Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-21

l.-sl-.-.. loose a few hundred
words anent the attitude of one ]. Ar
thur johnson. heavyweight champion of
the world. / take it from the tenor of
.Ioe's maiden effort as a letter writer
that he can hardly be classed as an ar
dent admirer of the present titleholder.
Joe is peeved. In sooth it is no wonder
he feels vexed. Willing to box any
body, no color or creed barred, he finds
Il difficult task to land an occasional
Job: this applies TO the entire bunch Of
heavies from Johnson down to the most
hopeless of the hopes. The champion in
particular refuses to give him a tumble
AT all, and that's what gets Joseph's
goat Therefore, 1t is at the Johnson per-
son tno less) that the Hoboken scrap
per sings his bunch Of libelous Ian
guage
Angry that none of the boxers in this
country, with or without rep" wants
mis- game. and because he finds it neces-
sary to hike to Europe to earn a piece
of money. Jeanette in his arrsignment
Of the champion lands some damaging
blows to the already tottering reputation
of Jefrfes conqueror. lie charges: John
son with cowardice, dubs him '.mov-
ing picture fighter, a four-fusher and
other names that indicate great affection
for the accused: asserts he is champion
only through lucky break: that he
y stalling to avoid meeting Langford or
himself tJeannettel, and knows he will
surely be licked il he boxes either He
brands Jack as an Qverrated champion,
concluding with the declaration that he
made Johnson quit in their match at
Philadelphia and offering to bet 5000
he can do the trick over again. Outside
OF these few failngs the champion is all
right. according to Joe.
Fight followers who doubt Jeannette's
fnr he
peruse the record books to convince them
selves Of his eligibility. If the match
with Lansford arranged for Los Angeles
In July goes through, and he energies a
victor over the doughty tar baby" Joe
declares, he will force johnson to give
him battle or lay down his hand and re-
tire from the game
The newly organized Garden Athletic
Club GMadison Square Garden) has Sc
Iected next Friday for the Packey Nc
Ferland-Matt Wells festivities. 1t has
taken year Of diplomatic negotiation to
match this clever pair. and it will cost
the Garden people a pot of money to give
the show. Terms as announced include 80
Per cent Of the gross receipts for Wells
also half interest in the moving picture
privilege. which nowadays plays an inn
portant part In financing big matches
Out of his share Wells guarantees" Nc
Fariand the sum Of $4,000
Rather an odd arrangement, and I
wonder that Packey consented to such a
epfft- The fight ought to draw a crowd
that win tax the capacity of the huge
arena, and $4,000 is a conservative estf-
mate of the gate And the pictures of
an international affair of the sort will go
big in England, Canada and the United
states. II Wells is In on the profits, 1t
would appear he has the better Of the bar
gain. 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 any one tell you
he is not worthy holder of the light
Packey may have it on him shade in
the matter of speed and boxing skill,
but Wells can boast Of far more than the
average degree of proficiency with the
the men suggest that il Is about an even
break. While 1 lean toward a McFar-
land victory, 1t must be admitted that a
man OF Wells known class always has
chance: therefore. 1 will not be greatly
surprised should the Briton put one over
on the clever Chicagoan.
Mike Gibbons has about cleaned I'D all
the heavy, welter and hight 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
lump right into the middle division and
battle the regular 15S-pounders OF the
istter species several express delight at
the prospect of battling with the St Paul
'phenom." Frank Klaus says the pleas
ure will be all his'n, while Bob Moha in
Inmates that joust with the clever Mi
cheei 10 exactly what the doctor ordered.
had q little chat with Gibbons the
other night-after he had made the highly
fouted JEFF Smith look like a novice-and
asked IL he intended taking on Klaus.
Mona and MeGoorty. Mike replied in
the neSanve. and countered by declaring
'twOuld be foolish to give so much weight
away when he can get 81, 600 guarantees
for boxing men of the size and caliber of
Smith. All well and good SO long as the
supply lasts. but I'm afraid he will find
the available stock about exhausted.
Gibbons IL . great fighter. and to nv
mind can hold his own In the middle divi-
sion. do not think 1t would hurt his
speed in the least to try the building-up
stunt. and few extra pounds OF good
hard muscle might add to the efYectiye.
ness OF his sharp. snappy sting Klaus
will make 1853 ringside, and his rugged
aggressfveness opposed to Mikes wonder.
ful speed should furnish nifty entertain
shoulders above the average scrapper OF
today. He has considerable gray mater
stored In his headpasce; one OF the few
modern boxers who knows the art OF
feint1ng. and therein lies much Of the Be.
cret Of his startling success. We're I di.
recttng bis Affairs ! would not hesitate
to match him over the ten-round route
with any middleweight In the game TO.
day. And. furthermore. think he car
outp01nt them all. with the possible ex
ception Of Eddie McGoorty.
Speaking Of the middle division. TN
Tommy Ryan candidate, Howard Morrow,
Is making pretty fair progress an,
threatens to become q disturbing facto
when Il comes to the nnal adjustment O
the title. saw the younester box fe1
rounds with Nc0oorty at the Nationa
Sporting cub several months ago, an
while the moro experienced boxer earne.
the verdict, tho bout was very clos
throughout and Morrow proved pup
worthy Of his clever master. Ryan /.
satisfied to make haste slowly and be
lieves the best plan to be adopted in tn,
development Of his protege II to give hin
thorough course in the school Of ex
pef4ence.
Johnny Kilbane u overwhelmed witt
challenges Of all sorts these days LArgl
and small, good. bad and Indifferent the,
all want 20 1~x Attelps conqueror. or a
ieast profess that such are their ambt
honG. Johnny D1ndes. the New Yori
ceeth0WU1ghf, Who ecleaned up in the re
cert ollminAt1on tournament, may b,
I, -