The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-22
(BJ Jainles J. Corbett, Former Heavy
 Weight Champion of t1ae World-)
Especial to the Farmer

Special to the Farmer.)
 New York, Aug. 22.-Leach Cross.
 the veteran New York lightweight.
 upset the dope of the wise men of the ring by defeating Joe Rivers at Los
 Angeles last week. Cross not only showed a surprising form reversal.
 beating Rivers in a feroely contested
 bout, but also demonstrated that he must once more be reckoned among
 the first flight of nght-weigfts- Cross is an old-timer at the boxing game,
 but is far from being in the has-been
 class if his victory over Rivers was as
 corking performance as the reports indicate.
 Cross and Rivers had met three times before last weeks contest, and in all three matches Rivers had been given the credit. of victory. Even in their two ten round matches in this city Rivers was the popular win
 ner. And in their first long. bout in
 the West Joe was awarded the ref
 ereess decision, even though a num-
 Der of experts disagreed with the just
 ness of the verdict at .that time.
 The surprising part of their latest match was that Cross should win on points, assit had been conceded that the New Workers chances for victory depended practically on his getting was taken for granted that, should the bout go the limit, Rivers super lior cleverness would bring him the de- cfsion. But Cross fooled the talent by winning a hotly contested battle on points, thus restoring himself to
 good standing among the champion ship possi bilities. Cross is to be con graduated on his perseverance,; few fighters would have the nerve to stick to the trail of a fighter who had already trimmed them three times and what is better succeed in srevers- ing the verdict on the fourth attempt. | Cross is a heady fighter if not a. particularly clever or showy one. Fighting is a business proposition with Leach and he operates on a busi-
 ness basis. Although no longer a, youngster- as boxers are rated, he is a
 splendid example of what strict ad- herence to the simple life will do for an athlete. At present he is in as good physical trim as at any time l during his long career in the ring, and his stock of strength and stamina is so great that the longer the distance the better he is suited Cross is a cred 1 it to the game and althol4gh his style I Of milling hardly appeals to those who delight in scientific exhibitions in preference to slugging match es, his earnestness and willingness to stand toe to toe and mix it with his oppon- ents have made Leach one of the best
 money getters in the lightweight di-
 vision Cross has probably made
 more money than any boxer of recent years who has never boasted a cham pionship title-barring Packey Mo-
 FarIand.
 < Rivers furnished his knockers with
 more ammunition in their campaign or endeavor to. prove the Mexican a, quitter. It is argued that Joe dog ged- it completely after Cross dem 1onstrated he could could take every thing offered and come back for rnore l Joe may be game enough-it may be he is not physically capable of stand
 ing a grue1ling- although he has no great liking for an uphill struggle.
 Judging from his. record.
 Cross has been rewarded for his
 victory by getting a match for the La l Dor Day date-which means big re- | ceipts in California-with Jimmy Duffy, of Buffalo, N. ". Cross and Duffy met in New York about two l for reughing his opponent in the 1 cldnches. In a return match in Buff
 fa1o Jimmy was given the unanimous verdict by the scribes.
 Duffy is a boxer of the Freddie
 Welsh order. A good defensive man.
 he is a left handed jabber who can l take much of the ttambish'' out of a | sturdier opponent by the simple pro- cess of beating his man to the punch
 on almost every occasion. Duffy's S l chance of pumping into one of Leachie's swings he stands a mighty l good chance of beating the New I Yorker to the decision.
 Announcement comes from the l West that Willie Ritchie has made up l his mind toS make all matches in the ] future at heavier scale than the accepted limit for Hght-WeightS ir, i this country. Willie has been picking up flesh rapidly of late and finds the
 task of taking off the surplus pound age no pleasant one. In. the future iWi1lie will set the mark for the Amer
 ican title at 135 pounds, five or six l hours before ring time. The only
 man for whom Willie will agree to 60 133 at any hour is Fred Welsh, and we all know that 133 is no more to i Freddie's liking than it is to Ritchie's
 In their London match Welsh just did manage to reduce to 1855 at the hour
 Stipulated for the weighing in, while 1 the American was more than one i pound under that weight.
 1t may be possible that McFarland's s i retirement from the ring-if he has i dred-has something to do with
 Ritchie's determination to raise the | lightweight limit in this country l While Packey was still in the game
 and clamoring for a match with the
 champion Ritchie insisted that all
 challengers make 133 pounds ring l side-the weight at which he won the l title from Ad ~Wo1gast. Which was l equivalent to barring Packey from
 competition for the tit1e-as Nelson | and Wo1gast did before Ritchie's time I Jim Coffroth is working on a, match
 for next month with 1Sftchie and 1 Charlie White as the principals. How i ever, the match is still in the air and
 Oily Jinl.' is not any too sure o1 i landing it. Ritchie told me when in 1 this city that he did not think he l would box again before October, and 1 his determination to dictate weight in i the future makes it look as if he is in no hurry to resume ring work At 1 that rest should do Willie a great I deal of good. He had a rather stren-
 aous time of it while abroad with the l Welsh battle and his hurried conti-
 mental trip, and is deserving of a rest