The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1913-10-04
jim CORBETT SIZES UP
BOXING SITUATION FOR FANS

| (Ey James j. COrbett, Former Heavy
weight Champio2 of the WORLDLY
| (Written For The Evening Farmer-)
Talk about making suckers out Of
the public. Well, those connected
with that much talked about but
! never to be match between Cum
boat" Smith and Sam Langford GER
tainly handed the dear old pub a
nice ripe lemon, didn't they And
really 1 don't think the fighters them
selves or their managers had anything
to do with the fiasco. AS near as I
can, learn both Smith and Langford
were eager to have the match go
Through as arranged.
The Boxing Commissioners have
made themselves look rather foolish
by the way they handled the affair.
First it was announced that the bout
would not be permitted. Then it
\ was given out that the men would
meet at Madison Square Garden Sep
TENDER 20; and L understand the adj
vance sale amounted to something
like $1,000 up to the time the bout
was finally put in the ash can, al
though announcement of the match
had appeared in the local papers on
ly day or two. There is no dodg-
ing the fact that the public was led
to believe that the contest would sure
ly take place. That the sports were
in favor of it is Indicated by the Gag
erness to buy tickets for the mill.
There are a number of nasty stor-
les in circulation about town concern
ing a. vast amount of "double-cross-
ing and double dealing of various
kinds in connection with the match.
One rumor has it that Commissioner
O'Neill promised a fellow member to
vote in favor of the bout, but that
when it came to a showdown refus-
ed to live up to his agreement. OF
course, only get this second hand,
but that part of the story comes from
a pretty good source at that. Then
another is that Dan Mckettrick, man
ager for Joe Jeanette, exerted his
influence with Senator FravIey, faith
er of the law governing boxing in
New Y DIRK, to have the mill stopped
SO that Smith would be side-tracked
in favor of Jeanette. In fact, there
there are all kinds of rumors and
many of them not very compliment
tary to at least one man concerned
in the supervision of boxing in this
state.
That gag about the mill being stop
ped ''for the good of the game" is
absurd. What harm would the bout
have done to the sport? Whites and
blacks have boxed here before and
never did the game any injury, as the
records will show. Joe WoIcott, Joe
Cans and George Dixon gave many a
white boxer a good licking in this
town, but L can not remember any
pTOl0SIS 10 nave D1l80uI- bouts STOP
ped as a result. About the only
one who was likely to have suffered
to any extent mad the mill taken
place was "Gunboat" Smith; that is
If the critics had the right dope on
the fight. For Smith was not con
ceded a chance at all by local experts.
Now, I don't want it thought that
am in favor of boxing bouts between
whites and negroes. In fact, 1 be-
ieve it would have been better for |
the game if mixed matches had
never been allowed in the United
States. But at the same time it, is
rather late in the day, so far as this
country is concerned anyway, to pull
that stuff about them hurting the
SPORT Boxing has thrived for many
a year and as long as L can rem eInber
negroes and whites have clashed in
the ring. And long as a negro
was given a chance to win the title of
heavy weight champion of the world
it looks as if the least the white race
can do is to try to win that title back
before talking about barring blacks
from competition in the future A
negro Jack Johnson, is in possession
of the heavyweight championship to-
day and will be until some one takes !
it from him in honorable COMPETITION
in the ring, or he decides to retire |
from the game before being defeated. !
Any attempt to declare Johnson out
title of champion is positively absurd !
After we have won the championship
back it will be time enough to talk
about keeping it to ourselves in the
future But wait until we win it
back first. And after a white man
has proved himself the best boxer in
the world I, for one, will be only too
glad to join those who believe that
the two races should be kept apart
in the ring as in other walks of life
But to quit now would be simply tfdod-
ging'' it and tantamount to a confess
sion that the blacks are superior
physically and mentally. And I
hardly believe that, do you?
We have ''babied'' our white heavy
weights altogether too much the last
few years. Why is white hope,'
and of what earthly use is he if not
allowed to do any white hoping? The
result of the Johnson-J effries fight at
Reno is mainly responsible for the
large supply of white heavies in the
game to-day, and from the abundance
of material it looks as if there might
be a chance to develop q, heavy-weight |
good enough to hold his own with
or even defeat, the best of the blacks. |
However, if the mixed bout is to be
tabooed, how are we to accomplish ii
that which we set out to do several |
years ago when the white mans col
ors were trailed in the dust and for
the first time in the history of the
sport in this country a negro was ell |
evated to the premier position in the |
prize ring?
As it is now whenever the subject of |
matching Smith or any other white |
heavy with Langford, Jeanette or |
johnson is preached the critics fight |
the battle in their newspapers before |
the articles are signed. And with /
disaster to the pale face, of course |
If 'tGunboat' Smith had met and de- |
feated Langford there would be no |
thanks due to the boxing critics who |
went out of their way to explain how
such men as Langford and Jeanette |
outclass the best of the whites and |
that an attempt on the part of any