Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-02-25
OLD STARS EXCELLED
PRESENT DAY BOXERS
coR1ETT SAYS THAT FOLLOW.
Frs OF THE GAME ARE LARGE
" Responsible.
PRAISES KID WILSON
Gentleman Jim Writes that Baltimore
Bantam May Force Coulon for
Championship Mix-McCarty
Refuses Wells.

Championship Mix-Mecarty
Refuses Wells.
| (By James J, Corbett, former heavy
weight champion Of the WORLDLY
| Written for the Otttumwa Courier.
! New York City, Feb 24.-Newspaper
space has been devoted to q revival OF
the much argued question. lis boxing
keeping pace In the matter OF improve
ment with progress in other lines OF
sport 2" The older writer's as rule
| contend that the sport from sc1en-
tiflc standpoint has deteriorated, while
the younger element argues the per
formances Of modern opponents or the
! art Of hit, stop and get away do not
suffer In comparison with the achieve
ments Of the stars Of former days. Re-
Gently have received several letters
with requests Tor a public expression
| of my opinion on the subject.
hope I will not be put down as q
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 de-
cade or two ago. and this applies 70
every class or division. excelled present
| day boxers.
For this condition of affairs the fol-
lowers of boxing are to blame to a
great extent. The public taste has de-
! Perforated and along with 1t the class
of boxing exhibitions. The boxer VINO
brings into play the skill and science
with which nature has endowed MIN,
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. Wiid
swings and lunges are the order Of the
day. Let a contestant attempt to In
/ troduce a bit OF feinting, ducking, or
| footwOrk, or other clever stunts, ana
the crowd bowls for the trough stuff. '
This does not tend to encourage boxers
/ or to improve the character OF the
| sport.
There are few really good boxers In
the game at present, but l am sorry to
say they are in the minority. Packey
Mcfarland is probably the most skill
full modern exponent Of the science
and ranking close to him are Mike Glib
bons, 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
.
submit the names ora few stars or ten
to twenty years ago in support of my
arguments.
In the ranks of the heavies there
were Peter jackson, one Of the greatest
boxers who ever pulled on glove, Bob
Fitzsimmons and Kid Mccoy. In the
lighter divisions, Tommy Ryan, Jbe
Wolcott, Jack McAuliffe. Young Critic.
| Frank Erne, Joe Cans and George
Dixon were stars that in brilliancy OF
| performance and boxing skill have very
few, II any, equals at the present time.
/ There Is not one really clever boxer
among the heavy weights of today,
with the possible exception OF Bonn
badier Wells, and he apparently lacks
! the stamina to ever become champion.
I do not except Johnson, Langford or
Jeanette. The present title holder Is my
/ idea Of the poorest specimen that ever
sat on the throne Of pugilism. Langford
and Jeanette are not skillful boxers,
and have acquired regulations by beat
| ing second raters. The McCartys, Will
lards and Palzers are jokes and would
not have attained the slightest degree
| Of prominence ten years ago.
| Is there boxer In the ranks OF the
middle weights who classes with the
Tommy Ryan of ten years ago? And
where are the good welters OF today?
Mike Gibbons appears to dominate this
class. Among the light-weights we
have Mcfarland, Richie and Welsh.
and of the trio only Mcfarland has
ever shown skill that suggests he
would have made a fitting opponent for
Cans or Erne had he been contempor-
airy with those great artists.
Among the little fellows there are
no George Dixons. At that there Is a
greater percentage Of good boxers
among the feathers than in any other
division. Under this classification we
can include Jem Driscoll. and he is
practically veteran, Kilbane and
| Jimmy Walsh, OF Boston. who is a
great boxer and has never been given
the credit his record calls for Walsh
has, unfortunately for him, been forced
to battle heavier men, his best fighting
weight being in the neighborhood Of
11s pounds, which is just betwixt and
between the bantams and the feathers.
COMPARISONS Of past performances
with present day achievements do not
always prove case one way or the
other, but as sort Of connecting link
between the two generations, believe
I am qualifed to judge Of the quality
Of the modern crop Of boxers as well
as that of the former stars OF the ring.
From standpoint Of boxing skill, the
| science Of attack and defense, do not
hesitate to say that the game has de-
Perforated great DEAL
kid" williams. the Baltimore ban
tam, demonstrated In the recent eE-
counter with Eddie Campi that he is
entitled to q match with Johnny Cou-
Ion for the championship. The latter
boxer, to Judge from Williams. per-
! Torrance against Campi, will have his
work cut out to retain the title.
williams has issued formal chal-
lenge to the bantam champion and
Tom McCarey has offered to stage the
bout. Coulon has not as yet accepted
the terms offered, and appears In no
great hurry to try conclusions with the
kid" When the boys mixed In New
york last summer the champion was
-,lainlv worsted and probably figures
his chances to win would not be greater
in longer match. Williams is a won
derfully tough youngster and has en-
durance to burn, Coulon may have il
on him In boxing skill. but the differ
ence in that respect is not very great,
and the kid" Is constantly improving
while Johnny's recent work indicated