The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-10-17
BOXERS SHOULD
I. STAY IN CLASS
Many Ring Careers Ruined by In.
!. equal Engagement

They say a good little man can al
ways beat q big one. but he can't
not II the big man Is proportionately
good. Faith in the old saying has
stopped some of the best little fighters
the game produced.
Go back to the days of George Dix
on. George fought at the bantam
weight limit. lis pounds. and then at
the featherweight limit. which was 11S.
lie almost constantly met men 10
whom he conceded several pounds OF
weight And finally the end came
The Nemesis was Terry McGovern
the terrible. Terry fought Dixon for
the featherweight championship. Nc
Govern weighed 1872 pounds. He beat
Dixon.
Then what happened to McGovern
Did Terry let the fate Of his predeces-
sor serve as example? Not much. Ter
ry took them on eighing pounds
more than ne weighed. And his end
also came in the same way that Dix
ons mad arrived, McGovern fought
Young Corbett for the title. Corbett
weighed lee pounds. He beat Me-
Govern In two rounds.
And did Young Corbett let the fate
of Dixon and Terry McGovern stand
as an example to him? He did not.
He agreed TO fight Jimmy Britt. and
the versatile James weighed 1873 lbs.
just the lightweight limit. Britt clos
cd the career OF Young Corbett He
whipped him, and Nelson came along
and whipped Britt.
Take the case Of Kid Lavigne. whom
George Sller called the greatest lgiht-
weight who ever laced on a boxing
glove" There was some excuse for
Lavigne. He won the lightweight
championship and cleaned up every
body In his class. He had to meet
bigger men or quit fighting. He con-
stantly left his class to battle. He met
Dick Burge In England. Burge was
welterweight AMI stood five inches
taller than the Saginaw Kid. but La
vigne whipped him 1t took him sew
enteen rounds of fierce lighting to ac-
complish 1t.
Lavigne bucked the rule of weight.
and 1t finally got him the way 1t got
all those who went before him. His
finish came when he tackled Myster-
ious Billy Smith. a welterweight and
also one of the toughest battlers In
the history of the ring. Lavigne went
up against him, and in the fourteenth
round of that fight on the coast March
10. 1899. Lavigzne's brother tossed up
the sponge to save George.
The Saginaw Kid was never good
afterward. Lavigne had three ribs
as lightweight title holder was prac-
tically closed. July 8. 1899. he met
Frank Erne I'm Buffalo. The light
weight title was at stake Erne beat
Lavigne in twenty rounds.
Erne's Nemesis was RUDE Ferns. At
that time Ferns was .welterweight
champion Ferns and Erne met Sept
%, 1901. at Fort Erie. Erne was
Knocked out I'm the ninth round. That
finished Erne. for In the following
May, Joe Cans Knocked him out in
the first round In a fight for the title,
staged ut Fort Erie. the same ring In
which Ferns had stopped the clever
Erne.
And SO on down the line. Whenever
they get out OF their weight they take
chance. Tommy Ryan as welter-
weight title holder took on Kid Nc
Coy. The adventurous Norman Selby
was fighting under the name Of Me-
Coy at the middleweight limit. Nc
Coy beat Ryan In fifteen rounds.
Taking off weight constantly is as
bad as giving weight. Joe Cans killed
himself getting down to the light
weight limit. and Battling Nelson can
blame his loss Of the title on weaken
ting himself to reduce his weight "a
1873 pounds. The task was too big. The
best boys and the big money rested In
The lightweight division. SO Cans and
Nelson hung on as long as drying on,
processes. starvation and physical tor
ture enabled them to make 1873 pounds.
II beat Nelson. and II killed Cans.