The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-20
JEANETTE HAS TO GO
ABROAD TO Get MATCH
Jim CoTbett Says Johnson Is
Afraid To Meet Hard Hitting
Dinge
written for the Farmer by James j.
Ccrbett, former Heavyweight
Champion of the WORLDLY

written for the Farmer by James j.
Ccrbett, former Heavyweight
Champion of the WORLDLY
On the eve of departure for Paris,
nrhere he hopes to utilize Fred Stor-
beck, the South African champion (?),
as a means of replenishing his dwin-
ding bank account. Joe Jeanette, the
negro boxer. usually a person of great
reserve and taciturnity, grabbed his
krusty fountain pen and let loose a
kew hundred words anent the attitude
scf one J. Arthur Johnson, heavy
tyTe;ght champion of the world. / take
1t. from the tenor of Joe's maiden ef-
tort as a letter writer that he can
hardly be classed as an ardent admir-
<r Of the present titleholder.
Joe il peeved. In sooth it Is no won
der he feels vexed. Willing to box
finds 1t a difficult task to land an Oc-
casional job: this applies to the en-
tire bunch of heavies from johnson
down to the most hopeless of the
hopes. The champion in particular
refuses to give him q tumble at all,
Therefore 1t Is at the Johnson person
Sno less) that the Hoboken scrapper
slings his bunch of libelous language
Angry that none of the boxers In
this country. with or without rep"
wants his game, and because he finds
A. necessary to hike to Europe to
.Rarn a piece of money, Jeanette in his
arraignment of the champion lands
some damaging blows to the already
fottering reputation of Jenries' con-
uueror. He CHARGES Johnson with
cowardice, dubs him a moving pic
lure fighter. q four-flusher and other
names that Indicate great affection for
the accused: asserts he Is champion
only through q slucky break, that
he il stalling to avoid meeting Lang
he will surely be licked If he boxes
either He brands Jack as an over
rated champion, concluding with the
declaration that he made Johnson quit
In their match at Philadelphia and Of
.fering to bet 5000 he can do the
failinRs the champion Is all right, &C
Fight followers who doubt jean.
nette's right to challenge for the title
need only peruse the record books to
convince themselves of his eligibility
II the match with Langford arranged
for Los Angeles in July goes through
and he energies a victor over the
doughty tar baby" Joe declares he
win force johnson to give him battle
or lay down his hand and retire from
the game.
The newly organized Garden Athletic
Club CMadison Square Garden). has
selected next Friday for the Packey
McFarland-Matt Wells festivities. 1t
has taken q year Of diplomatic nego-
fiation to match this clever pair and
1t will cost the Garden people a pot of
money to give the show. Terms as
announced include 50 per cent Of the
gross receipts for Wells, also a half
interest in the moving picture priv
ilege which nowadays plays an i'm
portant part in financing big matches.
Out of his share Wells guarantees"
Mcfarland the sum of $4,000.
Rather an odd arrangement and 1
wonder that Packey consented to
such split The fight ought to draw
a crowd that will tax the capacity Of
the huge arena and $4,000 is con-
the pictures of an international affair
OF the sort Will go big in England,
Canada and the United States If
Wells il in on the profits it would
appear he has the best OF the, bargain:
Packey probably prefers to get his
in a lump and believes that dough
in kick is better than taking a
chance on the movies
As to the battle, it should prove a
splendid exhibition. Wells is high
class man. Don't let anyone tell you
he is not worthy holder Of the light
weight championship of Great Britain.
Packey may have it on him a shade
in the matter of speed and boxing
skill, but Wells can boast of far more
than the average degree of proficiency
the records of the men suggest that
ii is about an even break. While
lean towards a Mcfarland victory, it
must be admitted that a mani of
Wells known class always has a
chance; therefore / will not be greatly
surprised should the Briton put one
over on the clever ChicagOan.
Mike Gibbons has about cleaned up
all the heavy weller and light middle
weights in the East, and will have
TO look elsewhere for worthy rivals
from now on unless he decides to take
a hop, skip and jump right into the
middle division and battle the regular
15s FOUNDERS. OF the latter species
several express delight at the pros
pect of battling with the st. Paul
.sphenom-" Frank Klaus says the
pleasure viii be all his'n, while Bob
Moha intimates that joust with the
clever Michael is exactly what the
doctor ordered.
had a little chat with Gibbons the
other night-after he had made the
highly touted jeff Smith look like a
novice-and asked if he intended TAX
ing Klaus, Mocha and McGoorty. Mike
replied in the negative and countered
nv declaring 'twould be foolish to give
80 much weight away when he can get
s., 900 guarantee for boxing men of the
size and calibre of Smith. All we'll
and good so long as the supply lasts,
but I'm afraid he will find the avail
able stock about exhausted.
Gibbons Is e great fighter and to
my mind can hold his own in the
middle division. 1 do not think it
would hurt his speed in the least to
try the building up stunt, and a few
extra pounds of good hard muscle
might add to the effectiveness of his
sharp snappy sting. Klaus will make
l5S ringside and his rugged aggressive
ness opposed to Mikes wonderful
speed should furnish nifty entertain
nlent for the fans. Gibbons is head
and shoulders above the average
scrapper of to-day. He has consd-
cradle gray matter stored in his head
piece: one of the few modern boxers
who knows the art of feinting, and
therein lies much of the secret of his
startling success. Were I directing
his affairs 1 would not hesitate to
match him over the ten round route
with any middle-weight in the game
to-day. And furthermore l think he
can outpoint them. all, with the pos
sibie exception of Eddie McGoorty.
Speaking of the middle division, the
Tommy RYAN candidate, Howard