The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-08
ENGLISH FANS
 GLOOMY ABOUT
 BECKETT'S 5 FLOP

London, Dec. S.---EnEIand ts in the dumps today over the mortifytng de- feat of it's pugilistic idol. Joe Beckett. His supporters would have been sat asfied if the British champion had made a. fight Of half a dozen rounds, but as Q mouruful supporter put 1t ito be Topped with one blooming punch in the first round is 'orrlble."
 All sorts of excuses are being of- fered for the defeat of the Brit0n, but the most novel of all is that of Beckett himself. He said: T had not started to fight when I got it. I did not real ize what had happened. I was just filling in for the first round when he slipped 1t by"
 To eIucjdate more fully, Beckett meant that he had no idea Carpenter would attempt any rough work in the first round, but that he would devote the period to sparring around and do- ing some foOtwork.
 This statement revives the historic utterance of Steve O'Donneu, who was put to sleep at Coney Island by Peter Maher fl 30 seconds. Stoves explanation was. he didn't give me time to get started
 One point was definitely settled by the bout. Beckett, a mere novice. fortunately will never be called on to meet Jack Dempsey. While the Bri- ton stood fat-fOOted when Carpenter made his left hand feint for the body, instead of stepping back, he stood his ground and dropped both hands to block an expected left for the body. This left Becketts face entirely shy of protection and Carpenter. instead of letting his left go, shot his right straight to the BTiton's chin.
 The result was disastrous for Beck cit. Only a green boxer would have done such a thing Any man of ex- perience would have stepped away from such a feint, or at least have blocked with his left and kent his right in front of that vulnerable jaw But Beckett, who was filling in, evi- dently thought Carpenter was alsc filling in and opened up his guard sc that any one could have hit him What would happen to Beckett, should he attempt to fill in with Dempsey, is painful to contemplate
 Boxing devotees here are discussing the chances of Carpenter in q matcT with Dempsey, since it is regarded as a certainty that they will meet neX summer for the worlds championship Neither English nor French expert! have any accurate knowledge O Dempsey. The French feel that Car pentier is the greatest of them all while the English now hope Denpse! is as formidable as he has been re ported. It is the writer's opinion tha Dempsey would stop the FrenchmaI in a few rounds
 Carpenter weighs only ITO pound and is not rugged enough to stand III under the sort of blows that topplet Willard in the Toledo fight. 4 matcl between the two is the logical one ant should take place in America Coch ran will offer a purse of B 900 pound for tho match, but Holborn Stadium holds only 4,5G0 persons and is muc1 too small for such a bout The Oly1n pia is about the same size In addi tion the English would not take tn interest that would mark the match Becket were a contestant It is no believed the French would of-e enough money, though they are vii ling to back Carpenter to their limit The Judgment of leading experts jus efied Bettison, Corri and others whe they insisted that Beckett was not real champion and would fall befor the first man of any real class that h faced. They had seen Beckett in ac ton and knew his defects.