The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-13
JOHNSON READY TO CALL
 OFF BOUT WITH JIM FLYNN
Jim Cortet Doubts if There is
 Much Fight Left in Champion
~ tBy James J. Corbett, Former Heavy weight Champion of the Worldly
 Special to the Evening Farmer)

New York, April 13-Jack Curley, in has not yet made public his choice o battle ground, and the popular belie Is that he will abandon the project This in the face of MT. Curley's em- phatic declaration that he has never even entertained the idea of. calling be Johnny on the spot May 1, the date set for posting of certain forfeits and that the contest will surely take place as originally planned, unles: Johnson gets cold feet and runs ou, on his agreement
 It is reported the negro is dissatr isfied and ready to call things off SC far as he is concerned. The agita- tion against the apparently one-side6 match is given as the reason fol Johnson's willingness to withdraw but wise ones say he is in possession o1 inside info'' that there is not 8 chance to go through with it, and that lures to the New York and Phi,adel- phia authorities with the hope bf landing some easy money matches ov- CT the limited round route.
 Many rumors are af1oat and it is hard to tell those that are based on facts from the romances of the press agents. but I would willingly gamble that Johnson refuses to entertain propositions to box either Langford or Jeannette under any conditions. un- less guaranteed an enormous sum and given plenty time to prepare for bat tie. I doubt if there is very much fight left in Johnson. Of course. II would appear to be an easy enough job for him to stall through ten rounds of boxing with Al Palzer or any of the white heavies. His ex- perience and knowledge of the game ought to easily carry him through a dash of the kind. He could spurt as the verdict his beyond question of a doubt. There is nobody in the game to-day among the whites who would hope to make it interesting for the champion in a ten round bout, if he is any where near himself. With Lang ford or Jeanette he would not find it such an easy task.
 The point to be taken into consid- eration - will -- Johnson succeed in squaring himself with the New York State Boxing Commission and be al- lowed to show in Gotham? The Com missioners some months ago an- nounced they would not stand for a bout wherein the champion was a principal. But that edict may have been issued with the hope of soaring the negro off for the time being; cer- tainly there is no authority vested in the Commission that permits of such an arbitrary ruling.
 Possibly if a match were arranged between Johnson and a likely aspir- ant of his own color the members of the State Board might be persuaded to reconsider kheir decision to bar the champion. It is thought that a de- sire to checkmate the get-rich-quick plans of a certain New York promoter calling for a series of bouts in which ho1 ho to be offered as sacrifices to John sons superior skill, was the reason for the peremptory ruling of the au- thofities, and that no serious obsta- cles would be placed in the way of the champions appearance in a local ring with an opponent who figured to have a chance.
 Another heavyweight match that was on the fire has been abandoned. Eddie Graney, of San Francisco, had planned a battle between Al Palzer and Bombadier Wells. Engiand's can didate for championship honors. The latter's unreasonable demands fore ed the promoter to. give up his idea of a grand Fourth of July interna tional heavyweight fstic festival.
 While he may not be the great fighter friends and admirers claim, it must be said that Wells entertains
 
 earning capacity. When it came to the point where signatures were necessary to the final clinching of the contest, Wells asked s20,0O0 for his ''bit,'' win, lose or draw Also training expen ses and two round trip tickets be- tween London and Frisco.
 Either the English champion has lit- tie confidence in. his ability to suc- cessful.y cope with the big Iowan or else he has a bad case of the big head. Very likely Palzer's recent de- feat of Al Kaufman has thrown. a traordinary demand was made with the idea of avoiding the match as gracefully as possible.
 Graney is hustling for a substitute for Wells; he has Tom O'Rourke's promise that Palzer will box before his club on the nations birthday. Carl Morris appears to be out of the running and Graney favors Tony Ross, the Pennsylvania Italian. The latter should be able to give Palzer a hard fight If the promoter is unable to land Ross, big Jim Stewart, the Brooklynite who recently outpointed Carl Morris. may be selected.
 Bob Moha, the Milwaukee middle weight Cor light heavyweight, is the sensation of the hour in New York A month ago very few Gotham sports knew Sucn an lnQlVlQudl existed, in spite of the fact that he has been before the public in a professional ca pacity for five or six years, and has the credit of victory on points over Billy Papke. Now the Fasteners are raving about the Milwaukeean and touting him for the middle-weight championship.
 Although he has tipped the beam we'll over the 165 pound mark every time he has stepped on the scales at ringside, as required by the rules in Gotham, Bob claims he can make the middleweight limit without any trouble. Probably he could re- duce to 15S. but I doubt very much that he would be at his best at that figure. If able to do so and at the same time retain his vitality, he looks the best of all the candidatas for titular honors who have appeared in the East. with the possible excep- ton of Eddie McGoorty. Moha is a very nifty performer.
 The beating Bob gave Jim Smith, a local heavyweight, was very impress sive- Smith is not a clever boxer, but an unusually tough individual with a chance to pull down the win ner's end while he has strength left to swing a dangerous right. Yet in Moha's hands he was like a child. After feeling Smith out cautiously during the first few rounds, Bob set Inout waarinr his man down like the