Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-07-12
BY T. S. ANDREWS.
Special Correspondence of Tb. star.


England has worlds lightweight cham
Cardiff: In fact. it is the first time Eng
land has been able to boast of cham
pion lightweight since the days of Joe
Collyer, about 1858. At that time Collyer
claimed the lightweight title of Great
Britain. and. in fact. of the world. but
Billy Edwards and Arthur Chambers,
both of them from the tight little isle,
had located in America and also laid
claim to the championship. A match was
arranged between Collyer and Edwards.
and the latter won, the championship
thus coming to America. 1t drifted along.
changing hands occasionally. until about
1855. when Jack McAuliffe annexed it and
held it till 1893. when he retired unde-
feated. Jem Carney, the British cham
pion, gave McAuliffe the hardest fight of
his life for the championship in 1887,
when they battled seventy-four rounds
the bout ending in draw. Kid Lavigne.
the husky American lightweight, defeated
Dick Burge for the title in England in
1896. and 1t has remained here ever since,
but now must be turned over to John
Bull for the time being, as Freddy Welsh
COPIED it when he defeated Willie Richie
en- points in London this week. 1t is the
first time in the history of the ring that
the lightweight worlds title has changed
hands in a twenty-round contest on
points. Mr.. Richie showed his business
judgment when he insisted upon a sec
ond match with Welsh next fall Tin all
probability in October), and having the
latter post a forfeit that he would go
through with the second contest. 1t will
be seen that Richie had an idea that
he might lose to the British champion.
and he wanted to guarantee himself an
other try at the title before he would
agree to a first meeting.
Whether the forfeit is large enough
to force Welsh to live up to his agree
ment remains to be seen. He has a
wise manager in Harry Pollock, and
YOU can gamble that the latter will
make Willie do several kinds of turkey
trots before he gives him another shy
at the championship. 1t will likely
on both sides of the Atlantic first and
then some soft matches, if there are
any good ones in sight. As to the
fight itself, we have only the cabled
Eugene CORR is a capable and honest
referee. and that he gave the verdict
to the man he really thought won the
battle. Welsh used his marvellous
fight to the best advantage and rolled
up enough points to insure a decision.
From the cabled reports the fight by
rounds showed Welsh to have ten to
even. Richie seemed to become
strong at the close, but he had started
his squirt too late. Freddy had beaten
Richie on points in their first meet
the title, and he seemed to have the
confidence necessary to carry him
through. Richie was aggressive all
through and put up a remarkably good
fight In the last half, but he could not
put over sleep producer. being I'M
able to penetrate. Welsh's guard suffi-
GENTLY to get home a solid punch.
Richie was man enough afterward
to state openly that he had been beaten
by a faster and cleverer boxer. Sew
eral we'll known Yankee boxing critics
were present and they also announced
that Referee Eugene Corri's decision
was correct: In a longer fight-that
is, to a finish-the result of course.
might be entirely different for the
American boy is stronger than Welsh
and hits harder and would have every
advantage. but the laws do not permit
contests of over twenty rounds and
boxers these days are not anxious to
go out and battle to finish with only
few on each side to watch proceed
ings. They want big purses and bigger
guarantees with all the frills thrown in
1t was in Milwaukee that welsh
really got his first start. although he
had been boxing around Philadelphia
for time after coming over from
England. He was sent to the writer
here and was matched up with Charley
Neary and Maurice Savers, defeating
both on points. This led up to a
match with Packey Mcfarland. and
the memories of that contest are still
fresh in the minds of many fans here.
in Chicago and the middle west. 1t
was these three matches that put
Welsh on the road to prosperity, and
his battles on the coast afterward
cd n
ed what many boxers have tried and
failed at, that of winning the cham
pionship of his own country. losing it
TO Matt Wells and WINNING. it hack
title.
The claim of Charlie White to the
title will not hold Charlie
serves all the credit in the world for
his splendid battle against Richie In
when he fairly defeated
him, although no decision was given.
the same as the rest of them-fight the
champion-and then IL he wins he can
talk turkey like a champion. Waite
will stand a splendid chance against
Welsh, as he is faster in delivering a
blow than Willie and cleverer, which is
needed against a scientific man like
the Britisher
In the meantime give credit where it
that he will not try to act for a wear
or two and sidestep real challenRers.
but act the part of a real champion and
meet all legitimate claimants to try
for the title.
Base ball was not the only sport that
was enjoyed by thousands of Americans
on the great national holiday, July 4.
Boxing shared in popularity to a great
err extent this year on the Fourth than
ever before. Nearly every center where
boxing is conducted. with a possible ex-
ception of Milwaukee and New York,
boxing bouts were in evidence. Prob,
ably the greatest contest on that day
was the one between Jimmy Clabby.
the Milwaukee middleweight, and Eddie
McGoorty. the Oshkosh boy. before a
crowd of 5000 people at Snowy Bakers
stadium in London. This contest was
won by Clabby on an accidental foul
in the eighth round. A private cable to
the writer from Mr.. Baker stated that
two of the club doctors Endorsed the
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