was the horn, un-
attached but full Of noise. He made
a raid, an inspection, and it was all
over but the attachment to the ma