Evening star., 1912-07-14


s#szay Johnson is far from
~ being the marvel he
was u b e by
- - ..aa.... press and public
following that wonderful feat Of beat
ing wreck Of the once great Jeffries-
The writer has contended right along.
rs readers OF this column can testify,
that johnson Is q greatly overrated pugi-
list. and believe his performance In the
holiday battle with Flynn furnishes
plenty Of evidence on that point
Johnson has never defeated q first-class
man. Tommy Burns, q great little boxer
was too severely handicapped in weigh,
and strength to hope to. beat the big
negro. Jeffries was only q shadow OF
the man who won the heavyweight cham
pionship and who successfully defended
1t until lack Of worthy challengers
brought about his retirement from the
ring. And the record book shows why
Johnson sidesteps return meetings with
class heavyweights.
While not an eyewitness Of the john
son-F1ynn contest. and though telegraph
SC and mail reports OF the battle vary
according to the viewpoints or possible
prejudices Of the writer's, q careful Pc
rusaI Of the several detailed stories OF
the fight, round by round. convfnces me
that johnson has shot his bolt and Is slid
ing down the toboggan at high speed.
Against Flynn he failed to deliver the
goods expected, and was awarded the oe-
cision only after the police had stopped
the battle on account OF 1t having De
generated into a hugging and butting
match. in which the rules were disre-
Rarded by both men. An agreement
made beforehand by the contestants call
ing for q decision in favor OF the man
i who led on points up to the time or any
possible interruption Of the battle was
all that saved the much-touted Johnson
his highly priced title OF heavyweight
champion Of the world. And this In
competition with q man probably forty
Taking q line from the encounter OF
the Fourth. Johnson fs q wise bird In de-
Gliding to retire from the ring after Labor
day. His reign at the head OF the heavy
drawing near an end. and l reckon nc
one is more "hep'' to the fact than the
accidental champion himself.
It looks Ike q cinch that johnson will
refuse to do battle with either Sam Lang
ford or Joe Jeanette before the date set
for his withdrawal from the game.
I understand he plans to take on one or
can be made. Al Palzer II mentioned az
the one to be favored IN this respect.
OF course. the retirement thing may be
only blur to avoid the other negroes
for the time being. and enable him to
pick up q bit Of soft money with little
effort
II he has no intention Of ever again
meeting either Langford or Jeanette the
good and all. He can no longer get away
with that "bulr' about nobody to hght
him. The public fell for that talk for
while. but now that Flynn has made II
-
beatable'' kind. he win have to ngh,
oftener or duck into seclusion.
1t may be Jacks agents have tipped
him OF to the fact that within the ranks
found one or two who give promise OF
developing into fighters OF quality, and
has pulled the retirement" thing with
the hope Of bulling the novices into meet
ing him before they are fully matwed;
Johnson is no boob. whatever else he may
be accused Of.
had considerable to say about young
Al Palzer In this column last week, ani
. few more words on the same promising
subject may not be amiss In connection
with the discussion Of the heavyweight,
situation. Especially 30 as Palzer has
challenged Johnson to box for the cham
pionship.
When big Al fought Bombardier Wells {
few weeks ago he entered the ring IN
miserable condition. He won. at that
out by the Englishman. 1t was phe.
nomenal power to assimilate punishment
that turned defeat into victory on that
occasion. And II was lack OF stamina
vented him from finishing Palzer in the
first round. when the American was
practically helpless.
Palzer's fight against Kaufman last
perts who saw tAe contest He made
hosts Of friends and rooters on that oc-
casion by defeating boxer who had
been regarded up to the time OF the
knockout by Jim Flynn as the solitar,
hope OF the white people in the race fol
the championship. But when Al entered
the ring the other night the crowd was
surprised at the marked change In ap
pearsnce OF the youthful gladiator.
use the expressive though inelegan
adjective: he was hog fat and carried a.
least twenty pounds Of super1iuou.
weight. When IN charge OF Tom O'Rourk,
the big Iowan was at least always II
his recent training knows as much abou
conditioning q fighter as / do Of tn,
science OF aviation, and that's nothing q
all
ter was TO box Wells. learning that h,
had no trainer Of experience to advis,
him at work and while In the ring.
volunteered my services to the younl
man. old this Win no IDEA OF gain; il
TACT. stated that would not accep
remuneration for said services but wouls
be only too glad to lend my aid and ad
rice gratuitousy at any time they Nigh
be needed.
have reason to believe that PaIxe
wanted me to act In capacity Of advise
n the Wells match. but that his manager
whoever he may be. vetoed the plan
claiming that was too friendly witt
D'Rourke CARS former manager to b
trusted. ! might resent such a charg
:, IL were not SO positively ridicuiou
hat II makes me smile. The records shoy
hat ORourke was generally on the othe
pnd Whenever figured IN q contest dur
ng my boxing days, and while neve
sarticularly chummy with Tom. knoy
enough about the game to recognise hi
ability rs q manager and conditioner o
tgl1ters and 10 give him the credit du
Tor skill in those important capacities.
However, what / want to say Is this
II Al ID sincere In the desire to box tn
champion and I really believe he 10 o
he kind who would rather fight than tai
tbout II, sdvise him to secure ne,
Fainer. I say this not even knowing tn
lame of his director Of affairs But
b knew that PalSer instead OF improvin