The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-12
GOTCH-ST
 MATCH WILL PROVE
 COSTLY OPERATION
Champion Will Face Serious Problem In Meeting His Opponent--Bout to
 Be Held Soon

To bring out of retirement a cham pion in any line of sport who has held the titular honors for some years, in order that he may te8t his strength and skill against younger and really for mldable opponent is an expensive oper- ation. A champion with the lust for battle dulled by years of competition and secretly doubtful of his ability to hold his own with . more youthful challenger considers such a match d business proposition in which he risks his hard earned laurels for so much money and the sum ifs usually so high that it is an excellent balm in case the title passes from his possession.
 The promoters who are planning to bid for the Gotch-Stecher wrestling contest are going to discover this fact when the time comes for the makin s of bids for the match. While the Iowa champion and the Nebraska challenger are far from being matched at this time, there is no question that they will meet on the mat for the worlds s catch-a h-as-catch-can championship with in the next year. Gotch has already be- gun training and will soon start upon countrywide tour meeting all corners in short time bouts. Stecher is rapidly increasing his reputation and popularity by meeting opponents in various big cities in accordance With lengthy schedule prepared before he left his home in Dodge, Neb.
 It cost Tex Rickard $101.000 in ad- iition to bonuses to bring Jim lief fries and Jack Johnson together at Reno, New. and while wrestlers have never received as much as pugilists in the general run of championship matches, it is certain that a new rec ord in wrestling purses will be made when Gotch finally signs for his grap- pie with Stecher. Whether the match will prove as disappointing to those that witness it as the Johnson Jef- fries battle did to the spectators who gathered at the Nevada ringside on July 4, 1910, only time can tell.
 As a general rule wrestlers hold their grappling ability for a number of years beyond the point where fighters begin to slip back. Jeffries was 35 when Johnson at the age Of 32 wrest- ed his title from him. Gotch is 3S and Stecher 23. and while the latter has had remarkable record to date many think that Gotch's long mat ca reer and wrestling experience will off, set the advantage of Stecher's youth. Tn fact some wrestling experts figure that the Nebraska grappler is too young to tackle Gotch. Certain it is that study of the latter's mat rec ord impresses one with the formida ble performances of the man when taken in connection with the well known fact that he has always been moderate and methodical in his habits and train ing.
 Gotch, who is feet 11& inches tall and weighs about 210 pounds in con- dition, has won more than 160 of the 172 time handicap or finish bouts in addition to throwing more than 200 opponents in 15minute exhibition or invitation bouts in this country and Canada During his foreign tour he met and conquered about half that num- Der. Stecher measures 6 feet inch in height and strips at about 200 pounds. He has wrestled more than 50 matches and has never lost decision. although held to no-fall match by Strangler Lewis and George Turner.