Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-10-08
OLD WEIGHT CONTROVERSY
Champion Fighter Insists on Weight
He Can Easily Make.
NEW SET OF RULES OFFERED


NEW lOHht ONNf fs-AWu AAAbeA AeaAA
reforms will be suggested to the New
York State Athletic commission for the
Improvement Of professional boNing--a re-
vised scale Of weights and q new set OF
rules to govern all ring contests in this
country. A. the commission IL the only
iegalized body in charge Of this sort
throughout the United States. II is pointed
out that II the reforms are established by
Messrs. sullivan, O'Neil and Dixon they
will be adopted by all the clubs and pro-
motors in America
In England the National Sporting club
Of London, which IL the recognized gov
ernlng body, recently framed new weights
and rules which have produced beneficial
results. 30 why not have a similar move
here by boxing authorities appointed &C
cording TO law
The weight question has been a bone Of
contention for many years and today our
leading boxers are divided In opinion.
From the bantam to the mlddleweight
class In this country there Is room for
controversy. In the time honored Queens
berry rules which usually govern cham
pionship battles both here and abroad,
there Is no reference TO the weight limits
In the various classes. There's an I'M
written rule, however which fixed the
weights In America at l16 ringsde for
bantams. 100 ringside for feathers. 1888
ringside for lightweights, 142 ringside for
welters and 1853 ringslde for middles. Yet
In many cases these limits have not gov
erned championship contests.
Beginning with the bantams 1t is a mat
ter Of record that Jimmy Barry OF Chi
cago defended the title at lO5 pounds and
gradually raised the scale. Johnny
Coulon. also OF Chicago, who is regarded
by many as the present champion, has in
sisted upon IFS ringside. Jimmy Walsh,
who held the title. until recently he be-
came too heavy, met all corners at 116
ringslde. frankie Burns and other ban
tams also have insisted on this weight
while Digger Stanley, the English cham
pion. can defend his title at us. scaling
at o'clock, according to the new rules
In Great Britain.
George Dixon, for twelve years feather
weight champion considered lis pounds
ringside, the proper limit in that class
He lost the championship to Terry Nc
Govern at that weight yet McGovern was
beaten for the title by Young Corbett at
l8. Abe Attell, the present champion.
will not risk his title except at 122, ring
side, which shuts out Joe Rivers of Cali
fornia from a championship match
though Rivers can make the weight eight
hours before ring time.
Jack McAulffe. worlds lightweight
champion for many years. could do ls3
ringside. but he did not insist upon it.
When he surrendered the title to the
aWvew A.
limit frequently. He whipped Dick Burge
the English champion. at lSs. and lost
the championship on decision TO Frank
Erne At 1876, scaling six hours before the
battle Erne In turn surrendered the title
TO the late Joe Cans on a knockout, the
men Weighing 1876 at o'clock Nelson
forced Cans 10 fight him at 1888. ringsde,
and when the match had been made the
Dane compelled the champion TO weigh a
pound less in the ring. Nelson refused
to meet anybody except at 1SS. ringside
after defeating Cans. and in that way he
fixed the lightweight limit at that figure.
He was whipped by Wolgast under those
conditions and the present champion in.
sists that he cannot lose the title II he
comedies pound or so much as one hour
In scaling time 10 an opponent
Joe Walcott, once the undisputed well
terweight champion Of the world, de-
Tended his title at 1i2 ringsde. also at
lB Willie Lewis, who says he is the
new champion. believes that he should be
allowed to weigh las at O'Clock Jimmy
Clabby Of Milwaukee. also a claimant,
says las at o'clock is the proper limit,
and so on down the line. each welter
he a oh init av.a 90
his own
Bin Papke, the middleweight champion,
can make i5s pounds at clock. but he
believes the proper limit is 100 at . Klaus
his most dangerous rival. insists upon l5S
ringside Tommy Ryan, former title
holder. demanded 1854 ringside, OF numer-
Gus ohallengers, while Jack Dempsey. the
NonpRreil, who lost the championship
to Bob Fltzsimmons nearly twenty years
ago, was always ready to make a match
at $50.
New scale Abroad.
The new scale of weights in Great Bril-
tain, adopted In Australia, makes It al
most impossible to decide a worlds cham
pionship IN all of its classes. The Eng
fish bantam limit Is IFS at o'clock the
featherweight l2e at o'clock. the light
weight 1856 at o'clock, the welterweight
us at o'clock Ringside scaling, there
fore has been abolished In England.
though Il still prevails in this country
In spite OF vigorous opposition The
English fsatherwelght champion IL Jean
Driscoll, Who cannot meet Attell at 100
ringside. The lightweight champion is
Matt Wells, who finds It physically inn
possible to do lSS rlngSide for wolgast.
Freddie Welsh, who lost the title 10
Wells, made Mcfarland weigh 1888 at >
o'clock year ago N London, but is
matched with Wolgast for Thanksgiving
Iday at the American limit. When Papke
beat Jim sullivan. the English middle
weight title holder recently. THE weight
was leo az 2 o'clock and Papke was so
formidable that he has favored that
weight ever since,
In suggesting 20 the state Athletic com
mission a new scale OF weights several
students OF boxing advocate the abandon
ment Of rlngside scaling for the reason
that II 10 inclined to weaken some con-
testants, while others are able to secure
an unfair advantage. H. promising nav