The Connecticut labor press., 1920-08-21
Sport Jbes and Jabs ]
Billy Miske
 Hedrd From

The Boxing Blade prints story by Billy Miske which reads as follows;
 "I am so hapy that I am just bubbl- ing over with joy Every now and then I have to pinch myself to see if l am awake. My life dream-a chance to battle for the heavyweight cham pionship. of the worlds about to be realized. I have been matched with Jack Dempsey, the title holder, whom I already have fought two times. am confident of the outcome of the battle and feel sure that on the evening of September 6, Labor Day, that will be the new king of the heavyweights.
 Don't think for minute that 1 am cocly and over-conhdent, or any thing like that. I know that I am going to battle one of the greatest fighting men of history-if not the greatest-but nevertheless I have test ed him i'll battle and 1 know that l stand a first class chance of beating him.
 "I have fought Dempsey twice-both times before he won the championship. The first meeting with him was III St. Paul, my home city. l went l0 rounds with him on May }, 1913, at the audi torium. lack and 1 put up slashing C, newspaper critics at the ringside were divided as to the outcome of the battle Some gave me the decision, others favored Dempsey, while quite a mum Der thought a draw decision fair to both of us.
 "It was the biggest battle that either one of us had engaged in. We both fought like tigers all of the way for a victory for either one of us meant that the winner would be the most formid- able opponent for Jess Willard, who at that time was the, champion.
 sIater on we were re-matched for six-round contest in Philadelphia. This match was staged on November Z8, lol8 Once moreNwe battled the sched- uled distance and once again, fandom was divided on the outcome. Dempsey, who had gained much favorable public ity about that time by reason of series of quick knockouts, had been picked to beat me, for the so-called wise fans were giving odds of 10 to on Jack. However, I surprised my alleged wisen- heimers and there was controversy in the sport pages of the Philadelphia papers for several days after the con- test as to who won.
 "Now in these two battles. which tota1ed 16 rom $, I more than held my own. As a matter of fact, Jack was more marked up when he left the ring than I was on both occasions. plan ned my battle before entering the ring in both contests and 1 will do the same for our coming match.
 "I was at the ringside when Dempsey lifted the title from Jess Willard. Jack put up a wonderful battle and I was one of the first to congratulate him. That very day-Ju1y 4, 191e-Dempsey thanked me for Try workmanship and declared that I was, the toughest man he ever fought He promised that l would be given the first chance at the title and he has lived up to his word.
 'I am in better condition today than I have ever been before in my life. It is true that 1 was out of the game for a time with illness, but 1 recovered several months ago, and have been training steadily since early last spring.
 "I made quick work of Jack Moran of St. Louis, whom I kofcked out in two rounds i'll Minneapolis in June. I tried myself out in this match and found that 1 was boxing better and hit ting harder than ever. I had two more bouts scheduled for this month, but under the terms of my contract with Promoter Floyd Fitzsimnlons of Ben- ton Harbor, Mich, who will stage the match, was forced to cancel these bouts.
 q suppose Dempsey will be made favorite in betting i'll our coming bout, but only natural because he is cham pion But 1 have worked harder the past year than Dempsey has done since he won the title.
 q have been training for several months, as mentioned above. am stronger, taller and heavier than l was a year ago. While it may sound un- believable, I have grown more than a quarter of an inch the past 12 months When I fought Dempsey in St. Paul and Philadelphia, I weighed 179 pounds. When l resumed training last spring weighed 210 ponnds. I took off some weight for the Moran contest, but l will enter the ring weighing around 1o6 pounds when 1 swap punches with the champion on Labor Day.