The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-08-04

Is JOE GANs,&THE IDOL OF TIL
PRIZE RING, IN FAR
Is ~ ,oFF!ARIzoNA.
Had Wonderful Rise
Frona fish sbof y ia,ampion did ,blhck
fighter whose ring record is a Ione
,Grye.
one and he made friends among
white sports though black. Con-
sumption. his foe. e" '5%

| - Al, 4
baltimore, Md, July 31.-Joe
fGans, former holder OF the light,
weight and welter-wergnt puglistdc
Titles, has fought his last ring battle$
tie is dying in Prescott, Ariz., whsre
Inc went several months ago in an
fSfort to- get cured of that dreaaed
fmalady, tuberculosis. When he Ieft
Baltimore, Cans went to Phoenix,
Arfz., but found. himself to be grow
| Ing worse after being there only.
/ few weeks, and removed to PRESCOTT,
which is 4, 900 feet higher. HIS wife
watches over him in his dying hours,
t.. Before leaYing Baltimore Cans keit
that after .rem#ining in Arizona for
several weeks he would be- able, to
continue on to- Reno to see the JEFF.
fries-J ohnson fight, but: it was no 20
and the best he could do was to- read
the dispatches sent on from the ring.
side. Cans removed to AriAqpa upon
! Recommendation Of =his7eld rival
and the man who took away T. Ills
llaurels, Battling Nelson Cans last
lfght was with Jabez White. of Eng
land, in New York City, and he made
very poor showing. He was al
ways one Of the most modest DO iers
In the ring, notwithstanding the
great record, he made. :;
|
most humble. He was general util-
ity man at meat and produce COM
\ mission. house ON Marsh =, Market
i space and as he developed a peculiar
deftness at cleaning fish that be-
came his specially. All of the boys
Of the neighborhood were fond of
/ boxing and Joe would put on the
FsloVes In one of the spare rooms Of
! the commission house. At the near
! by Monumental theatre weekly battle
royals were held as. an after attrac4
ton. Cans found that he could SUR
1VlVe these battles royal and make
some extra. money, and they were,
i his real beginning as pugilist.
| Among his attendants was AL Her.
1 ford, who, with his parents, was in
! terested in a saloon on Canton ay-,
enue, near, Broadway. Herford's in
| terest in boxing at that time was as
! q spectator, and he was particularly
struck by the cleverness of the col
ored 'boyn Herford searched out
CANS, and they worked up prelimi-
| naries to local fights. Then the pair
entered into a partnership that
brought much money to both. Cans
AS tighter had nothing orr Herford
as manager and matchmaker, and
| the colored fish cleaner and oyster
opener became the champion light
weight Of the world.
Some Of His Earnings.
Cans was always an interesting
talker and only a few days before
announcing his retirement from the
ring, issued the following statement
Regarding his earnings in pugilism.
"1n leisure moments l have fig
ured my earnings. They run above
the 100000 mark. About three
Years ago began to. manage my own
lighting game. Since then. l have
earned about 100000. I date this
from the time | fought Mike (Twin)
Sullivan.
''"rhe first big. winning in this time
was $1,000. l got this by beating
Nelson, who later beat me. In this
fight which 1 got $1,000, the gate
receipts were the largest ever TAX en-
in on a fight.
Il had to concede to Nelson the
big end, win, loose Or draw. Nelson
got $22,500. The gross receipts were
| 500, 715--the largest In the history
of my fighting.
II got $4,000 for beating Britt, |
and in the next two bouts I beat
Jimmy Burns and pocketed $4,000
and then beat Kid Herman. winning
$4,000. In a short white I banked
$4,000 more for beating Rudolph
Unho1tz.
"Theatrical engagements at S1,000I
a week increased my banks rool ma, |
terially This was under my own
management. | have managed N.Y.
self since 1905 and / began fighting |
III 1891.
Il held the worlds championship |
light weight title seven years and i
have boxed eighteen years. / won
the title in 1902 by beating Frank
Erne, the champion, in one round. |
This was the quickest championship |
win on record. l think my record !
will stand while and | am not sor,
80 h.