Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-12
CLEAR SKY FOR
MIDDLEWEIGHT GO
LANGFORD AGREES TO ACCEPT
$4,000 GUARANTEE
BARRING FURTHER TROUBLE,
MATCH is ASSURED
Men Say They Will Make Weight for
Ten-Round Bout, and on This
Condition Manager McCarey
Will Hang Up Belt
BY A. e. DUNNING


After several weeks of uncertainty
the acknowledgement battle at last
seems practically assured for Los An
geles, and at the present writing there
appears little possibility of any fur
Their managerial fip-hops being fiuns
to upset the smooth surface of things
pugilistic as far at least as concerns
this match. After weeks of delay, de-
mands and counter demands, involving
the attempt to hold up Promoter NC
Carey by Joe Woodman, manager of
the Boston black, a wire received yes
terday from Willus Britt, manager OF
Ketchel, has apparently cleared away
all the MISUNDERSTANDING and dlsa-
greements, and unless Woodman with
draws from his latest acceptance the
battle is as good as signed.
According to the original terms, Nc
Carey offered Stanley the unheardof
guarantee of $4,000 for his end of the
ten-round bout win, lose or draw. AS
soon as KetchePs acceptance of this
proposition reached the local magnate
it was thought that all was smooth
sailing, since before Woodman left here
last spring he agreed to meet either
Ketchel or Tommy Burns, taking $500
for his share of the proceeds. When
the big offer was made Ketchel and was
accepted Woodman drew out, and not
having signed a castiron contract his
refusal to fight for the agreed upon
sum had to be accepted.
Britt to Boston
Willis Britt took the train for Boston
and thereafter came a demand for
$4,000 for Sans end or no fight. To this
McCarey would not yield, and at first
the local promoter was unwilling to
70 10 Qfrt
pressure was brought on him by the
hundreds of fans who believe this,
next to the Jeffries-Johnson battle is
the most desirable fistic event in the
world today, that McCarey made a
final offer. Britt communicated with
Woodman and as a result wired Nc
Carey that the negro's manager would
accept $4,000 Unless, therefore, the
Bostonian has another flight of money
madness, the match is certain for a
July attraction of the Pacific Athletic
club.
Ketchel and Langford will meet for
the middleweight championship of the
world. which throws a shadow, deep
and lengthy, over the advertised titular
affair next Saturday between Kelly and
Papke. ketchel has assured McCarey
that he will make 1853 pounds for the
battle, and this means that the winner
will be the undisputed holder of the
mfddleweight title, and will be privi-
legged to defend his honors against all
Corners.
ThatNKetcheI has agreed to make the
middleweight figure has come as a
surprise to nine out of ten followers of
the game, who had come to believe that
1t was next to impossible for Stanley
To make the weight and be at his best
Stanley must have reason to believe
that ne will be in good shape and will
not be handicapped by the weight;
otherwise not a pair Of elephants could
have pulled him into the ring with the
dusky eastern marvel.
viii Hang Up Belt
In case the weight matter is settled
as planned, Manager McCarey will
hang up a belt emblematical of the
middlewe1ght championship, and this
belt will be awarded the winner of the
bout. 1t will be a handsome affair.
and, although the support accorded by
the fans is to be considered, McCarey
will take a goodly sum out of the re-
ceipts to present the victor with this
token of the spoils McCarey gave Abe
Attel the belt which recognizes him
as the featherweight champion, and
that bediamoned affair probably will
be duplicated for the coming contest.
At ten rounds Ketchel and Langford
should put up the fastest and hardest
fought battle ever seen over a similar
distance, or, for that matter, any dis
lance, in Los Angeles. So well are the
lighting qualities of the two men
known and so much interest attaches
to this battle that 1t will draw its
spectators from throughout the United
States. Ketchers terrific punch and
his famous shift pitted against the
gameness, wonderful cleverness and
hard-hitting ability of the colored box
er form speculative proposition that
few who follow the game will care to
overlook. At the weight there win be
little to choose from as far as superior
poundage is concerned, though Ketchel
If he makes weight few hours before
the fight, probably will take on a few
pounds more than Langford. This ten
round meeting of the powerfully built
gorilla-like black man and the long.
rangy white fighter whose punch is
the wonder of the present day ring
STEERS is by far the most important
event since the championship battle
between Burns and O'Brien at twenty
rounds. McCarey's offer Of such a
large sum-$14, 000-to the principals
shows his confidence in the bout as a
drawing card. 1t would not be sur
prising to those who are close students
of ring affairs to see the house draw
far above a figure which will set Nc
Carey in the clear.
Burns for Winner
That Tommy Burns may meet the
winner next September is admitted by
the Pacific Athletic club, for it is real
lied that here would be a match of
equal if not greater attractiveness.
Tommy lost not a mite of prestige by
his defeat at the hands of the black
man, whose immense physical superb
GRITTY over the little Canuck made the
match appear entirely one-sided. The
Canadian has given McCarey his as
surance that he will come to this coun-
try after his theatrical tour In interior
Australia comes to close, and he has
also promised to fight before the local
club first Both Ketchel and Langford
claim to be eager to sign with the
stocky heavyweight.
Should Ketchel win from Langford,
the winner of the Papke-Kelly bout
probably will receive a date with him
along in the summer months. Should
Langford win, however, there will be
no move toward q match as both the
men who settle their differences Satur-
day are fighting shy Of the black mans