El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-03

A REAL championship battle be-
~ tween lightweights is scheduled
y for the Fourth Of July in Cali
Iornia when Willie Ritchie. the present
-ol1ef, meets Joe Rivers, the Los An
5eLes DOys who has come to the front
--E past year IN great style.
u VIII be the first battle for the
t-l-e IN over eight months. Ritchie hav-
4IS Won the championship from Ad
W olgast on November Is Richie.
uhuer the ring rulings, should have de-
1ended his title sooner. as six months
IS the usual limit Of time eIapsing
AFTER title match, before another is
-ol5nl ttltch1e, however, was tied up
WIN theatrical contracts and could not
Wen 8es away from them, or no doubt
ne would have fought sooner.
There IS always unusual interest in
a lightweight championship match, and
coming on the big holiday date, viii
create all the more interest among
the followers Of the game.
The question that is agitatins the
minds of Rltchie's friends is whether
the stage life he has been following
VIII have any i'll effects on his fight
ING when he gets into the ring again.
Il must be said to Willie's credit that
he is a very model athlete, Ofe and on
the stage, and he has kept in fair con-
ditOn all the while by the careful
handling Of his manager. Billy Nolan.
The latter knows the pitfalls of the
stage and he has steered Willie away
from the same. Many boxers had their
fighting spoiled by stage boxing. get
ting into the habit Of hitting too light
with the big gloves, but manager Nolan
has overcome this drawback to con-
which Richie Wa0Oped for all he was
worth. 1t gave him a chance to cut
loose with all his strength and not
pun his blows he has met boxers
OF all styles on the trip and this no
doubt has added TO his cleverness
rather than hurt it.
Rivers, by his defeat OF Joe Mandot
the southern champion, and Knockout
Brown, with q paper decision over
Leach Cross, makes him a very fOrmid-
able opponent for Richie. Rivers is
no doubt on a par with the best light
weights and should be able TO make
Richie show his best form to win
What the fans would like to see, how
ever is a match between the winner
and Freddy Welsh. the English cham
Heon- for the worlds title. for Welsh
is certainly in line for such a match
Freddy has q clear title 10 the cham
piOnship Of Great Britain and Aus
tralia, so it is up to Richie to meet
him for the worlds title.
One Of the greatest battles between
featherWeights ever fought took place
in Milwaukee when Patsy Birmingham,
the Pittsburg- 122 FOUNDER and former
crack bantam. met Matty McCue, the
Racine WhirlWind, who has been
handing the sleep producer to all he
has met Of late. The Racine boy met
his master over the short route in
Brannigan. for had a decision been
rendered Patsy would have had IL, not
by a big shade but by a fair margin.
The contest reminded some of the old
timers Of the times when Johnny Grif-
fin. the Braintree lad. fought with
such stars as Solly Smith, George Dix
on, George SiddOns and the like The
bout went ten rounds and there was
not an idle moment during the entire
ten sessions II was case Of clever
ness against strength and in this case
the clever chap won. Over the long
route. however. IL is good bet that
the Racine Dane would take home the
bacon for he was just beginning to
get his bearings the last two rounds
and fought the way he should have
started out Instead Of trying TO force