Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-02

class is lacking in the ranks of the white
hopes was confirmed. if any doubt eX-
listed. by the battle between youth and
old age at Buffalo last week. Gunboat"
Smith. a youngster weighing 1S6 pounds
and ranked as one of the most promising
of the newer crop of heavies. met the
veteran Jack Twin Sullivan. scaling
1d8 pounds. and barely succeeded in earn
ing a draw. according to newspaper ac-
counts of the meetiig. Sullivan at his
best was never championship material.
Stanley Ketchel, a middleweight, knocked
Twin out in twenty rounds. But then
poor Stanley was real fighter. not
hope
There are some folk who will have it
that professional boxing has gone to the
day champions in all classes are lacking
in skill Such person is &c. o. A. a
veteran boxing fan Of Boston. who wrote
me the other day as follows:
"a comparison of the DAYS when you:
John L.. Jackson, Fitz. Sharkey and
other really formidable men were in the
game with present-day conditions is
enough to make fan of any standing
sick. The present crop OF clumsy hams
when in action must certainly amuse
you. 1t would not he difficult to name
half dozen old timers who could have
stopped the whole lot of present-day
jokes one after the other. After seeing
Kilbane. Coulon, Wolgast. Klaus, etc,
i'm the ring 1 have often wondered where
they would fit if their opponents hap
pened to he Dixon, Lavigne. FitZ, VOL
colt or any of the old-timers who went
into the ring to fight. did fight. and what
is more. knew how to fight. The results
would certainly be sad for the 1912
champions, including our Chicago col
Ored brother. The saddest part of all is
that grand old sport has to carry this
bunch of jokes on its back
= quote this letter because it is fair
sample of many sent me by veteran fans
who still worship the idols Of old. Ar
guments that involve comparison Of box
ers of one generation with those who
have preceded them will arise. I sup
pose, as long as the sport has a vogue.
There is no way Of settling such diff
ferences Of opinion satisfactorily. Every
man is entitled to his own convictions
and theories. Personally, 1 agree with
&c. o. A" in part. Particularly in the
heavyweight ranks of today there is
little class.
Tom McCarey is going ahead with his
white heavyweight tournament in a
buslnesslike manner that is vastly pleas
Ing to fight followers Of the country.
Luther McCarty and Jim Flynn contest
at McCareys Vernon arena December 10
and the winner is to box big AL Palzer
New Year day These two matches will
uncover the best there is i'm the ranks of
the white men at the present time, and
to bring about quick solution of the
present complicated heavyweight stua-
ton that best man should be pitted
against the winner of Joe Jeanette
Sam LangfOrd battle. That's the only
way to insure a clean title
But 1t should be case of the best
white against the best black, and jean
nette and Langford should first be COM
PeLed to prove beyond shadow of a
doubt which is entitled to the honor of
battling for the championship. With Jack
johnson out of the game for good, the
question of successor is thus easily
solved.
Jim Coffroth has offered Johnny Kilbane
and Eddie Morgan, the English bantam
champion. purse of 1900 for a twenty
round battle under the auspices of his
San Francisco club January l, but dis
patches from Cleveland state that Johnny
VIII not accept on account of other en-
gagements. Tom McCarey, too, wants
kilbane out his way and offers to stage
the champion in a twenty-round bout
with the New York Italian, Johnny Dun
dee, who made a tremendous hit with
southern California fans when he knocked
frankie Comfy out in the twentieth round
at Vernon. Personally, 1 fancy the idea
of Kilbane and Dundee: looks like the
Dago would be more of match for the
champion featherweight.
My. what a sensation Billy rapke has
created in that dear Paris. according to
Manager al Lippe. One would think to
read AIS letters. that French sports had
never seen real fighter until Billy land
ed and succeeded in downing Georges
Carpenter. And yet Frank Klaus is
over there. and here at home We rate
Klaus better man. There is something
strange about the cancellation of the
Papke-klauS match and the substitution
of a comparatively unknown French mid
dleweight for the latter. I can't under
stand the Pittsburgher avoiding the
chance of a lifetime to grab off a big
piece of money unless the time allowed
for training was too short. 1t may be
Papke. being in good trim, suggested an
early date with the idea of catching
Klaus out of condition after his long
spell of "boulevarding."