The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-03-15
HAIL KLAUS
AS CHAMPION
MUST; BE CONSIDERED FOR
TITLE.
(By James J. Corbett. Former Heavy
weight Champion OF the. Worldly

The mooted question of who
among the niddIe-weights shall sue
rsed to the title vacated at the time
or Stanley KetcheFs death is rapidly
approaching a final settlement. As
a result of an easy victory over Papke
In Paris last week many experts are
already hai1ing Frank klaus as the
worlds. champion.
In this they are a trif1e premature.
BY beating Papke the Pittsburgher did
not win the American championship
Billy was a dead bird long before he
bumped into Klaus. His declined dates
back more than two years, and if any
body will take the trouble to study
the record books he will find that the
Kewanee boxer was long since eliTnin-
Red as a championship possibility.
But 1 am not aiming to take away
the credit of victory from Klaus.
There is no doubt that Frank is one
of the very best rniddIeweights in the
country, and that means the world in
this particular division of pugilism as
American boxers have demonstrated
beyond question that they outclass the
English, Australian and French rep
resentatives- At the same time Frank
will have to show the home folks a
little more before we can hand him
the title.
McGoorty stands Between Klaus and
the cham pionsnip goaI.s- While Ed
die has not shown top-notch form in
recent starts it is thought that moth
ing serious Is the matter with him
that IS nothing short rest and prop
er training will not remedy. And it
will not do to overlook the fact that
some of his performances have been
little short of sensational and excel
anything ever shown by his rivals. Mo-
table among these was the quick de-
feat of Dave Smith, champion of Aus
traIia; also the Knockout in one round
of Jack Harrison, claimant of the
English title.
Before Klaus can be conceded the
honors McGoorty will have to be elm
mated from the race. The boys have
never met A respect for one anoth-
er's proves has prevented a meet
ing 50 far Last year Jim Coffroth
tried to bring them together, but Nc
Goorty refused to make 15s ring
side thereby indicating a very high
regard for the skill of the Pittsburgh
Insisting that the weights comply with
the rules governing the champion
ship in this country. Probably
neither was anxious to settle the ques-
ton of superiority at the time. 1t
looked that way certainly as both
Frank and Eddie stood pat and the
deal fell through.
The time has arrived when the
bout cannot be postponed much long
err The sporting public, recogniz-
ing the men as the best equipped Of
all the aspirants, Will insist upon q
contest. BUT it is doubtful if the
match will take place in Paris as
many seem to think. Frank would
be compelled to defend the European
title at 100 pounds on the other side
and as he has heretofore insisted on
the American limit in negotiations
with McGoorty it Is only reasonable to
expect he will hold out for that fig
ure for a battle that will virtually de-
eide the championship. This looks
like the U. 5. A for the battle
ground
Packey McFarland's claim to the
title of o1everest boxer in the "1nis-fit
division's, OF pugiIiSm is still para
mount BY "rnis-fit'' I mean the
class that is neither light nor weller.
In the contest with Britton he scaled
at lao ringside, which is dangerous
1y close to the weIter-weight limit.
Probably the best Packey could do for
any ma tch would be 135 several hours
before entering the ring. Those few
extra pounds have long stood between
? This boy and the lightweight cham
Packey outcIassed Britton just as he
outeIasses all the boys who tackle
MIN. His equal as a boxer anywhere
near the weights is yet to be uncov-
cred Possibly Britton made a bet
.er showing than the average oppon-
snt, but his work did not indicate that
he ranked with the stock-yards ex-
pert.
Willie Richie now says Packey can
have a match at 1913, weigh in six
hours before ringtime. From what
] am told Willie would have quite as
hard a job making 153 as Mcfarland.
ken on much beef and scales well over
The 140 mark. If this is the case
Manager. Nolan should have no rea-
sOnable objections to offer to a match
with the Chicagoan, but I doubt very
much if he would consent should it
come to a show down.
Mayor Harrison, of Chicago, atten5-
I'd the Observation-Disclosures contest and
afterwards declared it a scientific
trea~-" Mr.. Harrison made a hit
witt Iocaf fans by praisinss the sport
as conducted here. He advanced the
opinion that there could be no pos
eible objections to boxing under prop
er restrictions. and that personally he
is in favor of the passa ge of the bill
now pending in the Illinois 1egisla ture
which will 1egaI1ze limited exhibitions
Mayor Harrison is my idea of a lib
eraI minded executive. He does not
consider it beneath his dignity to at
tend a boxing match, nor to lend his
official endorsement to movement
to revive the sport in his own city.
If boxing is legalized in Illinois
II is to be hoped that those who are
placed in charge of the sport will
profit by some of the mistakes made
by the New York Commission For
one illustration take the mo decision
ruling This was framed to prevent
betting on bouts. AS a matter of
fact there is every bit as much bet
ting under the present method as
there would be if referees decided the
bouts. And under the system of de-
Gliding money on newspaper decis-
ions the opportunity for crooked work
Is decreased rather than diminished.
With very few exceptions fight fans
want referees decisions. Frank O'NeiIl,