The sun., 1916-10-22

tina, had h. entered the ring IN posses
sion of ali his vlgor lie would have been
eventually beaten by the boy from across
the bridge. who at thai time Was at his
best aHd lighting with the utmost fury.
Could Not Check NrG;overn.
Neither Ernc nor any other man with
out n heavy punch had any chancc W
checking the rushes OF McGoycrn at tina
time. and II was only a question If time
when his opponent was put on the ring
floor.
Had NcCovcrn permitted l.rnc 20
lame the weight and enter tho wing a. a
poundage he woilu have selected for n
bout t"T the lightweight tale 10 NnGlG
AVE become the world lightweight
champion through knocking out Erne.
But as Mc'iovern named "a weight
seven pounds lower thsn the figure at
which Eriic heat I.avignc 10Y the t..l-.
Mct;oysrn closed the door on himself so
tar rs the lightweight championship WAS
concerned. In substance IL was a handl-
cap match, and no title could change
ha ids
Another o somewhat; similar to the
Ernc and McGovcrn match was tha; be-
tween Joe WalVott. the giant killer. and
KID Lav.gne. then the foremost candidate
for the lightweight title which McAu!ife
was about 10 resign. The bout took
plscesat Maspeth in 1895, and was one Of
the bloodiest battles IN the history OF the
ring.
Waic0tt Handics pped.
The match grew out ~ an argument
bel O'I;ourke, manager of Walcptt,
and Sam Fitzpatrick. Of lH-
vignc. O'Rolrkc expressed IN. opinion
that Waicotl could stop Layigns inside
fifteen rounds. and Fitzpatrick took
strong rround against the proposition.
Tho result was n wager ii $500 on the
, part Of the managers. Wa!co': to score
n knockout IN nftccn rounds or ,osc
the side stake.
When II cainc to the weight Ft2pat-
rick assisted on 133 r.ngslde. ss I.avlGn.
AT that time could do 1870 and he At his
best. O'Rourkc demurred To- the weight,
but finally consented. feeling that the
heavy punches OF tho Black Demon
would bring tho bout To q speedy close.
But Walcutt found that getting down
from his normal weight NJ AZ To 1873
was no ch!ld's play. and the negro was
| compelled to resort to Turkish baths,
! drugs ard other flesh crucifyirg eXpe-
dents.
TIE result was that when he got into
| the ring All his f-rocity had been left
In the training camp. At the beginning
Of the fight Wn!cott wbs weak and in
effective. hut stilnulants were admins
tered 10 him ard he fought with cun-
s.derah HE spirit for u time.
We, his blows lacked the steam that
enabled him to knock out hesvies like
Choynsai and Crcedon. and while both
to and Lavignc we're terribly punished
they were On their feet at the close and
Lacigne Won the $500 by staying to the
finish.
Unjust To Walcott.
This was a case OF a boxer being COM
peeled by his own manager to make a
weigh, at which he could not do him
self Justice. There IL rot "A shadow Of
doubt hat Wolcott at l40 pounds could
have stopped Lavigne In jig time.
The second bout between I.avigns and
Walcott. which took place AT san Fran
cisco October ~. 1897. and ~a!ch La
v.yne won IN twelve rounds, was never
regarded az having been on i,s merits.
In fact, Il was generally denounced as
4 raw fake.
The MsspetE nout. however. Was
strictly on It's merits, ana while the re-
suit Is in the record books rs u draw La
v.ene won not only the wager hut also
on points. 50 said Tim Hurst, who acted
A. referee.
THAT Failed.
\ hput IN which I, weigh that was ay-
,..trd ." Ueaken Terry Mctiovcrn failed
L. accomplish that result vas that In
wiIrh Terrible Terry won the feather
aeight title from Gcors" Dixon. Al
though the feathcrweigh, init was sup
posed TO De l22 pounds ringside,
O'EorrE", Will calm disregard Of rules
~ precedent, demanded that McIuvcrn
make IFS pounds rlngside FOR a title
unatrh with Dixon, and Mc,iovern
promptly consented, This hout took
place at tine broadway \. G. January
=, 1900. and MrGovern, far from being
weak AT the weight, was strong ms n
liun and Snu0kcd Dixon out IN the eighth
round. Although This bout was arranged
re a championship bou and the articles
~ agreement No SET forth. the adh.rents
OF l22 rings!de have never attempted t,
, explain how II was that McGovern could
I win tho title al lls ringsldc
. johnny i;rtlc 10 somewhat given 10
t insisting on u weight by opponents tina,
= % calculated 10 bring them INTO IA.
: ring not any too vigorous physically.
r re made a slight error II snort tim.
. az IN thinking that Benny Kaufmar
Of Philadelphia could not make ne
K rinFside nnI be strong at the poundaxs
To the establishment NJ Ertle, Kaufman