The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-04-05
(By James J. COrbett, Former Heavy. weight Champion of the Worldly

fellows for the next few weeks. The
 heavies are relegated to the rear for
 the time being.
 The first big production is to be staged at the St. Nicholas Athletic Clubs arena in New York City, and the principal parts will be taken by
 Senor Jose Rivers, of Southern Cal
 ifornia, and Dr. Louis Wallach, bet
 ter known to fame as Leach Cross, of
 Gotham.
 Two weeks later Ad WoIgast, for
 mer light-weight cham mpion, and liar lem Tommy Murphy will box a. twen-
 ty round return engagement. Vol
 gast is stalking his future in the ring on the result of this match. And on April 26, three weeks from to-day,
 Johnny KiIbane is to defend his feath-
 erweisht title from the attack of
 Johnny Dundee, a New York boy,
 without doubt one of the best of younger feathers.
 The Rivers-Cross contest was ar ranged months ago, bat interest in the bout has been greatly enhanced by the local boys recent knockout vic tory over Joe Mandot. Mandot and Rivers have twice gone the full twen- ty round course, and are even steven on the decision thing, New Orleans Joe copping the first and Los Angeles Joe getting brackets in the second. Cross defeat of Mandot has not a1- tered Rivers opinion that he will prove the master in next weeks bout.
 Rivers and Cross put up an unus- ually interesting set-to last January. It was for ten rounds and the only fair decision a referee could have rem dered would have been a draw. Trues in the closing round Cross was nearly
 exhausted and 1t is doubtful if he could have stuck it out another three
 minutes. But in the early part of sshe. going Leach had decidedly the best of the argument, and on points it was about an even thing. A mis- take most common with the average referee is to allow condition at the end of a limited match to influence him in giving a decision, when in many instances the weaker boxer has led on points until the last minute two of fighting. While Cross was a bit groggy at the finish it would have been doing him an injustice to award the verdict to the Los Angelan.
 would like to be in New York for Tuesdays bout. It ought to be a hummer. Neither boy can truth fully be called a scientific boxer, but Rivers is such an aggressive little par ty that he forces an opponent to step his fastest a matter of self-protec- ton, and that's just what a sluggish type of fighter like Cross needs to show at his best. Leach always looks good when the other fellow brings the battle to him. At that their style of boxing is similar. By which I mean their methods of offense and defense, although there is less monotony in Joe's as he changes his tactics con stant1y. Rivers would be the big gest kind of a mark for a boxer of the scientific brand like Mcfarland or Welsh in a short bout, just as Cross 1 is invariably made to look foolish l whenever he gets after the clever boys, 1 but Joe's endurance is remarkable l and he would be dangerous oppon- | ent for any man of his weight over the longer route.
 Rivers has d splendid psysique for a successful lightweight. He is far more rugged than the average fighter, | has wonderful chest and powerful | shoulders, and the necessary punch | ing power to finish an opponent once he gets him going. Cross does not stack up half so we'll from a physical | standpoint. In fact Leach does not | look one-half the tough proposition he has developed into recently. He is a very deceptive individual, is Cross. He | looks like a mark, but he is dan | gerous man to take chances with. | To look him over one would not i'm agine that he carried a TX. O." punch. but there are few of his weight | who hit harder. Possibly Rivers is | one of the few.
 However, it is not always the scrap per with the greater physical develop ment who brings home the bacon, al- though where boys are evenly match edd in point Of skill the fellow with the strength has just that much of percentage in his favor. And that's where I figure Rivers advantage and look for him to earn the popular yer dict.
 But I will not be surprised if either lad wins with a knockout.
 Kilbane and Dundee should furnish Los Angeles fans with some good sport. The latter with his pyrotech- nical style of boxing never fails to create an impression on those who like plenty of action, even though that method is not particularly effec- tive. From what I've seen of Kill bane I like his style very much. He is clever, heady boxer, one who has excellent control of himself In the ring and not likely to permit the roofing of the fans for or against him to upset his plan of battle. He has shown on several occasions that he is a hard hitter, but like the intel Iigent young man he believes in talk ing no unnecessary risks to win with one punch. As a rule he is satis- fled to outpoint his rivals, and while he continues along those lines will be in little danger Of losing his title for some time to come. Certainly there are no feathers among the present crop who look good enough to upset the dope on Atte1Ps conqueror.
 The great twenty round battle Ad WoIgast and Tommy Murphy put up last February means that Jim Golf roth will have banner crowd at his nrena April 19- The San Francisco critics agreed that it was one of the T.-cest fights ever held on the coast, md as they have had majority of he cIassiest lightweight bouts out that way for the past ten years or So, the scribes ought to have a pretty good line.
 Some admirer of Murphy has ta- aen the trouble to send me 8 clipping