New-York tribune., 1919-11-30
British FervOr
Over Beckett
At Fever Heat
Defeat of Carpenter viii
Assure Briiou Champion
-h;p Fight With Dempsey

The greatest event in the boxing
world since the sensational defeat OF
Jess willard by Jack Dempsey at
Toledo last July will take place az
the Holborn Stadium in London. Eng
land. on Thursday night, when Georges
Carpenter. the idol Of France. meets
Joe Beckett. ,ao English heavyweight
champion, in 70 fwcrty-round bout. The
winner of this agh, viii Be matched
to measure strength, skill and game
ness with the great Dempsey himself.
either in this country or Europe.
Opinion among those who have seen
the two men il action recently is about
evenly divided as 20 who will prove
the winner. Our own Fred Fulton,
who has himself tasted the power Of
The Dempsey fist. aud with disastrous
consequences. cane back from London
TASTE week f.ed with the conviction
.l.. Carpenter v'l 'eare -h, ring a
victor.
"Bccke,- s big and irons. but slow
and nowhere near the master Of boxing
that the Frenchman is declared Full
ton. u 90 not believe Beckett will be
able to land effectively on Carpenter,
and I look 70 sec the French champion
give the Britisher a boxing lesson and
perhaps knock him out"
Incidentally, Fulton is firm in the
belief, or so he says, that he could
defea, both Carpenter and Beckett.
He vainly sought bout with both men
while in England with Tom O'Rourkc,
his manager. but his efforts were in
vain.
According to these Two men, Beckett
- fairly good slugger with second
raters, but ne comes in leaving his
Jaw wide open, and man with good
rieht hand, like Carpenter, should
have little trouble 4 landing his bes,
punches.
"Come-B Back" for Carpenter
The fght on Thursday night will
mark Carpenters first appearance N
genuine battle in the ring since before
the war Four years Of active service
on the battlefelds Of France as SOL
der are calculated 20 take the edge of
most ringmens work and u yet re-
mains % be seen whether Carpenter
car come back" but according 70 The
most reliable information % hand, the
Frenchman has rounded into splendid
lighting condition, aided ny q couol' of
trial bouts In these affairs MS priAci-
pal trouble seems 10 be lack OF Jacg-
ment q q tarce. but a training course
Of several weeks n preparation for his
meeting with Beckett mas probably cor
rect~d this failing.
While the exact weights az which
the men will enter the ring on Thurs
dav nirht are not available at the
present writing. Beckett will undouo--
ed.v have a decided advantage in the
Doundage. He VIII probably scale n
az about l95 pounds. whereas CarDen-
tier will move me beam around the
l75-pound mark. But that IS about the
only obvious advantage Beckett VIII
have. since Carpenter outclasses him
in experience. boxing skill and speed.
A 10 height and reach. they are about
evenly matched
Before the war the French champion
WAS regarded as the greatest figntin ing
nan OF his weight developed IN Europe
within the last twenty years OF more.
Entering the ring as Little fellow. ne
rapidly tough, his way through The
various classes suc sssfuIy, finally
emerging as the m.ddlewcish cham
rior of Europe
He gradually grew into d AgA-
heavyweight. and as suca continued his
victorious career. al lIougn suffering
reversals once or twice on referees
decisions when opposed b. American
boxers. Gunboat Smith wen, 20 France
and fo~ght Carpenter some three or
four years ago. but lost on foul N
the seventeenth round. after having the
better Of the night up 70 that time
Grea. efforts were made year ago
- have the Frerchmen come 20 tn's
country % fight Je.s y Hard lu, puo-
lie opinion Oh both sides Of the At
lantic was strongly against such
fight, both because o. the tremendous
difference in size between the men and
also because OF Carpenters long lay
o.F from the ring. France did not
relish the idea Of eeing the man who
had proved himself hero on real
battlefield borne down by the giant OF
the ring.