Evening star., 1912-03-10
BY T. S. ANDREWS.
Special Correspondence of The star.

Special Correspondence of The star.
| MILWAUKEE. February o. 1872
The action OF Mayor Carter Harrison
| of Chicago in coming out boldly and stat
| ing that he favors boxing when conducted
| in clean manner. and Furthermore that
he would support and help pass bill to
| legalize boxing under these conditions. is
| to be commended Such action. coming
! as 1t does from man of Carter Harri-
sons standing, may have beneficial ef-
| feet on many people who have opposed
the sport simply because they did not
| understand it, and there is every reason
| to believe that the Illinois legislators will
| endeavOr to pass such law, patterned
after the New York states law, with a few
| amendments which will benefit the sport.
The trouble has been in most cases that
people who opposed boxing did so because
| they wanted something to kick about and
there was less opposition to an attach
on boxing than anything else. AS rule
these same poaple have confounded box
| ing with prize fighting. when they are
really as different as night from day.
although many persons will tell you that
| 1t is all the same-but it is dollars to
peanuts they never saw boxing match
The French government has practically
4
| the reason that it does so much to de-
| velop the youth of the country, and the
| same can be said of Great Britain, the
| home of the sport, for 1t was England
that produced the first champion and
gave us the first set of rules. back in
| 174o, when the famous Jack Broughton
| drew up the rules which were afterward
| improved upon by the Marquis of Queens
bury.
Mayor Harrison's declaration in favor
NJ Is
the takers will go long way toward
putting boxing on a solid foundation. 1t
will encourage other cities and states to
| follow in the same path and endeavor to
pass laws which will legalize the sport,
the same as in New York state It may
result in the formation of a national or
ganiZation, whose purpose it VIII be to
foster the sport and give the same sup
port to it. that is done by various or
ganizations throughout the country in
political and other ways. Milwaukee
| started an organization. of that Kind
some time ago and intends to work along
the same lines in a quiet manner taking
hand in the political game. too. Why
not join hands with the cities seeking to
establish the sport on a sound basis and
work together? 1t might benefit all. The
Milwaukee people are working for the
establishment of a commission in the
large cities TO supervise and control the
sport. 1t seems to be the surest way OF
keeping. the game clean and above board.
1t will come to that some of these days
and then the takers and fake promoters
will he put out for all time.
1t is nothing startling to hear of ath-
letes or boxers becoming homes:ck and
quitting training quarters at times. but it
is something new to have a fighter give
up a worlds championship match just
because he grew a bit homesick. Well.
that is what happened to Sid Smith. the
English l12-pound champion, who came
fn OH he
baEtamweight title Of the world. Smith
had won the Lord Lonsdale belt in Eng
land, embiematic of the 112-pound cham
pionship, which is nearly the same as
our bantamweight class, and together with
his manager. W. E. Ames, had decided
to go after Coulon for an International
match They arrived in New York Janu-
ary !. being accompanied by Billy Mar
! Smith. although being champion of Eng
| land. found it hard to get matches. in the
| states without first showing his ability.
He had two matches. one in New York
and another in Philadelphia, winning both
| easily. Then he got a match with frankie
Burns at New Orleans for March II, with
another twenty-round bout to follow with
Johnny Coulon for the worlds title, which
Smith and party. for the two matches
| would have drawn not less than 5000 to
$4,000 each. But 10 and behold! Mr..
Smith suddenly disappeared and upon in
that Sid had booked his passage back to
England. stating that he was homesick
and wishing his manager good luck.
There was no stopping the little fellow;
he had simply flown the coop and there
was nothing left for Ames to do but call
the match off and offer to substitute Billy
Marchant against any man in the coun-
try from 126 to 133 pounds. Marchant,
who has made sensational showing in
the few bouts he has had in Philadelphia
and New York, offered TO take on Joe
Mandot the southern lightweight cham-
pion, at 1873 to 135 pounds. and to make
12t pounds at O'Clock for Johnny Kill
bane, the featherweight champion Mar
chant came over for the purpose. of meet
Ing Abe Attel in a championship match.
but the Cleveland boy spoiled Abe's
will have to look to Kilbane for enter
tainment. The White boys of Chicago
have been casting about for the stars Of
the country to match up with. SO why
not have some club match either Charlie
or Jack White with Marchant at 124
pounds, which will suit either of the
Whites. although Charlie can make the
featherweight limit without trouble. But
of the entire lot Marchant says he is
after Kilbane, as he came over for
championship match and would like to be
accommodated.
Johnny Coulon.. the bantamweight
champion. will have to watch his crown
closer than ever before. for there are
Ichallengers after him from all directions.
There was time not SO far distant
when a champion in this country had
nothing to fear but boxers of his own
nationality, but now they are coming
from all sides. Not only England and
Australia, but France IS sending repre-
sentatives to gather in the titles. Sid
Smith, the English 112-pounder who was
after Coul0n will have to watch his own
title. for a new challenger has appeared
on the scene in the person of Young Lee
doux. the French champion, who recently
defeated Digger Stanley, the British 49,
pound champion, and Joe Bowker. the
former title holder. These are two high
class men and 1t shows that the French
boy is not to be considered lightly
Through his manager, EmeIio CUTLER, the
French champion writes me as follows:
Paris, February "A. 1912. Dear sir:
Last month Ledoux defeated Joe Bowker
and also Digger Stanley. l beg to inform
you that LedOux would like to meet
Johnny Coulon, the worlds champion,
for a big match and the championship.
or he would meet Harry Forbes or
frankie Burns. We would like to have
your opinion regarding such match
and what the conditions would be. Lee
doux has beaten all the French boys of
his weight (Which is bantam) and prefers
meeting with Coulon to all others.
Yours tr,,ly Il Eniller and od0ux