Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-12-21
We TERAN SCOTS
At KID" BOXER
Of NOWADAYS
By Left Hook.

TACK EVERHARDT, once known
as lightweight champion Of
y the South and in his day about
as tough a bit of fighting mschin-
cry as the American ring ever
knew, bobbed up in Chicago the
other day. Jack found that many
Of the men who were prominent in
the game along about the time he
was doing his best stunts in the
ring were no longer on earth, but
he dug up enough OF the old-ttmers
to have a merry time Of il.
Jack is a fairly prosperous fellow
these days. He has been in South
Africa for the past two years and
did well there. Ii may surprise the
American fight fans to know that
it wasn't so very long ago that Jack
won the middleweight champion
ship OF that country, showing that
even a veteran many times is bet
ter than a bunch Of green hands.
Brings Out Good Point.
Here is a pretty good point that
Jack brought out one day in the
course of a conversation on the
modern fighting man of the light
weight class.
In these days we learn that the
youngster of the game is the whole
thing, and after Il boxer gets to be
70 or SO people are beginning to
figure that he is getting passe."
Jack said
Why, I've seen in several papers
the absolute statements that Al
Wolgast is all through as fight
ing man, thought inspired by his
defeat at the hands of Willie
Richie
And Wolgast is only a little over
"a years old right now. Surely YOU
can't put down a statement like
that as being anything but rot.
Maybe I'm too old fashioned in my
ideas of things now. but hark
back to the old days when the class
was lighting in was fairly bris-
thing with the toughest of the tough
ones. Then a man was considered
only kid at 20 and wasn't fit to be
classified as the real goods until
after he had reached an age Of close
to 80,
No Kid Fighters Then.
We never had any kid fighters
in the old days, Ii is my opinion
that the greatest lightweight that
ever lived, past, present or any
other old time. was the Williams
burg boy. Jack McAuliffe. And let
me tell you that Jack didn't really
get ripe until he was Is years old.
And just look how he has lastedy
Why, he's still able to box well and
looks the picture of health,
THAT Old farmer boy of Illinois.
Billy Myer, one of the greatest of
them all when they left him in his
crude state, but who fell when they
taught him to be clever, was an
other who didn't ripen until he was
Is. The same may be said Of
Frank Erne than whom there was
no greater boxer in the world
Aud take Jack O'Buen. the New
York lightweight. and George Nc
'Faddcn and an the rest of that
gang of heroes Wow. but that was
tough bunch to go up against!
But there wasn't what YOU would
cali a kid in the entire lot Joe
Cans, too, didn't get good until he
was past IS, poor old fellow.
Jack O'keefe a Marvel.
In those days the youngest
lightweight in the business was
Jack O'Keefe, of Chicago. He was
only eighteen when he boxed Jim
my Britt I'm that wonderful contest
out West He was a wonder too
age considered. Perhaps Il was
California, whore they grow things
SO fast that set the fashion Of
rushing kids into the ring and into
desperate matches early I'm their
careers.
AT any rate. they have killed off
many a promising boy by trying to
make champions of them before
they have half attained thcir
growth. Just take the word or am
observing old-timcg for that too.
And who viii say THAT Jach isn't