The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-09

| while even IL he had gone back. Any
body would think Willard would have the
| same notion. but he seemed to be scared
about anything Jack might do. Wher
| Jack was walking back to his corner
after the Knockout, he winked at me
and Bob Armstrong says: There, yor
| see what money will do
| Jack never seemed to be worried about
anything before the fight. and was just as
happy afterward as ever. When he go'
home his wife was crying around, and
he says: Don't cry, I've got something to
tell you,' and then they went into a room
| together, and in a few minutes she came
out laughing.
Wanted Number of Rounds.
Between the rounds jack never said a
word to us about how he felt He never
said he was tired, or anything like that.
He just asked the number of the rounds.
He didn't fight Willard like he knew any
thing about fighting at all. because that
Willard can't fight. Leaving out all us
black fellows. can name four white men
who can lick him. and it looked to me like
johnson could have done better.
Il tried to get fight with johnson,
says McVey, land he promised me a
match, but said it would be only for ten
rounds and that 1t would have to be fixed.
Yet he insisted on boxing Willard forty
five rounds. II 1t had been twenty or
twenty-five I could understand it, but
where did an old man like him have a
right to think he could 60 forty-five?
What good was the title to him any
more?" concludes Sam. He said himself
you couldn't get anything on title If
you was hungry. and there wouldn't have
been no one for him to fight.
Boss. it didn't look good to me-
Statement Don't Coincide.
McVeys statement does not coincide.
however. with his description of his box
ing exhibition with Johnson q few days
before the fight. He said of that: My
manager told me to cut loose and liven
up the show a bit. but 1 dassent do it. or
would have made Jack look bad
Now there was no reason for john
son not making a showing against
McVey, so the fact that he failed to
do so is the surest proof in the world
that he was through when he faced
willard. 1t is possible that he real
lied this long before the fight. 1t is
possible that when he started to train
he found he could not get into con-
dition. and decided not to tax himself
in the effort.
His last-minute holdup Of the man.
did the same thing at Reno and
crossed himself. The fight there was
to have been on a basis of Is and IS,
but Jack called on Tex Richard at the
eleventh hour and forced split of
$3.50, thus losing chunk of money.
1t would be highly characteristic Of
Johnson not to tell even his wife the
truth about himself.
There is, therefore, nothing in what
McVey and Mills say that can be
taken as proof of a cook up in Ha-
vana, but it is interesting as showing
the attitude of Johnson's own camp
followers. Apparently they seem to
feel that they were somehow double
crossed. McVey names as the four
men that he thinks can beat willard,
Frank Moran. Georges Carpenter. Jim
Coffey. and Gunboat Smith, but of that
quartet. it is doubtful if more than
one really has a chance against big
Jess.
A famous old-time sporting man
who saw the Havana fight and who
listened to McVey voice a suspicion,
today summed matters up very terss-
y when he said ::
II don't believe there was anything
The matter with that affair. but. here
he stroked his chin. l have seen SO
many things happen in the prize ring
hat 1 wouldn't ever be surprised at
anything that ever does happen"