Evening star., 1913-12-07

huOWS It.
With Cross and Rivers out of the rum
ming for the time being. anything worth
While IN the way Of opposition to the
champions S claim on the title will have
to come from Freddy Welsh or Jack
Britton-always reckoning, Packey Nc
F'arland out of the argument-or possibly
Young Joe Shugrue or Jimmy Duffy. the
Buffalo sensation. And from what | hear
about Britton lately Jack is finding 13J
ringside no more to his liking than Nc
Fariand does. !f that's the case il is a
pity for ii puts a mighty good man out
OF the running for the lightweight title.
Welsh appears TO have a better claim
Tor a match with Ritchie than any one
else He can MAKE the weight all right,
and his standing in pugilism certainly
entities him to consideration. While it
is true Freddy did not show up so Well
III a bout with local youngster recent
| ly, his failure to display top form was
! more tnan likely due to lax training.
Then. again this young. fellow-Phil
Bloom, if | remember the name correct
ly-is a sturdy lad and able to take con-
siderable beating without showing the
white feather. and Welsh was never
noted for knocking men out. Freddy s
game is scientific boxing. and a peek at
his record will show that his splendid
reputation was established by strict ad-
herence to the clever stuff.
1 would like to see Ritchie and Welsh
matched. Last time | had the Pleasure
of watching Freddy box ] was impress
ed with his science. An idea OF his great
skill with the gloves may be gathered
from the fact that he has met McE'ar
land three times III limited-round
matches and has twice drawD with that
clever exponent of the art
Ritchie and Welsh ought to put up an
interesting and very fast exhibition.
There are those who profess to believe
AnaYIa2nrS
prove the undoing of the British cham
pion, but il should not be forgotten that
Welsh is one OF the very few boxers who
holds a verdict over Ritchie. OF course
you can say that happened two years
ago. when Welsh was at top form and
Willie had barely graduated from the
preliminary class. but just the same, it
is down there III the record book in black
and white as a victory for the English
champion.
Do not imagine l am touting Welsh to
lick Ritchie. i am not. j do not think
there a legitimate lightweight in the
game who could get better than the small
end of a purse in distance bout with
Willie, although in six or even ten
round go Welsh might outpoint him. 1t
is no easy task to get to a shifty fellow
like Welsh often enough or hard enough
to stop him in a ten-round contest.
But in a long match-well, | believe
Ritchie too firmly seated on the light
NelsNt throne 10 De loose py w clST
or any other lightweight now before the
public.
Jack Britton went over his head in
Brooklyn the other night. Foxy Dan
Morgan, who represents Britton, seldom
makes mistakes in matchmaking, but
when he agreed to let his stable star box
Mike Glover, the Boston welterweight,
thinking he had plucked a lemon, Sir
Daniel pulled 4 bone.
Glover evidently is one of the classiest
welters in the country right now. Amy
140-pound boy who can outpoint Britton
so cleverly in limited round contest
must. have class to spare. For quite a
little while Glover has been pestering To-
cal promoters for u match with Packey
Mcfarland at 40 pounds. but every body
naturally figured Mike was shooting bit
too high, and advised him TO first go get
a rep which would warrant him in ask
ing for a bout with a man of the caliber
of the great Packey. Now. however, since
his great display of ring work against
Britton both matchmakers and critics are
strong for McFarland-Glover bout.
While Packey has not yet been APP
preached. it is thought he win not be
averSe to match with Glover. He has
been keeping in splendid shape lately by
boxing about once a week-with welters
exclusively at that. which makes it look
as if he intended to devote his efforts to
that division for the future of his ca
reer.
Glover may be just the fellow who can
put Mcfarland 10 the test. Naturally
Mike Gibbons would be our choice. but at
that he may he too heavy for the stocx-
" rds champion. Glover and Mcfarland
would scale about the same figure AT
their best, and. Judging from what he did
to Britton. the Boston man would extend
Packey more than any other fellow has
been able to do in recent years.