Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-26

mako the champion
nervous or anything like that. but 1t real
~ did take him long time to burst into
the local game.
It is through TO fault OF Ritchic's. how
ever. that he has been so tardy about ex-
hihiting his skill In New York. Not SO
very long ago when Willie was mere
sparring partner in the camp or the great
Packcy Mcfarland, he tried hard to get
a match here. but without success. And
Willie was not looking for easy marks,
either. Leach Cross was as good as any
thing We had locally at the tiIne-as he
Is now-and II was at the Hebrew that
Richie aimed his challenge in particular.
But. as Cross has frankly confessed since
then. he had heard thing or two about
the young Californian and could see no
good reason why he should take on what
promised to develop into hard job un-
less well paid for it. and by no stretch
OF the imagination could Richie be fig
ured as drawing card at that time.
I;believe Leach ducked out of it by tell
Ing Richie tc ''go get rep before ask
ing a match with such a famous fighter
rs himself And Ritchie took his advice.
Or, at least. he got the rep all right.
And now things are a bit different. 1t
was Cross who asked for the match this
time And to Rttchie's credit be It said
that he Was generous enough to forgive
the local man the siurs on his reputation.
Willie doesn't care whom he meets In the
ring. AS long as his weight conditions
prevail and his terms are met by the pro-
moters the champion doesn't give a hang
who his opponent may sbe.
And that goes for Pacliey Mcfarland.
too" Willie told me after watching the
Chicagoan make Tommy Murphy look
like boy who had never had boxing
gloves on before. but Packey Will have
to make 1S6 ringside for me or no fight
Richie does not underrate Cross. In
fact. he has considerable respect for the
waiicp the local boy carries. Willie saw
Leach put toush customer away few
weeks ago-Young Brown. it was-and
4fterward admitted that Leach can sure
" MT some. But" added the cham
pio1, II can punch some. too. And I
tAi1k I Will show the crowd before the
ten grounds are over that Leach Cross is
not the only lightweight with kick"
And, remembering what Willie did to
Joe Rivers. We agree with him. 1t ought
to make an interesting bout. Cross is
methods are usually effective. The only
thing against him is his Discrimination
to fight IL he thinks the other fellow has
II on him Then he covers up and
rounds are up He did that with McF'ar-
land and Britton, both. these boys out
chasing him mile when ii came to
boxing. Leach found he couldn't land
his spunch and fought entirely on the de-
fensive. satisfying himself by covering
UP ewhenever real danger threatened.
IfsRitchie stings Cross early in the fight
It won't be much of q battle. unless the
LEGAL man fights altogether differently
thar in past encounters in local rings
RutAf Leach should start off well and
happen to land one. that will make the
champion show up bit. then Cross will
A,-...
Is fights his best battle when he gets of
good: he seldom comes from behind.
Rivers shaded Cross here on two occa-
Sions. Richie had little trouble beating
the Mexican. And in winning from Riv-
ers the champion showed that his punch
Ing powers are,s second to none. He may
be a bit cautious at the outset. il being
his trSt appearance in New York. and
the TACT that he is champion and has
tfl6At stake may make him feel his way
carefully for a few rounds. But on the
dopc Ritchie outclasses the local man
and.f look for him to win the decision
easily. And while not anticipating an
abrupt termination to the battle. / am
willing to wager that IL any one takes
the full count II will be Cross and not
the champion.
-PacGey Mcfarland couldn't have been
feeling very we'll that afternoon in San
Francisco when Tommy Murphy stay ed
twenty rounds with him. and. according
to the stories OF the contest, was having
the Best of the milling the last few in
ninxA Lost week Packey and Tommy
boxeh ten rounds at the Garden. But 1t
coufd mot be called match. Packey
simply srnothered the local. boy. but as Is
his custom. did not deem it necessary to
knock his opponent out to satisfy the
crowd of his superiority
Speaking OF Murphy. IL appears to ME
that Jim Buckley Is not handling his af-
fairs any too well. II Tommy had avoid
ed Mcfarland he could have had q match
with Champion sRitchie at one of the Cal
tfornia clubs on Thanksgiving day or a
little later in the season. Tommy was
a card on the coast and both Cofrroth
and Graney, the leading promoters, were
not after Richie to consent to Il match
with him But since that disastrous
Ito him)s Mcfarland AFFAIR Harlem Tom
my will not be I'M so great demand
Buckleys fault is a supreme confidence
In the men he handles. Jim is an ag-
greSstve tarrier himself and would
just.as soon fight as eat. He wanted to