Norwich bulletin., 1912-02-14
BROUGHT FINISH OF
 BOXING AT CHICAGO.
Talked Bout Between Terry McGovern and Joe Cans Aroused Storm of Op- position to the Sport.


 Terry DIcGovern Terrible Terry and Joe Cans were to meet at Tatter- sails in Chicago in a six round bout That was long enough ago so that one may say years have elapsed. On State street and on Clark street pow erful searcnlights indicated the corner at which the fight fans should get off the street cars and poured a deluge of light on the crowd that Jostled and struggled toward the building in which the ring was pitched, says the Chi cago Post.
 McGovern was at the top of his ca reer Cans, one of the craftiest fight CTS that ever entered the ring, was at his best. Properly enough, the negro looked on paper to be the better man, but he did not inspire confidence, for his reputation as 8 crooked fighter at that time was equal to his fame for cleverness as a boxer.
 When the match was made Cans be- came favorite at odds of to 1. He looked like a cinch, and even up to 5 o'clock in the afternoon of the day of battle he was popular choice. Then, however, the rumor got abroad that the fight was fixed. Late in the after noon an official of the club which con- ducted the bout advised a sporting writer not to bet on Cans. About the same time news reached the manage ment of the club that negroes on the South Side were betting their last dol lar on McGovern to win.
 Cans had trained on the South Side. His quarters were situated over a sa- loon run by Harry Forbes, the bantam boxer, who recently returned to the ring.
 For a week. before the fight a num- Der of sporting writers had been sus- pieious of the bout Cans was not training honestly. He was out at night dissipating and was doing little work. He would not allow anyone to see him get upon the scales, and when he en- tered the ring he was hog fat.
 Now all this had leaked out, bit by bit. and it was not surprising, there fore that the wise fight fans in the throng that crowded toward Tatter sails beneath the glare of the search lights hinted to one another that the battle would be a gigantic fake. h. side the building suspicion spread like a prairie fire. Men who had bet on Cans fidgeted and began to figure on the chance to hedge. From to 1 on Cans the odds shifted to even money before the contestants for the first pre- lminary entered the ring,
 The rumors of a fake had been re-  of the club. An effort was made to secure a committee of judges from among sporting writers to pass on the honesty of the fight in connection with the referee. George Siler One man in vited to act in the capacity replied: " lam acting as 8 judge already-for my paper If the fight does not look good to me, 1 shall say so"
 During the lull which preceded the entrance into the ring of the principals the odds underwent a rapid change. Everyone seemed eager to get a bet on McGevern. The tip was out. Yer non Johns, in stocking feet, walked along the rails between boxes, with a roll of McGovern money in his hand, seeking bets. The odds became ? to 1 on McGovern, and some bets were made that he would win inside of three rounds. There was every indication that the fight was fixed.
 When the men entered the ring Cans face was ashen. He was afraid, but those who knew the game understood afterward his fear was not of McGOv- ern, out of what the crowd might do If he laid down-fear Of the just anger of those who bet on him.
 The story of the fight is not worth while. The bout was short. Terry was always full of confidence and displayed certain boyish bravado that led one to think he must have known of a frameup. The defense Cans put up was miserable, and when he lay on the mat taking the count the crowd around the ringside was already growing its disapproval But it was not until the spectators got outside that they began to fully realize that they had been duped.
 The fight was the last held in Chi cago with police permission. So great scandal was aired by the aftermath that the mayor forbade boxing. The game was killed, az it has teen in most branches of sport, by the very men who made their living out of it,