The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-01
(By James J. Corbett, Former Heavy
 weight Champion of the world)
Especial to The Farmer.)

Special to The Farmer.9 New York Aug. S1-wiHie Ritchies minus the title of worlds Iight-wefght. Ichampfon,-is back home again. wiIlie left us flat six or seven weeks ago lFcohfident that he would be victorious in the match wdth Freddy Welsh. Al ! though the loser, according to the Judgment of Refaree Eugene Corri. l the American champion Is not by any means discouraged nor for that mat ter disgraced in the eyes or estimation of his eountrymen Ritchie fought the best he could. which is all anyone can do, and that he put up great battle is patent by the testimony of many experts, both American and foreign. who were present at the ringsidef and who contend that the San Francisco boy should not have been given any worse than a draw
 However. MT. Corri decided that Welsh was the winner on points and
 that's an end of it. All the arguments in the world will not bring the title | back to the former holder. The only way he can get it is to win it fairly and squarely in the ring and there is little prospect of that event taking
 u1timatum handed out by Freddy's
 manager is to be taken seriously
 It looks as if Welsh doesn't want any more of Ritchie,s game for the time being, if at all According to the
 terms for a return match given out
 in London Ritchie would have to dig
 into his own pocket for about $10, ,0O0i
 to make up enough to cover Freddy's : demand-which Is $25,C00g guaran- teed, with the privilege Of 50 per cent E of the gate. Where in the world are these boys to draw a house where 5 there would be that much left after promoter got his. Not in this cour,- try where Welsh has never been a
 drawing card. And there is nozchance
 of Rftchie fighting again in London,
 and if there was there is no proraofer
 there who would assume the responsi-
 bility of guaranteeing such an amount.
 Those back of the London venture i had to dig to pay Ritchie,s guarantee; l they could hardly be expected to try l it again in the face of what happened the first time.
 In this country San Francisco, Los
 Angeles and possibly New Orleans, 1 are the only places where the bout
 could be staged. I doubt if there is a
 promoter in any of these cities who
 would undertake to pay Freddy 325.- 1000 for his end.
 Even if Ritchie, were willing to fight for nothing, as Welsh is alleged to l have done in England, it would hardly
 make any difference. About S15 900 l with the percentage privilege would
 be the maximt1m offer for the match
 -unleSs the promoters suddenly go
 daffy, IWhichfis extremely doubtful
 Then WeIsh's demand that Ritchie
 bet $25, 900 on the esresu1t is silly. Even l if he is sincere about that part Of it the laws in the states permitting box Ing matches would not tolerate side bets No one should know this better than Welsh who has spent many years on this side; in fact this is where he made his reputation as a, boxer
 E Harry Pollock, Freddys astufe man ager, called Rftchie a. coward and
 other things when Willie withdrew
 from the Vancouver match with Welsh l a year ago. It will be interesting to
 note what defense Harry will have to
 offer if he attempts to dodge Ritchfe's demand for a return bout when the
 champion returns to this country.
 And in the meantime all those
 young men who are engaged in chal-
 1enging Welsh should not forget that
 Rdtchfe is still the American champion and that before Welsh will consider l them at all they will have to prove l they are better men than Willie he@Any-
 way if reports from the other side are to be relied on Fred win be very busy for the next six months with his vaudeville engagments. After that. presume he will try his hand
 at the theatrical game on this side read eA recently where Packey I Mcfarland. the erstwhile star light
 or welter-wefght- 6no one but Packey F knows which) and at present engaged
 profitably hope, in brewing the
 stuff which makes cities famous, has 4ehallenged Freddie to box for the
 world 'ss= lightweight title. Packey in
 the def agreed to make the same
 weightI135 at 2 o,cIock-tfaat pre-
 vailed in the Ritchie-weIsh bout.
 That is one match I would like to
 see arranged. But their is even less
 chanee of it being consunannated than
 there is of a return bout between the l champion and Ritchie. Packey is a.
 young man Freddy has great deal of respect for It was Pack ey4 who trimmed him to the kings taste in l London several years ago, and al l though Welsh was given a draw it l was the opinion of all the experts that the referee pulled a bone Ac- fcording to the London scrfbes Me | Farland won all the way
 Mcfarland is, I understand, on his < honeymoon There will be no need
 of his cutting it short to condition I himself for a match with Welsh. I doubt if twice the amount he asks for a match with Ritchie would be I enough to obtain Fred's consent ito another bout with the wonderfully, clever Chfcagoan.
 Ritchie may consent to box in New l York before he leaves for the coast.
 There is only one boy in. the light
 weight division around home at pres
 ent who could make it interesting
 for the champion, and that is Jack l Hritton Britton,- by the way, has
 been taking it easy for several months 1 and would probabIy want some little
 time to get into shape. A match be- tween Dan Morgan's star and the
 American title-hoIder would appeal l to New Workers who have had a sur
 feit ofrnatches between third raters l this summer.
 Billy Gibson told me the othee
 day that he had hopes of landing
 Ritchie and that Britton would likely
 sOe the man selected to give the cham p1on try out if everyone is agree