Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-01-19
RING CHAMPIONS IN SMALL DANGER OF
LOSING TITLES IN COMING SEASON IN
FIGHTS WITH BOYS WHO CLAIM HONORS
Jess Willard, heavyweight.
Battling" Levinsky, lightweight.
Mike O'D0wd midd1aWpipht

Jess Willard, heavyweight.
Battling" Levinsky, lightweight.
Mike O'Dowd, middleweight.
Ted kid Lewis, welterweight.
Benny Leonard, lightweight.
Johnny Kilbane, featherweight.
Johnny Ertle or Pete Herman, ban
tamweight.
That was the titular lineup in box
ing when 1917 became numbered
among the past years And that will
be the championship situation when
the current year has run its allotted
course. Barring the sudden termina-
ton of the war, and the increased &C.
tivity that will naturally follow in the
Queensberry game, as in all other
sports, there is little likelihood of the
present boxing champions being de-
posed.
War or no war, Willard seems to be
firmly ensconced on the heavyweight
throne. There is talk-much talk-of
a match between him and Fred Fulton,
who physically, is for no other reason,
is his closest rival Should the match
materialize it will not be fought under
conditions that will place Willard s
title in jeopardy.
Among the light heavyweights, a
class that has only come to be widely
recognized, Battling" Levinsky prob
ably stands supreme. At any rate, he
is generally conceded the champion
ship of the division, since he trounced
Jack Dillon, the erstwhile Man
Killer" His duties as boxing instruc-
tor in Camp Aver keep him tied down.
O'DOwd Tops List.
O'Dowd tops the list of middle
weights. He succeeded to whatever
claim AL Mccoy had to that title.
Many people refused to look upon Nc
Coy as the champion of the 15S-pound
class, despite his victory over George
Chip, who before Mccoy, was almost
universally regarded as the champion.
II Chip was champion, then Mccoy
was, too. by virtue of his defeat of the
Pittsburgher, and in turn O'Dowd won
the title by stopping Mccoy.
While there are far better ringmen
than O'Dowd in the middleweight
class, there is little chance of him
being beaten for the title in the near
future. Mike Gibbons, for instance, is
the class of the middleweight division,
and if he and O'Dowd ever meet in a
real championship fight there is little
doubt that he would emerge the title
holder.
Welterweight Champion Lewis,
who, by the way. is English born, is
more or less active. So are his more
dangerous challengers, Jack Britton,
for instance, from whom he won the
title. This is about the only class in
Fistiana that is likely to see a trans
fer of titular holdings before the end
OF the war
Benny Leonard. who seems to stand
so far above all the lightweights that
he is practically without serious oppo-
sition in the division. has announced
that he is through with boxing for the
duration Of the war. That puts the
lightweight title in cold storage.
Johnny Kilbane relatively occupies
the same position in the feather
weight group that Leonard does
among the lightweights. The Cleve-
lander outranks all the 122-pound
boys in the country.
The Bantam Argument,
Several matches of titular signif-
icance are pending in the bantam
weight class. Both ErtIe and Herman
claim the title. and it is a moot point
which is entitled to it. Ertle bases
mis- claims on his victory on a foul
over kid" Williams when the "Baiti-
more Tiger" was the undisputed
champion.
Then along came Peter Herman and
won an official decision over Williams.
Which served to make the situation
more complicated Herman advertised
champion. as does Ertle. Until
some youngster wallops the tar out of
both boys the bantamweight title will
be in dispute. Joe Lynch, one of the
best Of the titular contenders. is now