The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-23
fBy James J. Corbett, Former Heavy weight Champion Of the Worlds)

fBy James J. Corbett, Former Heavy
 weight Champion of the World.)
 tWritten for The Evening Farmer.)
 Jim Buckley, who directs the pu- Eilistic affairs of "Gunboat smith a young man now figuring prominently in the heavyweight division, is peev- ed because the press and public re- fuse to take the "Gunboats chaL- lenge to Langford seriously. Buck lev insists that the def is of the hon sst-to- goodness. eross-I s-Iny-heart k1no and that he will show he means bus1- ness if Jim Coffroth, Tom iMcCarey or some other Pacific coast promoter comes forth with sufficiently inviting offers.
 Manager Buckley claims the Gun boat has cleaned up the white heavy weight division thoroughly and that the only fighters between him and the rhampionship are Sam Isangford and Jack Johnson Buckley professes to believe Smith equal to the task he will impose upon him and that for the .-Gunboat' to score a victory over the tar baby is tantamount to winning the championship of the world
 Few will argue with Buckley over the latter pofrt as the popular inn Drassion is Jack Johnson is through and that Langford is the best heavy weight in the ring to-day As for his contention that there are no more white heavies left for the "Gupboat' to battle well, there are several mem bers of that division who think differ ently.
 Al Palzer is one who refuses to con cede the ''Gunboat'' the position as premier white heavy. Arthur Pelky Is another The latter by the way is doing a little claiming on his own ac- count; I understand Tommy Burns bills him as the white heavyweight champion Then there are Frank T1e i1r17-f 19cfI of xUF1 lost hairline decisions to Smith and whose complaints that the verdicts were unfair are backed up by mum Der of experts who witnessed both battles.
 Admitting for the sake of argument that the '.Gunboat'' has established his supremacy over the rest of the whites the question arises what chance would he have to beat Langford. A canvas of fight experts would probab- ly show very few inclined to concede him a chance with the demon black. The popular belief is that the negroes outclass their pale face rivals in the matter of fighting and that the qual- 1ty of the present bunch of white heavy-weights is way below par.
 Still there has never yet been a. man so good that he could not be beaten. It may be that we rate the blacks altogether too highly and that we overestinate the abilities of such men as Langford and Jeanette.
 It is several years since there has been anything like a real ring test between the best men of the two races. The Johnson-Flynn affair of little more than a year ago proved for one thing that the champion is not by any means the wonderful fighter the pub lie was led to beIieAae at the time of his victory over Jefries, and the re- suit of the last weeks battle between -tGunhoat'' Smith and the same Flynn who held Johnson off for nine rounds is used by Smiths friends as a basis for the argument that the "Gunboat" has qualified as a fighter of the first 1ank.
 Langford is regarded as about the best big man in the ring day. Still when we go over Sammys record carefully we fail to find that he has ever done anything to prove himself star performer in the heavyweight di- vision. The men he has beaten de- cisiveIy could hardly be chased as great fighters. Joe Jeannette> has always managed to hold Sam about even in limited round bouts and short fights were never Joe's long suit. It may be found when that pair comes together next month that we have ov- errated the ~tar baby a trif1e. Sam AfcVey who was beaten by Iangford several times was never regarded highly when fighting in this country. His record was compiled in Europe where the going is very much softer. And it must be remem mbered that Jeanette knocked McVey out in a fn- ish fight in Paris three years ago.
 If the "Gunboat'' thinks he is ca pablo of giving a good account of himself in a match with the tar .ba- by he should be encouraged in the idea Smiths ambition to win the championship is a laudable one and there is only one way for him to go about it. The Superiority of the blacks has been conceded by press and public and it is up to the ambi- Eious white heavies to start something with the colored gentry if they ever hope to get to the top of the heap. This thing of handing out belts em- blematic of the white championship doesn't amount to anything in pu- giIism. There is only one champion ship and that covers all colors and rreeds. Jack Johnson is the present champion and until he is defeated fairly or retires from the game no other fighters claims to the title will be worth a tinker's darn.
 The "Gunboat'' does not seem to lack courage anyway. That's half he battle. too Confidence is a great asset. Those critics who have been be wad1ing the reign of the negro in pugiIism for several years past should encourage the "Gun3oat'' in every possible way. It may develop that the dark cloud that has been hover ing vver ring affairs so long is not so n@nserollgls it looks.
 Go to & "Gunboat."
 In the meantime Tom O'Rourke Is writing letters to local sporting edi- tors telling them that the "Gunboat' is afraid to box Al PaIzer and that the challenge to Langford is a dodge to avoid a meeting with his big fight SaQTaS zrIaa1 rToSsa5