El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-05
e'~ Sa@ :, Ball General Sporting News
Andrews Sporting Gossip
(By T. s. AndrevTs.)

"a nWAUKEE. Wis, March o
| NH The fail of Battling Nelson in
| w his fight with AID Wolgast of
| Milwaukee, at San Francisco, will have
/ considerable bearing on the coming
| championship battle between Jim Jeff
! ries and Jack Johnson, the present
| holder of the heavyweight title. 1t viii
| have a bearing in this way that great
| many followers of the boxing game will
| take their cue from the Nelson Wolgast
| battle as TO whether a man can be at
his best after having gone through
/ many ring battles, the way Nelson did.
Without taking away any credit from
| WOlgast. there is not the slightest
| doubt that Nelson was not in as good
| condition physically when he met VOL
| CAST as he was when he fought Joe
| Cans and won the championship of the
| world. OF course there are many who
; will claim that the Dane was In just
es good shape as ever but from inside
| information. the writer knows positive
/ ly that the Battler was not at his best
at least he was not as good physically
| as when he met Cans the first time at
! Goldfield, New, in 1906
There is no doubt that the terrific
| contest which Nelson had against Cans
that of AZ rounds and then losing on
the best of condition despite reports
thatrhe was all right after the con-
test. 1t must be remembered also that
after that Nelson had Is battles and
most of them going over 10 rounds 1t
was not case of a clever man avoid
ing punishment, but a case of a hardy
fighter going into the ring and taking
punishment in order to wear his man
down. When Nelson was in Milwaukee
civ Ec sold at he
time that he was not in the best OF
condition, that is he was lighter than
usal and needed building up
Not the Nelson of Old.
After his contest with Eddy Lang
at Memphis he considered that he was
all right again and entered into the
battle with Wolgast, which proved his
downfall. He trained faithfully for the
contest and was, no doubt, in better
condition than most fighters are when
they go into the ring But just the
same he was not the Nelson of old. In
fact that he was able TO go 40 rounds
and at a terrific pace proves that his
condition was good but that the STAN
ina was not there as in former bat
ties.
Previously the battler was able to
stand an exchange of punches with his
opponent and then come back as strong
as ever, but in his contest with VOL
CAST he was unable to respond after
having been weakened through his ex-
ertions up TO the 35th round On the
other hand WoIgast was never in bet
ter condition and seemed to become
fresher after the 35th round, which
only goes TO prove that youth and
strength. where other things are prac-
tically equal. is bound to win out
Wolgast did not go into this contest
feeling that he was going against
superior man. He had met Nelson In
previous battle of 10 rounds and had
the best Of the argument from a scien-
tific standpoint and this gave him all
the confidecne necessary and he felt
too that his youth would stand him in
good stead against the champion and he
figured right.
There was very little difference in
weight between the two men. Although
Wolgast had been fighting around 124
to 126 pounds. before this battle, Nelson
has always been able to go well under
the stipulated 1873 pounds. and it is I'M
derstood that Wolgast was close 10
that mark when he went into the ring.
1t was certainly q great victory for the
Milwaukee boy and it places the beer
state on the map once more for it was
in Milwaukee that Nelson really got his
championship.
WOIgast's Future Chances.
Tom Jones. manager of Wolgast, was
q lucky individual when he took the
youngster out on the coast after Frank
Mulkern of Milwaukee had turned the
kid over to him. II was Mulkern who
really developed Wolgast for he ar
ranged all his early matches and did
much to bring him 10 the front by
matching him against Owen Moran,
frankie Mel and other good boys. Null
kern gave up his management because
he did not want to leave his home in
Milwaukee. Whether Wolgast will be
able TO retain the championship as long
as Nelson remains to be seen, but the
chances are that he will have a pretty
hard road 10 travel. for there are sew
eral good lightweights who are ready
to fight him now for the title. Among
the most persistent challengers are
Freddy Welsh. the undisputed champion |
of Great Britain; Cyclone Johnny |
Thompson; Tommy Murphy; Lew !
Powell; Owen Moran, and several others |
will be hot on his trail and he will be |
busy for some time to come should he |
care 10 accept all the challenges aimed |
at him.
OF the entire lot Welsh is entitled to !
a match first for the reason that he |
holds the champion title of Great Brit !
ain and has a right to challenge for the |
worlds title. An international contest |
between WOlgast and Welsh late this /
spring would be about the best card
that could be imagined outside of the
J effries- Johnson contest. While Welsh /
is probably more clever than WoIgast,
still he is not the hitter that the Mil
waukee boy is and the chances would
be just as much in favor of Wolgast
winning from the British champion as
from, Nelson.
Joe Cans, from whom Nelson won the
title, has challenged Wolgast to n 90
round contest but there is not much |
likelihood of a battle being arranged
between them for the reason that Tom
Jones would demand 45 round battle !
and ii IS a question as TO whether the
clubs out there would give Cans the
chance as they, no doubt. consider him
too old to get back into the game.
Nelson No Shirker.
Moran The english feat heruvafo,,. "a |