The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1915-04-01
F|GHTERSARE +
EAS|NG { OFF
HARD WORK
HAVANA HOTELS FILLING UP
WITH ARRIVALS FROM ALL
OVER THE ISLAND AND FROM
SOUTHERN STATES. -

havana, March 31.-Quiet prevail
ed today in the training camps Of
Jack Johnson and Jess Willard, the
heavyweight pugilists. who are to
fight at the race course at Marianao
on April for the championship of
the world.
Willard did no work aside from an
early morning run on the road. In
the afternoon he took swim and
then visited the race track, where he
was followed about and cheered by
a big crowd. In his training Willard
makes il a practice to rest one day
during the week.
Tomorrow he will go through a hard
course, but thereafter will do just
enough work to hold him to his pres
ent form.
Fighters Reduce Work.
Johnson is also letting down grad
ually in his work. At Z O'Clock this
morning he took Commute run.
Later, after punching the bag and
tossing the medicine ball, he boxed
six rounds with his sparring partners,
Bell and Scott. His other two boxers,
Armstrong and Mills, were too Sc
verely battered to put on the gloves
with the big black fighter. Tomor-
row Johnson will be 3S years old.
and he is not expected to do much
more work than he did today.
There has been no change in the
betting ON the outcome of the fight,
Johnson remaining the favorite at
about to l.
The pugilists were examined and
measured by physicians again last
night. Each man is said to be in
splendid condition with regard to or
gans and muscles. One doctor said
Johnson had the smallest heart of
any man he had ever examined.
These latest measurements show that
the champion today is heavier and
more muscled than he was at Reno
in 1910, nevertheless Willard is the
| bigger man in almost every partic-
ular
Prepare for Savage Fight.
The Cuban government officials
are determined to take no chances OF
a serious accident due to a fight be-
tween such big men. They have ap.
pointed three physicians to attend
them at the ringside. They will have
oxygen and other stimulants to re-
vive the fighters in case of an un-
usual knockout or fall. They say,
however, that they will not inter
fere with the proper termination of
| the battle, according to the code Of
the prize ring. The relatively gigan-
tic size of the pugilists evidently has
impressed Cuban officials with the
idea that the struggle of next Monday
will be unusually savage.
A group of Cuban ministers, rep
resenting various evangelical mis-
sions centered in Havana. has filed
protest with the government Of
ficials against the fight, and some
American ministers living here have
addressed an open letter to American
tourists, as fellow countrymen, pro-
testing against their support of the
bout. No particular attention is be-
ing paid to these protests by the
Cuban officials or the fight promoters.
The hotels of Havana are beginning
to fill up with early arrivals from
other parts of the island and from
| the southern states. Willard money
| is beginning to appear, and it is ex-
pected to reduce the present odds
of and 1-2 to l.
johnson Bets on Himself ----
Chicago, March S1.-.Tack Johnson
| has commissioned a friend here to
wager 5000 for him that he will
defeat Jess Willard next Monday in
| Havana.
The news that Johnson was betting
on himself was expected to stimulate
interest in the match in the negro
district in which Johnson lived before
fleeing to Europe. This district has
been showing an attitude of apathy
toward the coming battle.
Reports that the negro champion
was carrying too much weight caused