Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-02
MANY BOXERS CARE LITTLE
FOR THEIR WORDO CONTRACT
Hurting the Fight Game All Over the Coun-
try and May Be Barred From
Reputable Clubs.

~, and in boxing matches especially. Pal
Brown, the Minnesota lightweight. had
been coming along as fast as chain light
ming, and his manager. DR.. Plapper,
thought SO we'll of him that he deposited
$1,000 with the writer before leaving for
New Orleans to match him against Fred
dy Welsh, Packey Mcfarland or AID VOL
CAST. The coin is still up and goes, as
Brown was matched with a young fellow
at New Orleans-Joe Thomas-a mere
novice at the game. it being his third pro-
fessional fight. and every one there look
Thomas out, but the unexpected hap
pened and reports say that Thomas had
the shade at the end of ten rounds. Now
Pal has had mostly long-distance fights
up north and his record is sure good
one, and it is hard to explain his showing
at New Orleans. Either Pal was not
right or Thomas is a much better boy
than any one supposed. He may be just
what they supposed Brown was. Who
can tell? Thomas boxed last spring with
Joe Coster when the latter trained for
frankie Conley and made fine show
ing, but no one thought he was half as
good as he has proven himself to be. He
may meet Brown now for twenty rounds.
Carl Morris. the Oklahoma giant, may
become fighter some day. but 1t will
take time, and 1t is doubtful then if he
will ever amount to much In the heavy
weight class-that is. from scientific
standpoint He has the bulk and
strength. but, unlike Bombardier Wells
of England, he. has not the cleverness
which Wells certainly has. Before Jim
Flynn fought Morris in New York l had
a long chat with him in Chicago about
the match, and Jim said: 1T will be the
easiest kind of meat for me. Why. 1
have had man watching the big fellow.
and it will be shame to take the money.
/ will beat him so fast he will never know
Tlx,~,, hno ho 10
fellow badly, but did not stop him. but
it only shows that the Flynn contingent
had him sized up right before the match
was put through and that is probably one
reason why Jim did not want to let the
easy money get away. match that
would be an even one and attract much
attention would be between Billy Papke
and Flynn, for they would both go in at
would be a real battle for the light
heavyweight title and worth seeing.
Billy Papke and Johnny Thompson are
getting nearer return match every
day. and it will not be surprising II the
two are matched to meet at New Orleans
or some coast point before long. There
has been much wrangling as to who is
the boss since their memorable meeting
in Sydney last spring when Thompson
gained the decision after twenty rounds
Of fierce milling, and thereby claimed the
championship. Papke has claimed that
he was not in proper shape, but that was
Billy's fault and not Thompson's, and
the only way to settle the controversy
is to let them meet again and fight 1t
out Thompson has thrown down the
gauntlet to Papke and it is now up to the
Kewanee boy to decide and defend his
claim to the title, which Thompson also
claims. The New Orleans club has Of
fered the two men terms for a match of
twenty or twenty-five rounds. and
Thompson has wired his acceptance. In
a. letter Thompson says: THE terms Of
fered by the New Orleans club are agree
able to me. and l have accepted them.
l am sending you a check for 81 600 to be
posted as an indication OF good faith on
my part to carry out the agreement to
meet Papke for the title. won it
from Papke in Australia, and therefore
hold 1t and stand ready to defend 1t
against any middleweight in the world
Sam Langford included, at 1913 pounds.
If Papke will not meet me then the same
goes for Klaus or any man In the world.
do not want to meet them in short
bout for you cannot decide champion
ships that way, and l won mine by the
long route. However, the offer goes for
the marathon route for all, and l will
also agree to meet Papke on the same
weight conditions as we met in Australia.
At that time 1 weighed in under LIS
pounds, as l wanted to be at the middle
weight limit in case defeated Billy. but
he weighed in over 100 pounds. l will
meet him at New Orleans at 1913 or 100,
and If that does not suit why / will make
1t catchweights for him and I will be at
the regular weight That is far, I am
sure. and no sporting man can say / am
not giving the others every chance pos
sble to meet me in a championship
bout. As. for Hugo Kelly, whom Papke
says is entitled to a share in the honors.
why I will meet him over the twenty
round distance at any time and any