The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-20
JEFF THOMPSON'S
GOSSIP OF PUGS
AND FIGHT GAME
BY JEFF THOMPSON

|
That Gunboat Smith failed to put out
George Rodel in their recent bout was
rather a surprise 1t was no news thai
the Gunboat does not yet, probably never
Will shine as boxer, but it was thought
the Boer would be easy meat for him.
| Had | been referee of that fight with
power to give a decision, / should have
been inclined to give it to Smith from the
fact that he repeatedly sent the Boer to
the floor, but perhaps under the law a
draw was a fair decision.
That right hand swing that Smith is
making famous is the subject of much
discussion in pugilstic circles Just now.
Some of the veteran sporting men who
saw the old time fighters in their palmy
days are deeply impressed with it and
others think that Smith punch simply
has merit by contrast There are few
| fighters in the ring today--that is, in the
| heavyweight class-who are masters of
any one particular punch that is effective
as haymaker. AS fights are fought in
this championess period it's almost al
together a case Of strong boxer battering
his weaker opponent down by degrees
not by a quick wallop.
IL d poAei mas snap IN ms punch there
is no course of training he can take that
will produce better results than to con-
centrate his attention upon the develop
ment of that punch rather than to ac-
quiring variety. Smiths right swing
carries with it double the force that is
contained in the blows of men much
stronger than he. 1t is the nearest ap-
proach to the Fitzsimmons short arm
punch that has been seen in the ring in
many a day.
Willie Ritchie, the lightweight cham
pion. sends letter from St Paul en-
| closing a clipping from western paper,
in which Billy Nolan, his manager. is
quoted as saying that he (Nolan) fears
that Battling" Nelson will eventually
meet his death in the prize ring. ''The
Dane is fighting crazy" Nolan said 'IIe
should not be allowed to go on. | know
the boy better than anyone else. He is
as game as they make them. Unless he
is stopped. ne will be killed in the ring
and with his death will be sounded the
knell of boxing in the United States.
This all may be true, but from what
have seen of Bat he had sooner die in
the ring than live outside it,
Abe Attell is deserving of more than
mere mention of his recent good showing
nthe ring. The same will power that he
displayed when he determined to get at
the top of the featherweight division of
fighters as he used in the last five
months-eyer since the evening ollie Kirk
forced him TO quit and use snap Judgment
on his future as a boxer.
After little deiberation Abe decided
that he was not through. His pride was
hurt and he decided he'd go back and
take just one more whirl He knew why
he had fallen before such a novice as
Kirk. Late hours were the cause of it,
Straightaway went Able to a training
camp. He did not three sheet the town
with his intentions. The early to bed
and early to rise maxim he decided to
follow, and although it was hard at first
he stuck to it. and when he thought he
had cope back to little OF his old self,
he sought a match.
He got 1t. He wasn't quite back to his
former form, SO he worked some more.
They were long days in the training camp,
but Able was game. and then came the
fight with Jimmy Walsh. He won, and
in doing so. he displayed so much of his
old form that now there are those who
say he will be his old self in a month
or two. The ten round journey is easy
now. Weariness doesn't overtake him
before the finish as the Walsh bout
proved