El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-03-27

RILWAUKEE. WIS. March 81
MI There is a controversy on be-
l. - tween Johnny Kiibane, holder Of
the featherweight championship. and
CLANCY. challenger for the title, as to
real owner OF the crown, Some time
ago. Clancy and Kilbane were matched
TO meet in Il round contest at Balti-
more, Nd, to a decision. Articles were
signed and the contest was to be held
March Il. Henry l. Bletzer, manager
OF CLANCY, announced at the time that
the match would be for the title.
Later, Jimmie Dunn, manager of Kill
bane. Tor some reason or other. called
the match off and refused to go through
with his agreement He offered to take
CLANCY on in "A short contest in Phila-
delphia previous to the other match
and later wanted to have the match
take place in Baltimore. but under
the auspices Of another club Dunn had
been guaranteed $500 for Kilbane's
end-Win, lose or draw-and at the time
everything seemed to be o. X. How
ever. Kilbane failed to live up to his
understanding with the Baltimore peO-
pie and did not appear for his match
with CLANCY as arranged
Claims Title For CLANCY.
Therefore. manager BlctZer has made
public statement i'm which he claims
the featherweight championship for
Clancy. Under the old rules Of boxing.
a champion was supposed to defend his
title at least once in every six months
and when challenged by any legitimate
contender. Kilbane has failed to take
part in n championship match for over
two years and it seems there is a great
deal of justice in the claims of CLANCY
and his manager.
Must Fight Or Quit.
There is no reason why champion
should be permitted to hang on TO a
title for an indefinite period without
defending the same. 1t was never in
tended by the trainers Of boxing rules
that such conditions should be imposed
upon the boxing public, and it is up to
Kilbane to Immediately defend his title
in a match with Clancy as previously
agreed. or to give CLANCY the right to
take over the title and defend the same
against an corners.
Pnpke Wants to Come Back.
Billy Papke the Illinois middle
weight, and who held the championship
for a brief period when he whipped the
late Stanley Ketchel. only to lose ir
again "a month and half later, in 1903,
is going to attempt a come back Billy
has not engaged in real contest since
1913. but he thinks the quiet life he has
been leading at his home town in
Kewanec viii enable him 10 make
successful debut once more
VIII Fight Gibbons.
He has matched himself to meet Mike
Gibbons at st. Paul. April is, and the
distance will be the usual 10 rounds
over the no-decision route. For man
who has been out Of the ring so long.
his Judgment of distance may be bad
and Billy will no doubt discover this
fact when he begins to try and locate
the slippery Michael
Against a less clever man Papke
might do well for a starter but TO meet
q phantom like Gibbons is another mat
ter entirely. when Billy was right no one
ever questioned his ability as "a boxer
and fighter He was there both ways
and the fans who witnessed his battles
with Stanley Ketchel and Hugo Kelly
in Milwaukee in 1908 viii never forget
them.
Papke's short Time Record.
By the way. Papke holds the record
for the limited time he held the middle