El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-01

with HOlberg was arranged at Liver
pool and everything went along smooth
" up to the grand finale. Ward started
off like a real winner and it appeared
ute Jack jabbed and side-stepped and
became careless thinking he had a
! mark in front Of him. Then came the
surprise and lights OUT for Jack The
Dane swung an awful right, with no
apparent aim. but it landed squareIy
on the point Of Wards Jaw and down
went the challenger for a minute be-
yond the regular count, reviving only
to find that his hopes of the British
( title had fitted away.
The quick win of the Dane upset the
I dope in England as regards the light
Z weight championship, for now Wells
viii have HOlberg as a challenger, in
I addition to Welsh. while Ward viii
J have to take a back seat for the time
/ being. 1T will probably result in Hol-
: berg getting the date set for the match
between Wells and Ward. Freddy
! Welsh has also booked a match before
( his meeting with Wells and it is just
possible that another surprise viii be
: sprung, but the chances are not so IA
/ VOfaple' aS fIeooy IS one Oh the Doys
/ who usually play safe, no matter whom
{ he boxes.
The sudden ending of. the Ward
I Holberg bout recalls the time when
Johnny Griffin. the famous "Braintree
/ lad fought Solly Smith at ROby, Ind,
about 1886 Griffin had Smith beaten
( to FRAGILE and in the fourth round
I thought he was out, when he went
I Keeling against the ropes from a right
to the Jaw. SOlIy was practically out.
but the fighting instinct was there and
as he bounded back from the ropes he
Z swung with his right. Griffin had
dropped his hands and was about t.
turn away. when he received the glove
for Johnny. The funny part was that
smith did not realize for fully five min
utes that he had won.
There seems TO be a general misun-
Outstanding regarding the question of
welterWeight champion. When Kid
Mccoy and Tommy Ryan, first began to
star they were the real. goods around
the 144-pound notch, and it was Tommy
who claimed the title at that mark. 1t
shifted between IA and las ringside,
and Joe Walcott who held the cham
plonship for a number of years, also de-
Tended it at th-t weight. Honey Mel
lOdy and Jimmy Gardner also held it
around that figure, or at 142 pounds, at
3 o'clock. The weight has never been
changed and American boxers for the
past 20 years have recognized that
weight as legitimate.
Jimmy Clabby fought Jimmy Gardner
at that weight at New Orleans and,
when Melody was out of it and Gard
ner too heavy, Clabby claimed the title,
defending it against all cOmers Nike
Gibbons fought Clabby three times. but
never at the welterweght limit and.
therefore he could not claim the title,
even If he had beaten Clab5y, which he
did not do; Jimmy winning the first
the last two being no-decision affairs
The title was claimed for Gibbons when
Clabby announced his determination to
enter the middleweight ranks, but it
could not hold, as Nike has not been
able TO make the required weight
At the same time Ray Bronson, the
Indianapolis boxer, who advanced from
the lightweight class, laid claim to the
title and backed it uD with an offer to
defend il against all corners at 142
pounds at o'clock. or 145 ringside
Not only that. but he posted $1,000 TO
back up his claim. Since Bronson
claimed the title, another formidable
candidate has sprung up-Wrdcat
Ferns Of Kansas City, managed by
Jimmy Hurst-and he is sure some
wildcat.
They met in an eight-round bout at
St Louis and it was a wild and woolly (
fight, with hOnOrs even. according to
the various reports, and both boys
claiming the shade They are to be I
matched for another battle and IL
should prove a crackerjack. It is hoped l
they travel over a longer distance so |
that a winner may be declared and let I
the winner be recognized as the well [
terWelght champion Of America. Then
# Packey MCFARLAND wants to forsake !
the lightweight division, let him meet (
the winner Of the BronsOn-Ferns match 1
for the championship.
Jack Johnson, the negro champion OF 4
the world, will not battle with Sam
Langford or Sam McVey in Australia.
as had been arranged a few weeks ago.
Hugh ID. Mcintosh, the Australian pro- /
moter, had offered Johnson $50, 600 to /
meet the two men named above and /
j Johnson had accepted the same. having
signed contract to that effect at Las
vegas. n. NJ, Just before his fight with I
j i'm Flynn on July 4th. but when news /
Of the miXup the negro champion had 7
with a white girl in Chicago was called /
over to Sydney, the man who gave Jack !
his chance at the title, cabled back that /
all negotiations were off. Not only did i
Mr.. Mcintosh offer Johnson $4,000 for
the two fights named. but he offered /
him another $4,000 for a third fight j
with Joe Jeanette. Altogether the Aus
tra-Ilan trip would have netted johnson
close to 510O, 600. The canceling of the
contract by Mr. Mcintosh will mean a
loss Of many thousands OF dollars to
him, as he had contracted with Lang
lord and McVey and paid out coin TO
keep them in waiting for Johnson, but
refused absolutely to go ahead with the !
negotiations after learning the nature {