Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1909-07-14
ROSS STAYS LIMIT
johnson Fails to Put Husky Ital-
ian away. Makes Ketchels
Chances Better.
lBY A. Jay c0OKl


thousand fight fans on Wednesday
night Tony Ross, the New Castle, Pa,
pug put up one Of the gamest fights
of his career, with Jack Johnson,
claimant of the worlds heavy weight
championship. Everybody knew that
Ross never had a chance and this was
accentuated when Johnson entered the
ring. He weighed close onto 245
pounds while Ross tipped the scales at
2O1. The negro had the reach and
heighth on the Italian and during the
fight one could see the great advant-
age of his reach.
In the first round Johnson sailed in
with bunch of right and left upper
cuts to Tony's stomach and jaw. Ross
did nothing more than guard and
clinch. At the end Of the round
Tony was felled by q right to the jaw,
seeming to fall more from fright than
the punch which Johnson handed him.
The bell rang when Buck Cornelius,
the referee, had counted 6.
The next five rounds did not vary,
Johnson generally leading with his
left and planting right and left upper
cuts either on Ross guard or his stom-
ach. The negro landed a heavy one
on Tony's nose in the second bringing
the claret. The negro was constant
ly smiling during the bout, showing
his teeth covered with gold. Clip
Artha is certainly cutting a swath
with those among his admirers. In
the fifth and sixth Ross landed jolts
to the jaw which took the smile off
the negro's face for minute. But.
as everybody expected Johnson put it
all over his opponent. Ross was un-
doubtedly suffering from a severe
attack of stage fright. If he had put
up his usual fight, even with the great
advantages in weight, height and
reach which were against him, he
would have made much better show
ing.
The preliminaries to the main bout
of the evening were excellent, plenty
of good hard boxing. In the opener
Billy Griffiths had something on Jack
Young, colored fighter of New Cas-
tie, Pa. Young was nearly out at the
end of the sixth.
Joe GetZ Of Johnstown. Pa. hy raj
ly in the fifth and sixth rounds drew
a shade on Battling Terry his oppo-
nent who had it on Getz during the
first three sessions.
Cyclone" Johnny Kilbane of Cleve-
land, o., knocked JEFF Gaffney, Of
New York, out cold in the fifth round.
Gaffney's actions reminded one of a
Hebrew selling a second pair of shoes
on Chatham street. The punch that
did the work was a hard right to the
jaw, with left swing as straight
ener.
Stanley Ketchell's chances against
the negro are taking a big boost.
Johnson is not famed for his punching
power, in fact, precious few of his vic
tories have been by the knockout
route. This fight together with his
exhibition against Jack O'Brien at
Philadelphia. tends to further show
this. Ketchell will have terrible
disadvantage in the height and reach
of his opponent This must be made
up for by his gameness and punching
ability. Ketchell's game would be to
battle his way in close to the negro
and tear loose a succession of those
ripping punches directed at the wind.
Ketchell is game and if one of his
punches ever reaches Johnson it would
be plain sailing. The negro's best
punch is right uppercut to the
stomach or jaw, at medium long
range. He is rather slow on his feet,
but at times shows speed.
Jim Jeffries could beat the negro to-
day. With head lowered and massive
arms laying, Jeff's bull-like rushes
would completely smother the giant
negro. The boilermaller is too fast on
his feet for Johnson and besides John
son has nothing in his offensive reper-
toire that would make Jeff bat an eye.
No matter if Johnson does manage in
some may to put away Ketchell. jeff
ries will bring back the title to the
white race. If he fights.
] am not simply passing Judgment
on what Johnson did to Ross last
night. He had the easiest kind of a
proposition in Tony Ross. who forsot
that he was in the rinq for any other
reason than to stay the six rounds
out. 1t must be said for Ross.
though, that he put up a game fight.
IF he he'd wanted to quit, there were
p;rntv of times when he could have
laid down.