Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-28
Corbett Thinks Langford
Hurt Prestige by Funk
With Kaufman in PhiIIy.
new YORK SPORTS
ANGERED BY ACTION
Resent Action of Acting Mayor
in Preventing Scheduled
Bout at the Last Minute.
By James J. Corbett.

VoAAOS .. SOlUC
NEW YORK. August 27.-That there
is a great deal OF truth In the old say
ing, There's many a slip twixt cup and
lip" will be testified to by New York
fight fans. who have had the time or
their lives lately In the innocent pursuit
OF their favorite sport.
There was the Langford- Kaufman bout
scheduled for Philadelphia, and the hun
cry sports gave up their coin and Jour-
neyed to the sleepy city only to discover
that for reasons OF his own Sam Lang
ford. the widely touted tar baby" the
terrible scrapper. who was said to be
after Johnson's scalp. bad run out on
his engagement and refused to box the
Californian.
On top OF this they were handed a
lemon in the proposed Lang-Kelchelr
match, and through no fault OF Bili
Lang. the Australian. who was a sorely
that the bout had been called of. KetcheII
Is said to be In bad health. and II
such is the case there was nothing else
to do but call 1t OF. At that II Looked
place. and Stanley would have been
forced to show big imp ovement over
his recent form to make god show
ing against Lang. who Looks To me like a
be advantage In weight.
Acting Mayor Prevents Bout.
When Billy Gibson. manager Of the
Fairmont Club Of this city. jumped into
the breach and suggested the matching
Of Kaufman and Lang the representa-
tives Of the men jumped at the chance
and lost no time In signing articles AT
last the sports were to See a light, and
one that, In addition to The fact tnat It
had an international flavor. looked IKE
the real thing. Here were two ~mte
heavyweights, trained to the hour. one
a topnotcher In this country and the
other the champion Of Australia, aid out
of II ought to come the aesfimate cnal-
lenger for the hamIionship-tne ns~
hope of the white race.
But little did Gibson or the patrons or
the game reckon on Mr.. Mitchell. inc
young man who has been acting mayor
of New York city since the shooting OF
Mr. Gaynor. At the eleventh hour, Wnen
the clubhouse was filled with spectators
and the men were actually In the ring.
Mitchell pulled q spectacular play by or
dering the police 10 prevent the ngnt 10
say that the crowd was disappointed Is
putting il mildly, and many things were
said that night which would not look wei
in print. While not questioning the mo-
tives of Acting Mayor Mitchell In stop
ping, or rather preventing, the bout, Ii
seems hardly fair to the club managers,
the principals and the fight-loving pubic
to wait until the last moment to act.
With Mayor Gaynor at the head OF the
local government such action would not
be looked for.
Langford Loses Prestige.
Sam Langford has lost considerable
prestige by doing the run-out act at Phil
adelphia. Had he gone ahead and fought
Kaufman and licked him as he boosted
he was going to do. Sam would have been
the big man in pugilistic circles. There
was a great deal more In II for Langford
than his end of the purse had he been re-
turned the winner. Jack Johnson would
have been forced TO recognize nus right 10
challenge for the crown. as the champion
has repeatedly stated that next to nim-
self he regards Kaufman as the best
man In the game.
/ am of the opinion that Langford has
been badly advised in number or IN
stances, and as a result has killed what
ever chance he had for a meeting with
the champion. Certainly he viii De given
the laugh every time he says anything
about meeting Johnson until he does more
fighting and less challenging. There Is a
husky fighter OF his own complexion. Joe
Jeanette by name. who Is very anxious
for a match with Langford and is willing
to bet that he can trim SAM Here is q
chance for Langford to get busy and try
to re-establish himself In the good graces
Of the public.
Weight Scale Needs Revision
am more than pleased that the recent
suggestions advanced in this column with
reference to the establishment OF an IN
ternational scale Of weights are being
given serious consideration by number
OF the ablest sporting writer's and author
tiles throughout the country and by not
nvxf Cf hA
fraternity. The present scale Is sadly In
need OF overhauling. and has grown TO be
almost q joke. particularly among tho
lighter men. Take, for example. the pan
tam and featherweight classes. which
boast of any number of so-called cham
pions." and each champion has pet scale
Of weights which he can conveniently
shift as occasion requires when too prom
Using an opponent is In sight
1t is to be hoped that before long steps
will be taken to bring together repre-
sentatives Of the different countries which
encourage and promote boxing. and that
a new and more sensible scale VIII , DC
tosh, the Australian promoter and sport
ing authority, as the man TO take up this
matter with the experts or England ana
this country. Mcintosh Is a great globe
trotter. and divides his time among the
cities Of New York, London and Mel
bourne He is a thorouch student OF the
game, having been prominent as an anna
teur boxer In the antipodes. and should
be familiar with the evils OF the present
weight systems.
Mcintosh Signs Fighters.
This Mr.. Mcintosh. by the way. bids
fair to corner the market In fighters as Q
result OF the waves OF reform and pro-
test against boxing in this country. Since
San Francisco, the former mecca Of fight
ers. received that wallop from the Gov
ernor of California when he prevented
the ff-Johnson and one or two other
important scraps, the profession has been
without a home, and many OF Its leading
lights are turning their eyes toward Aus
tralia. the promised land OF plenty OF
work and big purses
Jack johnson, Tommy Burns. Sam Lang
ford, Bill Lang and Billy Papke are
among those who have signed with Nc :
Intosh and the exodus from these shores
Continued on Third Pagel