Evening star., 1915-02-21
LIGHTWEIGHT STARS READY
TO CLASH IN HARD MATCHES
Greatest Interest Centers Around Welsh
White Go in Milwaukee Next
Thursday ight.

lightweight. and present challenger OF
Welsh. Public opinion has much to dc
with such affairs. but just the same a
! championship should be won according
to the recognized rules of the ring and
not by a popular verdict or the like,
And while discussing this question it
might be well to mention that if Willie
| Ritchie wants to remain the recognized
champion of America he should sign
up for title match with Charlie
! White, Johnny Griffith, Joe Shugrue OF
Milburn Saylor. These boys have a
right to try at the title. 1t might be
well, too. to have these boys fight it out
among themselves to see which one
will meet Ritchie in match for the
American championship.
| Just one little "squint" at the crowd
while in the heat of battle has cost
many fighter Il sound heating. Some
| OF them, most notably Frank Klaus,
have been knocked out of a chance at
/ the cham pionship by just such little
peek around. There are probably few
| fans who attended the Gus Christie
Bob Moha tilt in Milwaukee recently
who knew why Christie took that right
| hook to the jaw In the fourth round
and which almost resulted in his being
knocked out by the chubby Robert. Up
! to the fourth session Christie had all
| the better of the bout and his follow
ers had their chance to scream them
I x
awful scare in the fourth period and
| all because Gustavus took one glance
around to look at friend who ad
dressed some remark to him. The
fourth round was about a minute and a
| half old and In that time. as in the pre-
ceding rounds, Gus was popping rights
and 1efts to Moha's body and face. The
| latter rushed at Gus. but Gus backed
| away and as he did SO some one in
the crowd yelled to him. Gus "squint-
ed" and in a flash Mohas right shot to
| ChriStie's jaw.
| The smash hurt and he went down in
| a heap. Only for Bob's overanxious-
ness to end the contest right then and
there, and instead of stepping away and
giving Gus a chance to get fully on his
! feet. the one little "squint" would have
| ended Christie's flstic ambitions for
some months to come. If Bob had
| timed his punches after the knock
| down he would have surely scored a
! X. o. AS it was, Gus held on for dear
life and managed to survive the ses-
! sion and the full ten rounds, but here
| after Gus will watch his opponent in
| stead of some friend in the crowd.
1t was just such d glance around that
| caused Frank Klaus to be knocked out
| when he tackled George Chip for the
! first time in Pittsburgh. Frank thought
Chip could not hit hard enough TO
\ break an egg and took all kinds of
| chances. He winked his eye at some
one in the crowd. Chip was alert,
cracked Klaus on the jaw and it was
| all off. Frank thought it was all mis-
| take, claiming q lucky punch. The
promoters rematched the pair. Klaus
! respected Chips hitting ability so much
| in the second contest that he practically
| forgot his own ring tricks. He was out
! for revenge, swinging wildly to get
over sleep punch, but Chip was on
| the job every minute and in the sixth
| round duplicated his stunt in the pre-
|
| to the mat for the full count. Many
others have suffered similarly, but it's
a cinch that they minded their business
| i'll the ring after the experience in
| stead OF winking to friends in the
crowd.
! Frankie Callahan. the Brooklyn light
weight, who made good recently by
knocking out Joe Rivers and beating
other good boys, has proven once more
that he is not a flash in the pan. He
! fought "a hard eight-round battle with
| Sam Robideau of Philadelphia at St
Louis, and any one who can travel with
| the Quaker lightweight over that dis
tance without being badly worsted can
| claim a place among the real fighters.
During the discussion of the boxing
bill before the Nebraska legislature it
developed that all ministers were not
opposed to the measure as some of
| them tried to make out. The Rev. C.
w McCaskill said he considered box
| ing clean sport. but was afraid of
| the saloon and gambling elements getting
mixed in with it. The Rev. T ]. Mackay
| said: Il have read the bill carefully
and cannot see how any man can OPP
pose it. The bill will guarantee a
| clean and manly sport and abolish
| prize fights" Rabbi Frederick Cohn
said of the bill: with proper super
vision / cannot see what harm box
ing will do: AS for commercializing
\ the sport, don't we all commercialize
our abilities? Why hold it against
as boxer that he can make more
| this way than can the amateur?
The above proves that even in good
town like Omaha all the ministers are
not SO narrow minded that they are
| afraid to give their honest views on
the subject. As Gene Melady. well
known broker of that city. said: Bet
authorities. which % assurance that
= II is properly conduI2d and according