The San Francisco call and post., 1913-12-10

a bet except on the champion. The
Murphy shouters have faded away,
fallen by the wayside. Only a small
army of them was on hand this morn
ing TO deliver their speeches in his
favor, while the Ritchie supporters
Were around in flocks and droves.
Everybody expects wonderful bat
tie They look for Murphy to fight
and tear and plug away while there
is an ounce of strength left in him.
They look for Ritchie to take the lead
and maintain 1t, for they believe that
his class. his speed and his ability to
deliver telling punch win more than
OFFSET the experience, grit and ring
tactics of his rival.
RITCHIE FIGURES BEST
The champion has so many physical
advantages that he figures choice
over his rival at the first glance. He
is larger. stronger, has longer reach,
weighs more and has about six years
the better of 1T In age. He also ex-
cells in boxing skill and according to
the records of the two men. his punch
carries more steam behind it than
that Of Murphy's.
The New Yorker is veteran
campaigner who has met the best of
for his brilliancy around his own
home or in the other cities of the
east where he fought for so many
years. But at the same time, they
We're all willing to admit that it
would take a real champion to beat
him, especially over the twenty
round route.
1t will be a battle where condition
and hitting powers should tell the
f-1 h.
strong and fit in order to go twenty
rounds or a fair fraction thereof. If
the battle goes the limit, the man
who has done the leading and landed
the cleaner blows Will be handed the
palm of victory by referee Jim
Griffin, a fair minded ring official.
According TO the figures of those
wise men Of hstdom, Ritchie will be
far and away in the lead in the event
that the battle does not end. ere the
gong sounds the end of the TWEEN
tieth period. It is their belief that
his youth, strength. cleverness and
weight viii carry him through and
prove too much of handicap for his
veteran opponent to overcome.
KNOCKOUT IN DOUBT
The betting was brisk this morning
that Ritchie would win within twenty
rounds. Both sides seemed to be
willing to risk their good money on
this, although the Rithcie boosters
were in the majority.
Many of the Ritchie men, unable
TO secure Murphy takers when they
offered a twenty round basis came
down to eighteen. Here the Murphy
followers began to wake up and many
thousand dollars were poured in.
Thus it can be seen that the betting
men are figuring the battle very
closely. The admirers OF Ritchie are
leading on confidence, but at the
same time, those who are stringing
with Murphy believe that he will be
a meal ticket for them simply by
preventing Ritchie from stopping him.
Both men are past masters at the
game of attack and defense and this
IS enough to insure a battle that
should be replete with every feature
q that makes the staid ones forget that
dignity ever existed and makes the
nervous ones impossible. There is
no reason why the champion and the
challenger should not furnish San
Francisco with one of the greatest
glove battles it ever seen and this
Is asking lot of them too.
BOTH IN CONDITION
If there is anything wrong with
the physical condition of either con-
testant. the defect is not visible to
the naked eye and so far as is known,
nobody went to the trouble of putting
them under the microscope. They
look as fit as any two fighters who
ever faced each other here and there
have been no rumors to the contrary.
The battle plans of the rival gladia-
tors are veiled in mystery, but the
chances are they will fight as they
usually have fought in the past.
Fighters seldom switch from the
style with which they have met with
success in former battles. They don't
care to take long chances.
Murphy is one of those ring per-
formers who likes to bore in and
keep close. He plays for the body Of
his opponent and If the latter is care
less enough to leave his head exposed,
the Harlemite is in the habit Of de-
voting his attentions to that section.
TO him must be handed the honor of
being as busy a ringman as we ever
seen in action. He is a past master
ct the art of generalship and he
knows the game.
The champion has a puzzling style.
To some he appears clever; to others
he IS awkward. His brief but SEN
sational record shows that he is a
sort of a combination of boxer, mixer
and knockerout. He Is a wonder at
Rrasping an opportunity. He showed
this when he dropped Wolgast in the
sixteenth round. which was about
the only round that the champion left
his head uncovered.
There is little doubt but that
Ritchie will be able to land on
Murphy. Most of them have been
able to hit him in the past. The New
Yorker Is a better charger than a
retreater. But hes has managed TO
weather many a rough storm during
the past fourteen years and he may
have just vitality enough left to fur
nish the pugilistic world with another
surprise.
GATES TO OPEN EARLY
Promoter Jim CofYroth proposes to
open his Eighth street arena early sc
as to accommodate the big crowd. The
bIeacher gates will open at o'clock
and the main gates an hour later
There will be two six round prelim-
lnaries, the first between Mickey Ho-
gan and Kid Bertelson at $50 and the
second between Owen Hooker and Ed
die Miller at $40. The main event Ii
billed to start promptly at s:15.
The articles call for Murphy and
Ritchie to step on the scales one houl
before the battle and make 135 pounds
That both will do this poundage hand.
lily enough is conceded They were
well within the limit this morning
and il necessary they can work off {
few ounces today.
The champion will be attended b.
TwmT- ~rr41 n