New Britain herald., 1915-01-30

preciate that it is not exactly raw recruit that I have taken hold of
 His record has been sent to me by
 a friend, but l refer to it here only
 to acquaint my friends with the fact
 that COwler has been boxing with
 fairly good men and has not been
 beaten so far with all his lack of ex-
 perience. However, his previous ef-
 forts have cut no figure with me in
 sizing him up. It is what he will do
 in the future that will interest me
 from now on. But the fact that he
 has held his own since entering the
 field and with cOmpara lively no train ing is proof that he is made of pretty good stuff
 Hard Natural Hitter.
 believe that he is one of the 1 hardest natural hitters ] have ever mAt up with His blows apparently carry the weight of a pile driver. But at present he is too aggressive. He has been told in what little in struction he has picked up here and there to keep on top of his man all the time. Which is good advice at l times, but not all the time. l will devote my time to teaching him how to manage himself in the ring, when
  will not attempt to teach him any method of boxing which will deprive him of his wonderful hitting power 1 for that is a natural asset which will win many battles for him in the fu- l ture.
 ] Cowler doesn't appear to need very much to cope with his rivals in l the heavyweight division. A little i more experience coupled with the systematic course of boxing lessons and conditioning I will give him ought to make him fit to face the best in the game in a year from now and with every chance for success. Gibbons Real Champ If it were put to a jury of boxing experts I believe there would be few who would vote against awarding Mike Gibbons the title of middle weight champion. Of course some would dissent, but a very small mi nority, and even they would have to admit that the St. Paul man appears to be better equipped to take up the middleweight running where poor Stanley Ketchel left off by his untime- ly death
 In the bout with Jimmy Clabby, previously regarded by many good judges as the best man in the division, Gibbons proved that he is in class by himself. While one or two remain who will have to take their medicine before Mike can be proclaimed cham pion, the St. Paul man would enter the ring tomorrow pronounced l favorite over any man in the middle l weight division. Some maintain that l Al Mccoy is the rightful champion, that he won the title by stopping 1 George Chip, but those who do so l would have a hard time proving just | how Chip ever came into possession 1 of the honors. He beat Frank Klaus l and the latter beat Billy Papke, in l Paris I think. On that battle Klaus 1 claim was based, but as a matter of 1 fact Billy Papke did not hold the l title at that time. Only once during l lis career Papke was recognized as 1 mpion-when he stopped Ketchel l in twelve rounds at Los Angeles, but | Stanley, like the great fighter he was 1 had won it back in decisive style. If l Papke succeeded Ketchel, then l Johnny Thompson, Bob Moha and l Frank Mantell had better titles to the championship than Klaus as they had all earned decisions over the Illinois thunderbolt before Frank had his chance The truth of the matter is 1 that Papke was finished as fighter of the first class before Frank Klaus ever met him.
 However, if Al Mccoy wants any of Gibbons game I imagine the St. Paul man would have no objection to giv- ing the Brooklynite another boxing lesson. Mike and Al met about a year ago and Gibbons did everything but knock his man out.
 Eddie McGoorty probably has a better claim on Gibbons than any of i the others. Mike and Eddie boxed here several years ago, and while it was an awful affair considering the reputation of the men, whatever ihonors there were rested with the Oshkosh man on his aggressiveness according to the critics.
 Australia Has New "F,ind."
 Over in Australia they are boosting a newcomer named Mike King. King recently was awarded close de- cision over Jeff Smith, and as the same referee had previously given 1 Smith a verdict over Clabby, they are i claiming the worlds title for King But according to comments by Aus tralian writers the referee "pulled a bone' when he named King the vic- tor just as he had previously done 1 by picking Smith as the winner over |! Clabby. Judging by Clabby's and Smiths form in this country I am in clined to take the critics end of the argument.
 To my mind Gibbons comes closer to the ideal champion than any of his rivals I do not think there is a man anywhere near his weight who can beat him over any distance from six | rounds up. If he meets McGOOrty l