The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-04-19
NEITHER JOE RIVERS NOR
 CROSS LOOK LIKE CHAMPIONS
COrben Says Tom 0'Rourke Erred in Taking
 PaIZer to Paris

(By James J. Corbett, Former Heavy
 weight Champion of the World)
 (Written for The Evening Farmer)
 On their showing in New York last week neither Joe Rivers nor Leach Cross strengthened his position as possible successor to Willie Ritchie the lightweight champion. Provided of course, the boys did their best on that occasion, and there is no reason for thinking otherwise.
 was disappointed in Rivers per- formance- When Joe and Leach box ed the first time the Californian came like a whirlwind the last round or two and at the finish had the local boy in bad shape. It looked as if he had solved Cross style, and would show to better advantage in a return battle. This favorable impression was further strengthened by his impressive defeat of Knock Out'' Brown. As it turned out Joe was barely able to earn a 'fshade'' on Cross in the sec end start
 Although Willie Ritchie has not been seen in the ring since winning the title from Ad Wolgast on foul, there is no doubt of his ability as boxer. He has several corking per formances to his credit, which quite outshadow anything either Rivers or Cross has shown to date, among them a four round win from Jack Brit
 
 Erne, and a twenty round Hose" to Freddy Welsh, which was probably his most brilliant achievement all things considered, not excepting the winning of the title. It will be re- rnembered that in the Welsh bout Ritchie, then a comparative novice, 'fsubbed'' for Wolgast and took the bout on forty-eight hours notice, part of which time was spent in travelling from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
 Joe Rivers is only a kid in years, barely twenty one and may eventually develop class enough to give Ritchie a stubborn argument. He did, in fact, show a slight improvement in clever ness in the last Cross match, but has a great deal to learn before he can hope to rank with the champion in point of skill. Cross, however, is a veteran compared with the others and can't be expected to improve. He is as good now as he can ever hope to be. While a trifle better than the av- craze lightweight Leach is some de- grees short of championship form.
 If Rftchie and Rivers meet on the Fourth of July the champion should be returned the winner by a safe margin It should be no great task for a clever performer to solve Riv- CTS style in a few rounds. The lat ters only chance in such a battle would appear to rest in the possibility of landing a lucky punch, and he would have to be lucky to put one over on the champion
 If further proof was necessary to convince the New York Boxing Com missioners that referees decisions ought to be allowed the Rivers-Cross bout furnished plenty of it. As us- ual in important matches the news paper critics were divided on the question of which boy was entitled to the decision I don't believe there was one who called it a draw. Some said Rivers won all the way, while others maintained that Cross earned the verdict
 This is a decidedly unsatisfactory state of affairs. It is unfair to the boxers and unfair to the public. Riv- CTS and Cross might pull off a dozen ten round bouts in New York and no matter how they resulted, unless ter ninating in knCck-outs, they would all go down in the record books as mo decision'' contests. The public pays literally to see boxing matches and wants a winner for it's money, when possible to pick one The only way out of the difficulty is to c1othe the referees with power to render deci- sions- The contention of some writers that this curtailInent of a referees authority ,1iscourageS gambling on bouts has been exploded. There is as much betting under the present sys- tenn as in the old Horton law days when decisions were rendered and open gambling was tolerated by the