Evening star., 1916-05-07
FRED FULTON HAS THE MAKING
OF GREAT HEAVYWEIGHT BOXER
Recent Showing With Reich in New York
Convinces Skeptics He Has Chance
for Championship.

nasium instructors or boxing profess
sors would point out to the beginners
the necessity of learning the first prin-
ciples of the game there would be more
boXers of the Packey Mcfarland,
Freddy Welsh. Mike Gibbons and the
late Joe Cans type, instead of the
cage demons"
The youngsters-that is. most of them
have no means with which to pay for
a tutor and consequently they follow
the easiest course. which is the ''shell
game 1t was treat to watch Johnny
ICoulon, the eN-bantamweigh champion.
give Johnny Ritchie real boxing les
son at Kenosha. Wis. last week. The
boys fought ten rounds. Coulon scaling
10 pounds and Ritchie 116 at o'clock.
1t was a come back match for Coulon
and to a certain extent the little fell
low made good. He was there with
all his old-time cleverness, and for
five rounds Ritchie could not lay a
glove on him. His judgement of dis
tance was remarkable when it IS con-
sidered that he has been out of the
ring about three years. 1t Was surely
good for sore eyes. as sam summer :
field. the veteran Chicago promoter OF
decade or two ago, exclaimed during
the contest. to watch Coulon block and
catch the blows before they got near
him and to slip his head" on swings
which Ritchie tried to put over. 1t
was just as wonderful a bit of clever
boxing as Freddy Welsh displayed
against Ever Hammer of Chicago the
night before in Milwaukee. As to
whether Coulon can do come back
in longer battle or against a harder
hitter than Ritchie. is another ques-
tfon. 1t was apparent that he began
to tire bit after the sixth round. but
still Ritchie could do nothing against
him. even with his rushing tactics, Tor
the eX-champion's blocking and gem
eral defense was ni-. perfect. How
ever stamina is a necessary adjunct
in hard battle and Johnny viii have
to satisfy himself as to whether ne
can stand the pace before ne goes INTO
a big fight against stars like Kid VII,
liams Johnny Ertle. Eddie Campi ana
Pete Herman.
If some of the youngsters will try
TO follow in the footsteps OF Johnny
we may yet have some real scientihc
boxers instead of the "shellhsh OF
Gagged kangaroos.
What is the boxer of today coming
to? For the past two years the boxing
promoters and critics of New YORK
have been bowling for decision bouts;
some of them have advocated return
to the Horton law days. when twenty
round battles with referees decisions
were given. Along comes New orleans
with twenty-round contests and later
Kansas City falls into line with hfteen-
round bouts, both with referees de-
cisions. Now the promoters in the
southern metropolis and in the kaw
city complain that they find it almost
impossible to get the stars to perform
for them except at exorbitant prices,
on account of the giving of decisions.
They prefer the sure-thing game-the
ten-round, no-decSion game-where
there is not much chance of losing
a title or reputation. 1t is surely
sad state of affairs for boxing when
many of the stars are afraid to take
a chance in even a fifteen-round con-
test. AS a result of the actions Of
some of the alleged stars the promot-
erS of Kansas City and New Orleans
are thinking of cutting out decisions
and adopting the nO-deciSion rule. No
wonder Australia is ahead of this coun-
try when il comes to holding real box
ing matches. The next thing we know
the champions will demand guarantees
from the promoters against being
knocked out.
New York boxing fans will stand
for higher prices than any other place
in the Union, but many of them think
they are being made the goats for
the benefit of some fighters and they
are beginning to offer objections. The
promoters of the FultoD-Reich match
in New York last week charged from
50 to so. and the fans kicked good
and plenty. They would willingly
have paid IS a seat. but the so price
was too strong. with the result that
while a number of the ringside seats
seats were vacant. They could have
sold two or three thousand more at
50 and SO. but no change was made
Instead of drawing more than s12 900.
as il would no doubt have done. the
rece ipts were A little under $1,000. of
which Fulton was to receive $4,000
The fans like the game. but they do
not care to pay war prices'to see a
boxing match. Five dollars should be
the limit unless for exceptional
matches.
There :s no longer any doubt as to
who holds the light heavyweight
championship. Jack Dillon. the Hoosier
bearcat, is the titleholder and no one
appears overanxious TO dispute his
claim. Jack claimed the title some
time ago. but there was one man who
also insisted on having a look-in and
that person was Battling Levinsky of
New York. The Battler had given
Jack a couple of stiff arguments and
he felt sure he could do better over a
longer route. Well, they met at Kansas
CITY for a ifteen-round contest and
Dillon was given the referees decision,
which also was a pretty good way to
put the official stamp of approval on
Jacks claim to the title. 1t is inter
esting to note also that Jess Willard
was present and saw Jack win the
crown. Asked afterward what he
thought of Dillon, the big heavyweight
champion said: fFe is a wonderful
man for his size. 1t is too bad he is
not twenty or twenty-five pounds
heavier To my mind he is too small
to cope successfully with man of my
size and build" There has been A
great deal Of talk about Dillon meet
ing Willard for the heavyweight title.
but If the Hoosier fighter is wise he
will forget about such match. Will
lard is altogether too big and strong
for a man Of Dillon's size and weight.
Jack had better he content with one
title. If he must seek another he could
do better to get after Les Darcy of
Australia and battle for the middle
weight crown at $50 pounds.
TO HOLD FIELD DAY.