Evening star., 1909-02-14
HARRY LEWIS IS
BEST WE[TERWE|GHT
Young PhiIadeIphian Has
Fought His Way to
Top of This
Class.

Who is the welterweight champion at
the present time has been decided by
many who are supposed to be authorities
on pugilistic matters that there is no real
legitimate holder, says Jack Sheehan IN
the Boston Post Whether this be cor
rec: or not is the one question that
seems to be firing the minds Of the am
bilious swatters in the intermediate d1-
vision.
Walcott was the last holder and de-
fender of the 14H-pound class. and he was
defeated for the title by Honey Melody.
AS I was the announcer and referee OF
that particular contest which took place
III Chelsea / made the announcement
that the boxers would contest for the
welterweight championship and that both
boys weighed In at the prescribed
weight" This statement went unchal-
lenged and Melody was returned the
winner cnd proclaimed the champion.
None OF the authorities questioned Mel
lodys right to the title and he was so
hailed.
Melody boxed two or three times after
defeating Wolcott and lost by knock
out to Frank Mantell Honey claimed
that this knockout was due to sheer care
lessness. as he did not do any work in
order to fit himself fer the contest.
Be that as it may. the fact must speak
for itself. and Mantell had as much
right to the title as Melody. He won
from the man who was sporting the
championship honors by the clean way,
and excuses or why's or whyfores will
Mantelrs credit.
While the victory was of the Mccoy
Mccormack kind-very hollow-it still
stood to Mantell's credit His right to
sport the honors was questioned by Harry
Lewis of Philadelphia. and the boys were
matched up and Lewis gave Mantell the
trouncng of his life on January % at
New Haven, Conn. Manteli never showed
to the fore at any time during the three
rounds that they fought. Lewis won
clean and decisively. leaving no room for
argument or doubt
Lewis a Whirlwind.
Lewis sailed through the 14O to 80
pound men like cathartic and on April
% of the same year demonstrated to the
he was Mellody's master in every de-
partment of the game. He was very
timid in his match and time and time
again appealed to me to stop the battle.
This was during the second and third
rounds.
I told him that the championship was
at stake and in order that there would
be no cause for complaint to win it
clearly. this he did and. to my way Of
thinking. won the welterweight cham
pionship and at the present time is the
rightful holder of that much-questioned
honor.
If Lewis doesn't hold the champion
Ship i would like to inquire who does
hold it?
This welterweight class is the toughest
class in all boxing to find just who is
who, and 1T has always been class
that raised more arguments than all the
other divisions but together. This class
A. w. Cooke. He found that there were
any number of good men who could
not scale the lightweight limit and
We're too light for the middleweight di-
vision and that something had to be
done to match up this odd weight class.
The captain named 1t the welterweight
division and in a short time the 142-
Founders from all over the country were
clamoring for matches to see who would
be first to climb into the throne chair.
Far-away Australia claimed the right
to battle America for the leadership and
sent over it's best man in the person of
Tom Meadows to meet any person who
might be selected. The American boxing
tain, and it was he who selected the
American boxer to give battle to the In
vader
The flower of the welterweight division
was carefully culled. and it was indeed
a hard matter to select leader from
such able men as Danny Needham.
Tommy Ryan. Doc O'Connell, Paddy ker-
rigan and Paddy Duffy.
After watching the progress made by
Duffy and the remarkable speed dis
played in hitting. the captain decided that
Paddy Duffy of Boston was, in his opin-
ion, the best man, and wired the San
Francisco Athletic Club. of which he was
the eastern representative. that Patrick
onward march OF Tom Meadows
The old captains Judgment was borne
out to the letter. as 1t was afterward
proven. I was one Of the party that
went to the depot to see Duffy off and
it is safe to say that Sullivan in his
palmy days never got a better send
off North and west ends were desert
ed on that particular day; everybody
who could walk or creep was there
and tears of Joy filled "Peaudean's" eyes
as he stood on the rear platform of the
car as the train pulled out.
Pat Was Confident.
"Don't worry, I'll win from old Hay
marsh" were about the last words he
said. and he kept his word.
All Boston. or that part of 1t known
as the north and west ends, was eager
ly waiting for the day of the battle to
roll around. Confidence was written on
every face as the telegraph reports
started at the newspaper offices. and the
gang that were allowed to sit in the
sporting editors department were
wreathed in smiles as the progress OF
the battle was translated from the wire.
telling OF the cleverness and speed
which Duffy was displaying 1900 miles
away. Then the flash! All held their
breaths and awaited the news-''Duffy
wns'-and the referee. Hiram Cook of
San Francisco. counted out the pride OF
Australia and then pointing to Duffy
said: The welter champion, gentlemen,
Paddy Duffy Of Boston"
We could almost hear the cheers here
in Boston and the joy that reigned In
Pitts and South Margin streets on that
night will never be equaled. Everybody
was full of joy and joy juice Paddy
McGafiigan put OH clean apron and
extra bartenders and the .hods of mus
ties were coming thick and fast. Every
body was in "A friendly mood. Old bick-
erings and feelings were forgotten and it
was gala night all the way around and
back again A new Richmond was in the
field and you can rest assured that we
had Il good reason to ''toot" and "toot."