The sun., 1919-09-28
,RATNER IN QUEST
| OF CHAMPIONSHIP
New York Middleweight to
Have His Chance Against
O'DOwd Tomorrow.
AUGIE A CLEVER 30 ER
Will Meet a Tireless Fighter
in Opponent in Armory
A. C. Contest.
AUGIE A CLEVER BO ER
ny CRoss COUNTER.

hest middleweight contests staged in this
country since the days when Frank
Klaus. George Chip. Jack Dillon, Eddie
McGoorty, Hugo Kelly and other 16"
nounders were In their prime will be
seen at the Armory A. A. Jersey City
next Monday night, when Mike O'Dowd,
holder of the worlds title OF the class
will get into the ring with Augie Rat
ner. the most prominent challenger OF
the champion. Both of these men saw
service abroad under the colors of Uncle
sam, and each did considerable glove
frhtlng on the soil of France in ad'
dition to the bouts they had with the
Germans.
O'Dowd is the type OF fighter who
strongly appeals to the average patron
Of boxing The champion is as ag-
grssslve as a bull terrier, never ceases
action till the bell sends him to his cor
ner and is possessed of an amount of
stamina that enables him to fight witt
tireless persistency. These qualities
make C'Dowd a very welcome figure in
the boxing world. ant that he will at
tract a large crowd to the arena In
the Jersey town goes without saying.
Although O'Dowd hats been In the
ring but six years all told and is but
"a years of age, he has done more hare
In double the time. He met every welter-
weight in the country while he was In
that class and since has tackled all the
best of the middlewe!ghts and many o.
the light heavies.
other Rugged WeIters.
Among the rugged welters he has
boxed are Kid Lewis, Jack Britton and
Soldier Bartfield. and the middleweights
include Silent Martin. Frank Carbone
Jack McCarron and others. He also
has boxed Harry Greb, and in England
beat Ralph and Ring, two light heavies
In all the battles in which he has
taken part O'Dowd has at times been
outpointed, but he never has been
stopped and he proved his right to the
mddlew eight title by twice putting to
sleep Al Mccoy.
Augie Rather, who will oppose
0'Dowd, is the antithesis of the cham
pon in ring methods. Rather is a
skilful boxer, cool and heady. his de-
fence being backed by good hitting
power. He is a native of New York
city and Is Just 25 years Of age. He
began boxing as an amateur and made
brilliant record. He won the New
York city and New York State amateur
welter titles in 1915. and going to Bes-
ton in the same year captured the ma
tional amateur weller title. He Then
travelled to the coast and won the
International welter championship In
tournament in San Francisco
Rather Beat Robson.
Rather then tossed his hat into the
professional ring and has scored a
marked success. One of his notable
victories was twenty round decision
over Tommy Robson, one OF the best
middleweights of New England, in 1916,
although In 1918 Robson reversed the
verdict in a bout limited to twelve
rounds
Rather conceded weight to Greb and
gave the Pittsburger a hard twenty
round battle. losing the decision by a
shade. Rather has met all of the best
OF the modern middleweights and has
held his own.
Each OF the boxers mas done consid-
cradle talking about the weight and its
Influence on title match
Each knows very well that the cham
pions set the weights in all classes un-
der heavy in America, and that what
ever the title holder decides on is final.
Under London rules the champions die
tated l54 pounds ringside. Later the
Queensberry title holders put the figures
at l5S pounds, and the poundage In
middeweight championship contests in
recent years has been 100.
Therefore, II Messrs. ODowd and Rat
nor weigh 1s0 pounds ach next Monday
night and Rather scores a Knockout he
will be acclaimed the worlds middle
weight champion
John Summers Retires.
Johnny Summers, a boxer of interna-
tonal reputation, who once held the Eng
lish title of the welter class has just
announced his retirement from the ring.
Summers, while never in the first flight
OF the three classes in which he COM
peted, was an interesting performer In
ular His career covered twenty odd
the ring and personally was very pop
years OF active ring work I'm which he
has fought championship battles at three
weights and engaged in nearly 200 con-
tests. He fought Spike Robinson for the
featherweght championship in 1906; was
selected to oppose Fred Welsh as a
lightweight for the first of the Ions
dale belts In 1909, and in 1912 he de-
feated Arthur Evernden for the welter-
weight championship.
Most Of his admirers regret that Sum-
mers did not retire much earlier. or, al
least before he was persuaded to tackle
Bob Marriott in another attempt to secure
the lightweight belt. When the mattel
was first announced II took nearly every
one by surprise Summers had fol
many years boxed as a welter Tha
was an unfortunate meeting for Sum
mers. inasmuch as I've was disqualified
for an offence for which his opponen
was every whit equally to blame.