Evening star., 1914-04-26
VEL LTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
WILL BE SETTLED THIS YEAR
Kid" Graves Has Put in Claim for Title and Has
Challenged All Corners. With s'Wildcat''
Ferns Preferred

nature of joke. Billy Gibson of New
York made strenuous efforts to get them
together, but always at the eleventh
hour a hitch of some kind occurred. 1t
is reported now that certain New York
promoters are once more in the field.
bidding for these two stars. and it is
just possible that they will be brought
together. The one obstacle seems to be
the weight. as Mcfarland demands that
Gibbons makes 144 pounds, which is evil
IDENTIFY more than Mike can do II they
can compromise the matter a match is
assured. and it is one that would attract
attention the country over.
From inside circles in California II Is
learned that the people interested In the
boxing game are rather blue as to the
outlook for the future. They admit that
the boxing game is liable to receive
jolt out in the Golden state at the next
general election. and they are beginning
to look around for other locations. II
is rumored that some of the promoters
have intimated their intention of brean-
ing into the game at New Orleans. with
the hope that they may be able to pun
of twenty-round contests there the
same as in the past If they attempt
anything of that kind they are liable to
be badly disappointed. for there is no
man in the south who is better posted
on the boxing game in that section than
Dominick ]. Tortorich. and il is not likely
that even this gentleman Will attempt to
stage twenty-round contests at the pres
ent time. He knows exactly the lay of
the land and Is well satisfied just now
to go along with the ten-round battles
and according to the rules laid down by
the authorities of the Crescent city
Minnesota fight fans are proud of their
Pal Brown. one of the best lightweights
in the country today. and now they are
boasting of another lightweight Just
coming to the front. in the person OF
Johnny Tillman. Minneapolis boy, who
aYcentiOnAly ZCC0
form the past few months. Tillman is
clever youth and reminds one a great
deal of the veteran Jack McClelland OF
Pittsburgh. With little more strength
and stamina. he will be able to give
much better account of himself.
According to advices from Australia,
the recent battle between Eddie McGoor-
ty and jeff Smith of New York. was not
such victory for the Wisconsin boy Is
frst-hand reports indicated Letters
and papers which have been received
here the past few days state that Smith
outboxed McGoorty and that the worst
he should have had was a draw, while
some of the papers there declared that
JEFF had really outpointed Eddie. 1t is
also said that McGoorty found it very
difficult to get down to 1GO pounds. and
that the night of the fight he scaled l62
pounds at O'Clock. If this IS correct,
then the Wisconsin boy will have hard
time to figure in for the middleweight
championship. for the limit in this coun-
try is las pounds. There is no doubt
that McGoorty has been gradually TAX
ing on weight and that to reduce now to
las pounds would weaken him consdera-
bly,; JEFF Smith. like Jimmy Clabby. can
easily do f56 pounds, and is legit mate
middleweight. Clabby and Smith, both
Americans. have been matched before
Snowy Bakers stadium for the next big
show there. which is advertised as for
the worlds middleweight championship.
Both these boys are considered about
the best among the middles, with Jack
Dillon as a very dangerous contender II
these three could get together at the
correct weight 1t would not take long to
decide world champion.
Despite the fact that Johnny Kilbane
is champion featherweight of the world
he seems to figure in very few really big
matches This may be accounted for to
certain degree by the fact that high
class feathecweights are scarce. Kill
bane has been going out of his class
lately and meeting boys around the 1885,
pound mark, and that is probably what he
VIII have 20 continue to do if he wants
to arrange contests with boys who will
be somewhere near his equal. One of the
troubles in doing business with Johnny
has been his demand for guarantees
something that great many clubs viii
not put up with. The same can be said
of Johnny Dundee. who fought Kilbane
twenty hard rounds in Los Angeles. Dun
dee is always happy and contented to
box around New York city for any rea-
sonable purse, but when it comes TO
the outside clubs his price goes up in
the harvest that he should. 1t is just
as Billy Gibson says. the boxers
are killing the goose that lays the gol-
den egg by demanding exorbitant prices
for their services-prices which even the
most liberal promoters cannot meet