Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-15
McFARLAND-GIBBONS CONTEST
BOTH BOOSTED AND KNOCKED
Expert Tommy Andrews Says Meeting Is
Likely to Develop Into Real Fight
for the Championship

plenty of knowledge of the game, be-
sides hitting power. to defeat men like
Je6 Smith, Mick King and Eddie Me-
Goorty. No. Les is not a savage-he
Is just good-natured youth. and full
of ambition.
Frank Klaus, the Pittsburgh middle
weight. announces that he intends to
make comeback, after a lay-on Of
more than year and half. Frank
was a high class middleweight a few
years ago, but the knockout he suf-
fered at the hands Of Al Mccoy in
BROOKLYN seemed to take all the spirit
out OF the Pittsburgh boy. He claims
the long rest has fixed him up again,
and now he is willing to tackle all
Corners. Frank may find the going
much harder. for there are some husky
youths coming to the front. in that
class at present.
It is very evident that the discussion
in the papers of late regarding cham
pfonship matches between fighters of
some Of them to the realization that
they must get busy and defend their
titles in real matches or suffer loss
Of prestige. No one ever accused Kid
Williams. the bantamweight cham
pion. of tagging behind when it came
to arranging matches. The Kid always
has been ready to meet any man in his
division, and the more of them the bet
ter. His manager, Sammy Harris OF
Baltimore, has been accused by some
Of the other managers Of trying to
sidestep contests over the marathon
route. but it appears that Sammy is not
the one at fault In this case. There
have been many challenges OF late. but
Harris has paid very little attention to
any Of them for the reason that they
have not shown the disposition to
come across with real offers. The one
exception probably is that Of Billy
Bevan Of Philadelphia. who has back
ing up to $1,000 for a championship
match at 11s pounds ringside Regard
ing the situation. Manager Harris
writes as follows: Permit me to say
that Kid Williams is ready to meet the
best little men in the world In long dis
lance battles for the world champion
ship in the bantamweiaht class apy
time we are offered reasonable terms.
The champion, is ready to box frankie
Burns or any other legitimate chal-
lenger over the twe1ty-round route at
New Orleans or any other place In the
country. mentioned Burns for the
reason that he is the man who always
has claimed that Williams refused to
meet him 1 offered Burns $1,000 to
box williams fifteen rounds in Balti-
more before our club, but Burns wired
back that he would have to be guar
anteed $4,000 or he would not accept
the match.
This does not look as though Mr.. Burns
was very anxious to secure a match with
the champion for the title. Any time
that these bantams will show DISPOSE
ton to put up real money as side bet
and find a place where the match can be
staged at reasonable terms they will IND
that Kid Williams will be Johnny on
the spot He has not been making the
limit at short-round bouts
but he will make the. weight
for title match at any time"
According to reports coming from San
Francisco. Joe Ch6ynski. one Of the
greatest light heavyweight this country
las ever produced, has been throwing
some severe knocks at Jim Jenries. the
the title to Jack johnson at Reno.
Choynski. according to the report, stated
that Jeffries was in perfect condition at
Reno and should have whipped dozen
Johnsons HE was trained to the min
ute" said Joe. and all that talk about
his being doped Is bosh. Jeffries simply
quit. He was afraid of the black fellow
and would not fight him. Fighters are
born. and all great fighters fought be-
cause they loved the game. Jenries liked
the money too well and did not have
the fighting spirit to make a show
against johnson. He was as helpless as
a baby because he did not have the
nerve"
If the statement credited to Choynski
is correct. 1t shows very little appre-3
citation on the part of Joseph for the
way he was treated in Jeffries' camp,
according to Choynski himself. He
was given every consideration by JEFF
fries while in his camp. and was paid
we'll for his services. That alone should
have kept Choynski from expressing
such q harsh opinion, as 1t was case
Of breaking confidence with the man
who employed him. However, whether
Choynski made the statement or not.
it is a certainty that Jim Jeffries was
not in the condition he should have
been when he fought johnson. The
writer was there for ten days before
the match. and while Jeffries was In
grand shape two or three weeks pre-
vious. while training at Howarden I'M
he was not in shape at the
time of the match at Reno. The writer
knows positively that five days before
the bout Jeffries had been suffering
from dysentery, and that the day of
the contest he was more At for sanf-
tarium than boxing ring. This
developed after the light
started. Jeffries. to all outward ap-
pearances, looked to be in good con-
hilton. but after getting into the ring
it was evident that the result Of the
siege Of dysentery which he had was
showing its effect. Another thing.
Jeffries met with an accident In the
second round that practically took away
all chance he might have had Of beat
Ing Johnsons