El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-22

G
I nj late considerable newspaper
= space has been devoted to a
revival of the much argued question,
I Is boxing keeping pace in the matter
/ Of improvement with progress in other
lines of spOrt2" The older writer's as
a rVle contend that the sport from a
scientific standpoint has deleriorated,
while the younger element argues the
performances Of modern opponents of
the art OF hit stop and get away do
not suffer in comparison with the
achievements Of the stars Of former
days. Recently / have received several
letters with requests for a public eX-
preston of my opinion on the subject.
1 hope 1 viii not be put down as a
prejudiced old timer when I say that
in my opinion the quality Of boxers
has deteriorated in recent years. In
point Of science and skill the stars OF
3 a decade or two ago, and this applies
to every class or division, excelled
present day boxers
For this condition of affairs the fol-
lowers of boxing are 10 blame to
great extent The public taste has de-
Perforated and along with 1t the class
OF boNlnS exhibitions me boxer VINO
brings into play the skill and science
with which nature has endowed him.
and tuition has developed. is given
scant encouragement and support by
the present day fight fans.
The average modern contest resolves
into a question Of which boxer lands
. the first convincing WallOp. Wild
swings and lunGes are the order of
the daV. Let a contestant attempt to
! Introduce a bit Of feinung, ducking or
, the crowd hOWls for the rough stuff"
This does not tend to encourage box
ers or to improve the character Of the
sport
There a-e a few really good box
ers in the game at present. but am
sorry to say they are in the minority.
Packey Mcfarland is probably the most
Skillful modern exponent Of the sci
ence, and ranking close to him are
Mike Gibbons, Freddy Welsh, Willie
Richie and Johnny Kilbane.
But not to waste any more space
than necessary and as evidence that
present day boxers do not class with
the old timers in point Of skin. I viii
submit the names of a few stars OF
10 to 20 years ago in support Of my
argument.
In the ranks of the heavies there
were Peter Jackson, one of the great
est boxers who ever pulled on a glove;
Bob F1tzs1mmons and Kid Mccoy IN
the lighter divisions Tommy Ryan, Joe
WOlcOtt. Jack McAuliffe. Young Critic,
Frank Erne, Joe Cans and George Dix
on were stars that in brilliancy Of per-
Torrance and boxing skill have very
few. If any. equals at the present time
There IS not one really clever boxer
among the heavvwetghts Of today. with
the possible exception Of BOmbardler
Wells, and he apparently lacks the
stamina to ever become champion. 1
do not except Johnson, LangfOrd or
Jeanette. The present title holder is
my idea of the poorest specimen that
H..
LangfOrd and Jeanette are not skilful
boxers, and have acquired regulations
by beating second raters- The McCar-
tvs Willards and Palzers are Jokes
and would not have attained the slight
est degree Of prominence ten years
ago
the middleweiehts who classes with
the TOMMY Ryan Of ten years agOZ
and where are the good WelteTs OF
today? Mike Gibbons appears to dOmi-
Among Light
weights we have Mcfarland, Richie
ana Welsh, and Of the trio only Nc
gests he would have made fitting
nrponen, for Cans or Erne had he
been contemporary with those great
Among the little fellows there are
no George DiXOns- At that there is
greater percentage. Of good boxers
division Under this classification we
can include Jem DriscoI, and he is
practically veteran kilbane and
Jimmy Walsh, OF Boston who IS a
great boxer and has never been given
the credit his records calls for. Walsh
has. unfortunately for him, been forced
ing weight being in the neighbOrhoOd
Of rs pounds, which Is Just betWiXt
and between the bantams and the
Comparisons Of past performances
with present day achievements do not
always prove a case one way or the
INC Jul o. SUI VI NS-+A.-~e--Ae5 -.---N
between the two generations. I be
Heve I am qualified TO judge OF the
quality Of the modern crop OF box
ers as wei as that Of the former stars
OF the ring. From a standpoint of
boxing skill. the science Of attack and
defence. / do not hesitate to say that
the game has deteriorated a great
deal.
'Kid" Williams. the Baltimore ban
tam, demonstrated in the recent en-
counter with Eddie Campi that he is
entitled to a match with Johnny COu-
Ion for the championship. The latter
boxer, to judge from Wuliams's per-
Torrance against Campi. viii have his
work cut out to retain the title
Williams has issued a formal chal-
lenge to the bantam champion and Tom
McCarey has offered to stage the bout
COulon has not as vet accepted the {
terms offered and appears in no great I
hurry to try conclusions with the 7
kid" When the boys boxed in New
York last summer TIE champion was
plainly worsted and probably figures
his chances to win would not be greater +
in a long match Williams is a won 4
derfully tough youngster and has en-
DURANGO TO burn. CoulOn NAV have il 7
on him in boxing skin, but the differ 4
ence in that respect is not very great. I
and the kid" is constantly imDrOv-
ing. while Johnny's recent work indi- /
Gated he had already hit the back trail /
Luther McCarty is being subjected I
to severe criticism for backing out Of /