Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-26
Special Dispatch to The Star.
BY r. s. ANDREWS.


MILWAUKEE, February 26.-While
many Of the sporting people about the
country do not look upon the Johnson
Flynn contest with any great amount
of seriousness. still you cannot help but
stop and ponder over the whole anatr
after discussing matters with Jack Cur
ley. manager OF the white hope" have
never been any too strong for the bout
between johnson and Flynn. being under
the impression that 1t will be repeti-
ton of the time Johnson defeated the
white man in 1907 at San Francisco
via the knockout route.
While in Milwaukee Curley was In q
real serious mood. as he naturally would
be. over the proposed contest. and among
other things he said: You were at
Reno when Jeffries fought johnson.
Now you must admit. and you have no
doubt said before, yourself that Tommy
Burns. Jim Flynn. or any good middle
weight would have defeated Jenries on
| look good for Johnson when 1t required
fifteen rounds for him to defeat man
who was absolutely unfit to engage IN
a grueling contest. / was with Jen-
| ries previous to that match. and know
that the man was in good condition UP
| to within a month of the fight. but after
that he went bad, and something hap
pened to him before the battle that
robbed him OF all chances OF victory
over the black man. but / would bet
contest to try his best. even with the
knowledge that his chances were slim
There was no lay-dOwn on the part OF
JEFF. and you can bet your life on 1t. for
Johnson. and never will have again. How
ever. that is getting away from the white
side of 1t. It took johnson fourteen
| rounds to beat Tommy Burns. who was
only 1874 pounds when he met the colored
man in Australia. Even then Johnson
failed to knock him out. as the pictures
showed Burns in position and requesting
the referee to let him fight on when the
police sergeant called halt. In 1909 Al
Kaufman fought johnson ten rounds In
San Francisco and while jack was given
| the verdict. no less an authority than
the late Billy Delaney. backed up by
public opinion, picked kaufman as the
logical opponent to go against Johnson for
q championship match Then comes
Flynn. who knocks Kaufman out In ten
| rounds at Kansas City. Flynn was
stopped by Langford IN eight .s rounds mo-. N u,
Langford In q ten-round bout previously.
| Langford was at his best at that time.
and Flynn coming along. Since then
Flynn has beaten every man he met. in
men were boosting as the heavyweight to
/ beat Johnson. On the other hand. john
son has not had a fight since he defeated
Jeffrfes nearly two years ago, and you
know as well as that long absence from
the ring does not help a man. Another
thing. johnson has had an easy life and
instead of being thirty-four years Of age.
as he claims. I get 1t from pretty good
is nearer thirty-eisht. and therefore il
past his prime. Flynn is twenty eight
and at his best, and Weighing over $50
pounds, more than he ever did In his life,
pounds difference in their weight when
they meet Now, these are the facts. and
| think Flynn deserves to be given a little
consideration. 1t would not be the first
time that q smaller man has beaten the
champion. and there may be big sur
prise in store for lot of these wise peo-
pie next July. I am not saving that
Flynn will beat johnson. but l win say
that the man has every confidence in
himself to do SO. and he is 30 per cent
better now than when johnson defeated
him five years ago."
Just imagine AID Wolgast. or Abe At-
! tell, or Johnny Coulon going over to Lon
don and being asked to get reputation
| over there. Why, they would laugh at
| such a proposition and take the first
boat home! There Is no reason why such
condition should exist. Sid Smith, the
I
| class. has had probably 200 lights In
England. and worked himself to the top.
the same as Johnny Coulon did In this
country. Smith battled for the Lord
LonsdalA belt before the National Sport
| ing Club Of London. the recognized club
| Of that country. He won the champion
ship fairly, and announced. months ago.
| that he was coming to America to seek
! match with Johnny Coulon for the
worlds title. He came as scheduled.
! with his manager, w. E. Ames. and has
been in New York about two weeks. In
stead of getting the reception he was
| entitled to. the promoters asked him to
! go on with inferior boys to make a show
| ing. This does not seem right. for Smith
came with all the credentials necessary.
and travelled nearly 1900 miles to meet
the American champion for the title.
Manager Ames has done the best thing
possible under the conditions. and has
| matched Smith to met the Louisiana Kid
| in Philadelphia, and another one In New
| York Just to show the people that the
| boy means business, l had a wire from
Mr. Ames, in which he said: why does
Coulon avoid meeting Smith in cham
| pionship match? Coulon Is not worlds
| champion and cannot claim the title un-
less he defeats Smith, who is champion