The San Francisco call., 1910-10-30
DURABLE dane IS
PRIMED FOR BOUT
Fans All Look for La Grave
70 Put Him to Severe
Test
Victory for Former Champ viii
Put Him i'm Line for
WOIgaSf

BY midnight tomorrow night the box
ing fans Of the world will know
whether Battling Nelson is a second
: Jim Jenries or whether he is one of
the very few exceptions to the come
back" rule. The Battler is going to
blossom forth in an effort to convince
the fans that he still retains most Of
the old time aggressiveness and rug
Eedness that ma rked him as one of the
greatest cards that the Queensberry
game has ever known.
For an opponent the Dane has picked
out young. rough fellow with little
ring experience Antoine Ia Grave of
Butchertown- How good La Grave
really is nobody is in a position to say,
bat he has the heart and the constitu-
tion and he is possessed of that game
ness which the lovers Of the sport like
10 see in any boxer He has never
been up against a man Of the caliber
of Nelson. 50 il is all speculation as TO
what sort Of a showing he will make
= gainst the Dane.
~ Since his defeat at the hands of the
new lightweight champion. Ad VOL
East. over i'm Richmond last February.
Nelson has steered shy of the ring. He
has spent most Of his time in the wild
Yellowstone park region. recuperat ing
and coming back" as the popular say
ing is. He did not don boxing glove
tili early this month. when he created
quite q stir in Kansas Citv~by handily
heating one Monte Dale in four rounds.
. i the Dane does step into his former
stride. he viii be performing A feat
w hich the many experts Of the ring be
}ieve 10 he impossi bile. especially after
the miserable attempt which one James
J. Jenries made last July 10 keep up in
Reno But Nelson is the most unusual
pugilist who ever donned ring costume
and there IS no telling what he may do.
They viii have TO give the Dane
credit for coming back in the event
that he knocks La Grave out or gets
the decision over him in Is rounds.
Such 2 performance either way will be
e great feather in Nelson's cap. 1t will
go 10 show that he must still be reck-
.oned with by all the candidates for
lightweight honors.
:: The one ambition of the Durable
Dane is to win back that crown which
Wolgast tore from his head in the for
tieth round al Richmond last February.
All his friends have since been advanc-
ing the claim that it was not lack of
class but lack Of condition which beat
Nelson that day. Nelson admits this
much now. He Is dreaming night and
day Of the time when he will be able
TO step into the ring with Wolgast
again and win back the title Then
he viii be satisfied to retire on his
laurels.
> But in the meantime. Nelson must
show the fans that he is still entitled
Wolgast. He has not done anything
since his defeat and he realizes that
now is his time. This is the explana-
tion OF the La Grave match. II Nelson
did not wa mt TO come TO the front again.
# he did rot still retain his old time
pride and his old time ambition, he
would not have travelled all the way
from Kansas City for the purpose Of
taking on an unknown.
Taking all these things into consid-
Grafton. the contest tomorrow night at
Dreamland gives promise of being one
well worth going many miles to wit
ness. It will be q sIambang affair
between two rugged. hardy fellows
both out TO win something for him
self. A victory for the Dane means
that he viii be back on the trail Of
Wolgast. and a victory for La Grave
means that he will take his place in
the front row OF the lightweights.
:: Little is known OF the Butchertown
boy IN fact, he never has had a
good chance to show his ability as a
boxer. He has always gone through
his PAGES in the four and ten round
affairs. and he has as yet to taste the
bitter pin Of defeat. He is only one
among the army Of lightweights who
could hold the terrible "One Round"
Hogan al bay in four rounds, and this
he did TO TIE queens taste last sum-
mer
La Grave has a splendid chance If
Nelson is all in. as many OF them be-
lieve, then the Butchertown boy will
beat him beyond the question of a
doubt Still he can not afford to take
any chances. for the Dane may be
nearly as live as ever, especially over
the 3 round distance
Nelson resumed his training yester-
day after a layoff of a couple of days.
He did not DO as much work as the
fans looked for. but he showed plenty
Of his oldtime dash and that tenacity
which made him famous in the old
days During the six rounds which he
boxed with Marty Kane and Eddie Den
mis- the Battler kept hustling them all
around the ring, never letting up for
a single moment.
However. it is hard TO Judge Nelson
from q gymnasium workout. The only
way to get a real line on the Dane is
TO see him lined up again a formidable
opponent in a % foot ring. so it is up
to him to see that he makes no mis-
take when he finds himself face to
face with La Grave tomorrow night.
La Grave viii be carefully seconded
bv that veteran boxer and handler Of
boxers. Sam Fitzpatrick. Fitz believes
that he has the makings Of a champion
IN this boy and much depends upon
how he goes bout 1T tomorrow night.
II he is beaten then he goes back TO
the ranks Of the third raters, but If he
wins he will find himself upon the cham
pionship path, with prospects for future
matches with the great ones very
bright
The betting is still to /, with even
money that Nelson knocks his man out
within Is rounds. The seats are on
sale at Gunst's. 500 Market street; Jim
GriHin's. I55 Montgomery avenue, and
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