Evening star., 1913-07-13

use 1t on the fellows who tear in. Long
\ experience has taught him that. But
| every time Leach has boxed a clever
| man his showing has been very ordinary.
4 and that is the reason why he SO fire.
quentiy enters the ring at a good price
| In the betting.
! Cross beat Anderson easily; the fight
was never I'm doubt, reports said. from
the first round to the finish Bud Is
/ too young in the game apparently to
cope with the New Yorker. 1t was ex-
| perience and ring generalship against a
rushing fighter whose knowledge of the
finer points of the game was nil, and
| the man with the noodle won.
| Leach has advanced in the last year to
i a position of prominence in the light
| weight class. and in all probability will
i be chosen as Ritchie's next opponent.
| California promoters are already bidding
for the match. which If arranged will be
| held Labor day. Cross has certainly
| earned fight with the champion. He
| is better man than l thought and
admit that / underestimated his ability.
Jack Johnson. with a peniten.fary SEN
| tence OF one year hanging over his head
has shaken the dust of this country
| from his broganS for good and ALL AT least
| that is what / was told few days ago
by q Canadian official who enjoyed the
questionable honor of chaperoning the
negro during his recent short stay in
the city of Montreal.
This official said that johnson does
not entertain the slightest intention of
returning to the states. and that he prac-
tically admitted that he wonld spend the
remainder of his days abroad, which, IL
correct. leaves the heavyweight division
in this country. like the middle and
welter classes, without a recognized head.
Never before in the history Of pugilism
has opportunity knocked so loudly at
the doors of ambitious heavyweight box
/ -aAI
son, to all appearances. dead bird and
the present crop Of white hopes ap-
rarently hopeless, what splendid
chance for some ambitious young fellow
watching Smith. Rodell. Norris, Moran.
Willard and Pelkey in action there is no
lodging the fact that the prominent
heavies of today are decidedly poor pros
poets.
According to a local scribe. the boxing
commissioners are worrying about the
lack of interest in boxing in New York
city and are at loss to account for the
slump in patronage.
w. B. Bat Masterson. who contrib
utes entertainingly to a rival sporting
page. has contended all along that the
commissioners themselves are the biggest
knock to the sport Maybe BAT" is
right, but my opinion is that there is
nothing to be worried about. The wealth
er this time of the year makes men
yearn for outdoors and the sports that
flourish there. There is no fun in being
cooped up in fighting club these sultry
nights when a nickel will take one to the
seashore or gain admittance TO an out
| door movie.
| Mike Gibbons is resting" during the
| summer months. This speed merchant
l from ST. Paul says he cannot stand
| training in the hot weather.
| 1 guess Mike could stand the training
loIl rryhf I&rVk wtrk
| gate receipts local clubs are playing to
these days At that the boys will turn
out any old time to see a clever pair of
artists at work. Gibbons would draw
| big in New York. winter or summer. if he
would meet men figuring to have a chance
| with him. Boxing easy marks won't bring
much mazuma to Mike from now on.
He has played the string out and must
/ tackle harder game in the future, or be
| satisfied with small change.
| dispatch from the west states that
Gibbons Is to come back to New York
| in the fall to take on Frank Klaus and
other middleweights aspiring to the
championship. / hope SO. Mike pulled
| the same stuff. though. last year, and
beyond engaging in a tame bout with
McGoorty failed to make good his
promise.
| The great trouble with Gibbons, in
my humble opinion, is lack of confidence;
| he feels that he should weigh more be-
fore fighting the best middleweights. So
! far he has been unable to add any
| amount of healthy tissue to his frame.
| which may be due to a faulty system of
| training. AS a rule Mike enters the
tring around the $50 mark. But he
should remember that class is what
counts in boxing matches. and he has
plenty of it. Tommy Ryan. one Of the
| greatest middleweight champions, and
Jack Dempsey, the famous Nonpareil,
/ were little more than weiters at their
best, still they more than made good in
/ the middleweight division, in many in
stances giving from ten to twenty
pounds away to their most formidable
rivals.
| In limited bouts Gibbons should have
/ little to fear from middleweights. He
| is too fast for any Of the bunch to be
| hurt in a short bout. A ten-round con-
/ test between Klaus and Gibbons would
be interesting chiefly because it would
bring together men with extreme styles
| Of fghting-not that it would teach US
anything we do not already know. which
| is that Gibbons Is a great boxer and
| that Klaus is there with the stamina
thing and built to go the long route.