The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1910-03-12
By w. w. Naughton.

| SAN FRANCISCO, March 1.-THE
pictures of the Bat Nelson-Ad Wolgast
fight were thrown upon the screen for
/ the benefit of the newspaper men
few nights ago. Up to a certain point
the shadowgraphs are remarkably
clear and the display is an interesting
| begins to fade, it is not so easy to fol-
! low the actions of the men. The 20
second round, in which Nelson brings
Wolgast to his knees, is the most ex-
citing feature of the affair. Later when
Referee Smith grasps Wolgast's glove
and holds it aloft as an intimation that
Nelson has been defeated, the fighters
and the referee are enveloped in semi
darkness.
! So far as settling any disputes that
may arise in regard to Smiths right to
| interfere, the pictures will therefore
prove nothing. A close observer how
| ever, will notice that Nelson's legs are
| dragging in many of the rounds to-
| wards the finish and that when he
leans over the ropes in one particular
round he seems to be exhausted.
| Did the affair with AID Wolgast
mark the passing of Nelson as cham
pionship candidate?
| The sporting public is prone to think
so, and the history, of the ring favors
the assumption.
When a topnotcher loses his title
and then confides to his friends that he
is going to the mountains to build
up it is a pretty sure sign he is over
the crest and gazing down the sunset
trail.
= Bat himself will not have it thai
3 the setback at the hands of the wasp
t ish Michigan boy means taps for him
, and Bat is only folloying the line o.
{ reasoning adopted by string of de-
D feated champions which stretches fal
i back into the misty past.
s In my experience I have found rims
D men to be a good deal like consump
y tives. The worse they become physl
e cally the brighter the future looks. Ii
t the case of the fighters it looks a:
: though a decrease of vitality means al
e increase in vanity.
l thought of this the night before thu
t battle, when Nelson sat knee to knee
with me at my desk and told me Will
all the seriousness in the world tina
, | the eve of any of his former bouts.
c Now that it is all over, Bat isn't in
+ sisting altogether that he simply hat
c an off-day such as he had when he at
i a steak too many in advance of one O.
= his annual reunions with Jimmy Britt
, He admits that he was shy on condi
, ton with Wolgast and argues that {
y rest from ring work and layoff OF
his ranch in New Mexico will restore
= what juggler of words has beer
pleased to term his pristine pugna
f city,
q The wise fellows shake their head:
, when Bat talks, and continue to argue
that the Dane has lost his greatest as
= set-endurance.
: They point to the fact that Wolgas
\ defeated Nelson eight months ago il
D Los Angeles, and that after the re-
$ verse Nelson declared he was all rur
n down and would not sign articles unit
, he felt that he could do himself jus
! tice.
g If by taking care of himself during
the last eight months Bat could not pu
5 himself in condition to make one of hi:
/ old time fights, how can he hope to de
t any better after another eight months
1 Will he not be older and further from
2 his heyday than he was when Wolgast
< punched him to pieces on February
t 22nd?
t But it is as hard to say what the flu
ture holds for Nelson as it is for any
! one else. If by any special course OF
! preparation Nelson can fit himself to
: regain the championship there will be
} no sorrow in sportdom. Both as g
5 worker-up and a champion Nelson was
e a credit to the game. He was clean
} living and as honest as the daylight
) Those who lost money by backing