The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-04

Stecher Ought To
 Retain Title Long
His Only Dangerous Rival Earl Caddock Whom He Has Just Defeated-Other Wrestlers Not In Stechers
 Glass; But May Accept Matches With Them

New York, Feb. Aloe Stecher. having clinched to the satisfaction of every one concerned the heavyweight wrestling championship of the world, probably will retain the title for some time to come.
 Joe's claim to the honors once helG by Frank Gotch cannot now be dis puted. Furthermore, there is no one in sight at present, either in this country or abroad, who seems t3 have a reasonably good chance 70 wrest the tile from him.
 Though Earl Caddock was beaten by Stecher last Friday night, the long chinned youth from Anita, Ia, still looms up as Joe's most formid- able rival, which is the tip-on on the wrestling situation at present. How ever, the possibility that Caddock ever will be able to hold his own with the Nebraskan farm boy is slim indeed. Earl is a splendid wrestler, one of the most versatile ever to ap
 pear in New York, but he is too sxran and too light to be reckoned as really dangerous opponent for
 the scissors hold marvel at this time. True, Caddock once defeated Stecher but that was some years back when Earl was already accomplished
 grappler and Joe was just a gangIins raw DOneQ k1O, WlCh nOIn1nS put pair of powerful legs and a hay | knowledge of wrestling. Today Cad | dock still is a fast, clever grappler, l but Stecher has improved so rapiG- | ly that he very nearly outclasses | Gene Melady's protege. To a ma | jority of those who saw the recent | bout it seemed as though Stecher could have put the quietus on Cad
 dock much more quickly than he
 did.F
 Strangler Ed Lewis ranks next to Caddock in the opinion of most stu
 dents of the mat game, but the
 Strangler has little to recommend
 him but the head lock, which is well
 nigh useless when applied againse
 Stecher. Joe is equipped by nature
 to successfully combat the head lock His head is rather small and so | moulded that it is practiaIly impos-
 sible for Lewis, skilled as he is in the
 use of this punishfng grip, to firmly
 clamp it in the crook of his powerful
 left arm. Lewis, who is very much
 of an in and outer, gave Stecher 2
 hard tussle in New York some few
 months ago and eventually sue
 cunbed to the body scissors. The
 Strangler is anxious to meet Joe
 again in the near future, but there
 is small room for doubt as to the
 relative merits Of the pair.
 Wladek Zbyszko, the hu1king Pole,
 also sustained a recent defeat at
 Stecher's hands and is definitely out
 of the running, at least for the time being. Zbyszko, possibly the strong est of all the big fellows. is not inn proving with the passing years, and
 though he is reckoned as one of the
 worlds leading grapplers it is idle to suppose that he will ever become 3 the master of the-f'Boy in Overalis" l Stanislaus Zbyszko, who is due to l reach this country within the next = two weeks, and must be very close s to 40 years of age, and is not like g ly to make much of stir in American wrestling circles this time T One of those now clamoring for a - match with Stecher is Jim Londos e idol of the Greeks and supposedly S champion of that land of ancient e glory. Londos has come to the - front rapidly of late, and his work - in his recent match with William = Demetral stamped him as a rugged, a powerful youngster, and one who is ' game to the core. He apparently
 is too small to cause Stecher very e much trouble, but he does not lack r. for adherents, and his claims to a a match with the champion are not to 5 be lightly received.
 n in addlLlon to these men there ; l IS horde of others who may be a regarded as possible opponents for r Stecher, though none of these figure a to crowd Joe very closely for tho ', honors he now holds. In the group ', are John Olin, John Pesek and Ma " rin Plestina. O1in won't do as q Ii really worthy rival of the cham r pion; Pesek seems to be inprovIna 2, . rapidly and may be groomed for s a meeting with Stecher in the near . future; P1estina unquestionabIy is a II good man, but Stecher certainly has
 nothing to fear from him.
 o In spite of the lack of formidabfa = opponents Stecher probably will be n kept very busy. Joe will continue to accept matches as frequently as " they are offered to him. providfne- o the inducements are sufficient. He 70 has been in great demand in the ~, wrestling centers throughout the v [ country ever since he first flashed to II the front, some years back; the facr i that he Is pow the undisputed cham ,I pion will make him a doubly strong
 drawing card
 Wrestlers, unlike boxers, can per
 form almost every night in the week Le without suffering any i'll effects fro1,1 their continuous work, and Stecher e. can clean up in the tank towns with le out seriously endangering his tilte or l. his constitution.