Evening star., 1919-12-04
BECKETT FAVOR|TE
IN LONDON TONIGHT
Picked to Defeat Carpenter
in Bout for European
Heavyweight Title.
BY EDWARD PRICE BELL.
by Cable to The Star and Chicago
Daily News. Copyright, 1913.

LONDON, England. December A.
London is athrob with excitement
over tonights battle for the heavy :
weight championship OF Europe pc-
tween the bulldog of England. Beck
, EFT. and the French air pilot. Carpen
tier. No other fight in the history OF
, the ring since that of Sullivan and
/ Mitchell, more than generation ago
, has aroused SO much interest mere.
Promoter Cochrane told me that he
could easily have sold $4,000 seats, in
stead of tho handful Of 400 available
in the Holhorn Stadium.
SportSmen in all parts of Great
Britain have been bombarding Coch :
rane offering anywhere from 20 to SO
guineas fS100 to s25O) for comfort
able standing room.
The places of honor at the rinssidn
will be occupied by the Prince of
Wales and half dozen members OF
, his American suite. France VIII De
officially represented by NJ. Loucheur,
minister of construction in Premier
Ciemcnceau's cabinet.
Beckett Slight Favoritc.
London's sporting world is rather
evenly divided as to the chances of
the rival glad .atorS. Beckett is slight
iy the favor'tc, owing to his superior
weight of fourteen pounds his su
perior reach of Il couple of inches and
generally superior physical dinensi ons
this country. His supporters believe that
he is Beckett's master in boxing skill
and ring generalship. Americans who
have seen him in the past fortnight
remark that his boxing style is remi-
niscent of Kid Mccoy and Jim Cor
bett in their best days.
Cochrane Will go to the United States
just before Christmas. The main pur-
pose of his visit is to consult Jack
Dempsey with reference to fighting to-
nights winner on British soil. Next
summer Cochrane purposes dangling a
purse of S1I5,00 before Dempsey'S
managers, but realizes that American
promoters are probably prepared to out
bid this offer.
Hundreds of Americans, both resi-
dents and tourists, have contrived to
secure good seats for the Beckett-Car-
pentier combat.
Odds 40 to 60 Against Carpenter.
The betting odds are in the neighbor-
hood of forty to sixty against Carpen-
tier. Beckett undoubtedly will enter the
ring the favorite of the betterS, but it
will require observation of both men
just prior the battle before the general
public can form Il definite idea OF the
competitors respective chances.
Though only France and England in
the persons of their best boxers of the
day are meeting at the Holborn Sta
dium the spirit of three nations will
brood over the struggle. for America
looms ahead as the antagonist OF the
winner. AS America once louged for a
white hope to best Jack johnson. so
sportsmen on this side OF the Atlantic
long for a European hope TO put the
United States on the mat.
The Daily Mirror offered twenty-fiye-
guinea tsf-o) seats 10 twenty three
persons who should give the best rea-
sons why they wanted TO see the fight
1 know one small Anne ricau boy who
made this bid for one of the seats: Il
want to see the Beckett Carpenter fight
because | want to study the form OF the
man who is to have his bean swatted
off by Jack Dempsey"
This little chap drew 4 blank but he
had his fun all right.