The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-04
lBy James J. Corbett, Former Heavy
 weight Champion of the World-)

(By James J. COrbett, Former Heavy
 weight Champion of the World-)
 Especial to the Farmer.)
 New York, April 4.-NeW YOrk's Tommy Murphy and Young Joe Shu grue have done gone and. left us fiat. Cross is headed for Los Angeles, where he goes to do battle with Fred dy Welsh, the English champion : Shugrue is. expected to sail for Aus tralia sometime the coming week, and Tommy Murphy is already en- camped near San Francisco in train 1 ing for the match with Willie Rftchie, .he worlds lightweight title holder. Gotham sports will have to get along the best they can for the next month or two: without these stars. to. entertain them. But for that mat ter local sports are getting pretty well used to that sort of thing-the bulk of entertainment promoters have been dealing them all winter has not par ticularly smacked of class.
 However, it is an i'll wind that blows no good, and Californian and Australian sperts-especialIy the lat visits of this triumvirate Of hstic New Workers have little hope that Cross and Murphy will do any more than drag down the losers ends in their battles-with Shugrue it is a
 
 ing along fast, and will in, all proba- bility become a warm favorite with the Antipodean sports On the dope there is hardly native lightweight who can make trouble for the. clever youngster.
 The next big lightweight contest is to be held in Jim Coffr oth's San Francisco arena on April Hone week from next, Friday-when Willie Ritchie and Tommy Murphy are booked for twenty rounds. This is the match that was to have been de- cided last December; then postponed until February, and again to April IT. The weather. man and a high fever. belonging to Rifchie were responsible for the first postponement, and the champion alone was blamed for the second hold-up = although it was through fault of his other than an unfortunate accident which subjected him to so much severe and unjust criticism at the time.
 ,Willie's showing against Ad Vol gast indicates that he win be at his best form when he steps in the ring with Murphy, and which augurs no good for the New Yorker. The lat ter has been a great little man in his day, for years ranking close to the leaders of the division, though aI-3 ways a, few points shy of champion ship class It is the, opinion of local experts that Tommy is tackling the hardest job of his entire career in boxing Ritchie-who looks the class. l of American Hghtweights since Cans 1 day-and -those vwho Hike to risk a few dollars on sporting events of this nature should bear in mind that Mur- phy is no longer spring chicken l as years are reckoned in athletics. ] As for Leach Cross, it is my sopin- l ion that his ten round strenuous -ses- sion with Willie Ritchie last Fall was
 the turning point in his career. Ger tainly he outfought himself in that engagement, and his showing since that time has been very much second 1 class In fact, the only bout Leachie
 has put to his credit since the great battle with the champion was the one l with Bud Anderson, and that young I man has not been able to lick a post age stamp since his operation for ap- pendicitis. Joe Rivers outboxed and l outfought Cross in their twenty round l match, and since coming back home tIeach has twice been outpointed, :, Even Phil Bloom, a local youngster of no great skill, was entitled to a. verdict over the fighting dentist And l Young Shugrue also beat him several weeks ago-according to local critics Cross boxes Freddy Welsh in Los
 Angeles on April 2s. Judging from what Fred did to Rivers only recent 1 Iy, Cross chances to defeat the cIey- l CT Englishman are anything but rosv It looks to me as if Leach is natura Tv 1 in for scientific trimming at WeIsh,s hands. It is not exactly clear just 1 what else he can hope to accomplish Cross has never been able to do any thing worth while against a skilled boxer, and Welsh is certainly all of I that. With the rough and ready slug gers Leach always has a chance, as he packs a punch that will turn the de- 4 a a1rr1T Tref l But he will find Welsh very adept a f
 lodging right swings.
 I If Welsh is victorious in the Cross l match. and all the dope points in that direction, he likely will be chos- en as Willie sRitchie's opponent for
 the Fourth of July. With WoIgast
 laid up again there will be no one to
 dispute Welsn's claims for a. battle
 for the worlds title-unIess of course
 Tommy Murphy should pull the. unex-
 pected and upset the champion.
 Welsh has wisely decided that the
 quickest and surest road to match
 for the highest honors is to beat his
 rival aspirants first, and started the
 fireworks by giving Joe Rivers the
 most artistic licking that young man
 ever had handed to him.
 And it should make a great contest i-Ritch1e versus Welsh-and one that will just about esta blish a new record |
 the boys fight it out in San Francisco
 on the big national holiday. Ritchie
 has so far demonstrated his ability to
 trim his rival American Iight-weights
 and a victory over the English title-
 holder would give him greater distinc-
 ton than that held by any American lightweight since George Lavigne went to England and defeated Dick
 Burge for the worlds title. And if Welsh should win he will find that Arr7A -f<1-ar1 ~&---
 Georges Carpenters great battle against odds in the fifteen round bout with Joe Jeannette indicates that inc Frenchman is making rapid strides towards the championship goal That is. if eYer-yt hing was on 1T, e. ..,,r, an5