The chronicle=news., 1914-09-02
CROSS STILL
a;.11IIapnoTCHER IN
LIGHTWEIGHT CLASS

New i2ofk, Sepf. 2.1~I.each CroS6.
the Ghettd's greatest exponent in the
mitt-wieIding game. Is once again in
the first flight OF Hghtweishts. The
Gothamlte who Is at present basking
In tile balmy cline OF California. and
iRtermittentiy gathering in wads OF
western money. forced his way to
recognition again by his decisive de-
feat Of Juss Rivers. the psuedo Mex
ican. In their fourth meeting q short
whileya ago. itE0Hh ~ -
Cross stock In the boxing market
has iluetuated more tlran that OF any
othsr fighter. One year Cross leads
his constituents to believe that he is
ait through as a ringman; that he
has 'reaehet the .tether of his ring
usefulness This next year lie comes
throuslit,with a brand of hghting
that sends his followers in ecstasies
and has them proclaiming him the
greatest OF living iightweights.
Leachie was believed to be done
as capable performer as far back as
June. 1910, when he succumbed to
Dick hyland in Al srueling rounds.
This was tLeachie's firpt offense in
dcceiving the boxing pQbulace. Prev
ious to that grind he had defeated
some of the hest 133-pounders in the
business. and had given the .Packey
McFarland couple Of hard fights
oy er six and ten rounds.
Then = long distance match Will,
Hyland was broached, and Cross. his
eyes blinded by the promise of big
money. was lHred to the coast. He
got as much as $500 for tuggine
through Al rounds under a broilinR
sun. He swore on high that he
" ould nsver again fight on the Pa
cific. But time land money!
changes the deepest set ideas OF any
man. as will be seen forthwith.
Cross struggled home east with the
avowed intention Of never donning
the gloves again. But the call OF the
game was too strong for him and
two months later he was at it again,
abandoning his profession of molar
extracting for the more remunerative
calling Of boxing.
j. He Jared successfully In his first
few fights upon his return to tine
rIns. and decided to stick to it for all
he could get out OF it. He cleansed
the lightweight field thoroughly
turing the next three years. He
eliminated many contendcrs for
championship honors. while he him
self made no pretentions to the
crown.
Then came the east sider's second
setback. A. September of 1912,
Leachie f6ught SO poorly against
Jimmy Duffy of Buffalo that he was
declared the loser for his unfair tao
tics. The following month he suf-
Tered another reversal, Jack Britton
being his conauerer. Then followed
two greP4 hut losing battles against
Jose MAI Gross was surely
was the universal opinion.
!. Then Leacfie became vagrant to
his vow: He shook the dust of New
York and once again tempted fate.
as It is tempted on the coast He
hiked to Vernon: and convinced the
Californians that he was a fighter
after all. "'Bud" Anderson. sem
sationai newcomer. was selected as
his opponent. and Leachie put the
on fiim in 12 rounds. He
then outpointcd Matty Baldwin in
20 and Whipped Frank Barrieau up
in Vancouver.
Leach was coming back again. He
returned home again and was match
ed to fight 10 rounds with Cham
pion Richie in Madison Square
garden. Cross was now so confident
In his proWess that he took on
Young Brown, tough customer. as
a;wofkout, and knocked out his COM
patriot in five rounds. ~
Then came the bout with Richie
Suffice it to say-or let Willie
Richie himself say 'it-Cross came
within hairsbreadth OF winning the
championship. Ritchie adj
mits that he never was hit such a
terrific blow as Cross delivered on
his person in that second round.
Cross, the veteran, the ring general,
the shrewdest fighter in the game.
lost his poise when a worlds title
and half million dollars were in
his grasp. He waited too long before
trying to deliver the decisive blow.
had recuperated by the time
Leach was ready to send it over, and
the greatest chance of Cross career