The Washington herald., 1918-08-21
CARPENTER Is !.
GREATEST HERO
French Champion is Shin
ing Light Among Brave
Warriors Of Ring Game.

Scores OF boxes have gone to the
front to fght for human liberty. Many
have been wounded. while some have
made the supreme sacrifice; yet the
holders of championship titles whose
feet have trod the soil Of France in
defiance Of the Hun can be counted on
the fingers OF one hand.
Considered in the order of titular i'm
portance. George Carpenter. heavy
weight champion OF France and
Europe, stands foremost. He was
among the first to answer the bugle
call to duty, and he has been In the
service Of his country ever since. Next
Is Charles Iedoux. who also sprang
to the colors of France at the begin
ming Of the Hun invasion. LedoIx
went into the trenches and fought in
some of the most desperate battles of
1914. Once he was buried under a
heap of debris thrown into a trench
by a German shell but was rescued.
Ledoux has been reported killed. but
this report has not been confirmed. II
Ledoux is dead II marks the end OF
one OF the most patriotic and cour-
ageous boys that ever drew on
glove.
Mike o'Dowd. worlds middleweight
champion. is the only American title
holder who Is now at the front. and "
the husky st. Paul Celt ever gets into
a hand to hand combat with the Huns
they will get a vivid impression OF the
style of battling that Mike employed
in his ring contests in America.
O'Dowd Is with the infantry and
probably has been in action by this
time
Alexander Lafferty was not a na-
tional champion, but at one time he
held both the bantam and feather
weight titles OF Scotland. He also
hurried to the front. and he gave his
life for the great cause. He was
wounded in action on April 13 last and
died in hospital the day following.
From a pugilistic viewpoint Carpen-
tier made the greatest sacrifice of all
Just before the Kaiser decided that
the treaty with Belgium was a worth
less scrap Of paper Carpenter was the
most promising pugilistic proposition
in the world, with Les Darcy a close
second. Carpenter had graduated
from the mlddleweight division ard
had beaten all the best French heavy
weights. Then the French champion
stopped Bombardier Wells in a few
rounds and thus made himself the
heavyweight champion Of Europe.
This brought him face to face with
bout with Willard for the worlds
title, or a contest with Darcy for
rich purse, as the Australian was re-
ported at the time to be contemplating
trip to America A fortune awaited
Carpenter in those two matches, and
there was no limit to the riches the
young boxer would have gathered in a
tour OF the United States Plans were
practically completed and the French
man began making preparations to
sail across the Atlantic.
Then came the war alarm and Car
pentier instantly cancelled the visit to
America and gave up all thought OF
trying for the worlds title. which was
his goal. As soon as Germany invaded
Belgium Carpenter reported for duty.
and was detailed to the flying corps.
He has several times been severely in
jured. and it is questionable II the
strain on his health will ever again
permit him to train for a bout. Dur
ing a furlough the French aviator,
while recovering from an injury, was
deluged with offers to go to America
and engage In bouts, but he abso-
lutely declined to fight for profit
while the Germans were on the soil
of his country.
He relinquished all thought OF pugil-
istic glory or gain while his native
land was menaced by a foreign foe.
and doubtless France, realizing the
sacrifice. will reward him for his
patriotism and valor.